Your Part Matters

A few weeks ago, I had a really exciting experience: I got to spend two straight days talking with people who use words like predictive analysis, segmentation, module, clickthrough, ROI and SEO.

But the remarkable thing about this group of people is that they also used words like mission, engagement, community and change.

Over the last few years, I’ve learned to love technology because it holds such potential for those lacking traditional resources like money, time and staff. In March I was reminded of this potential at the Nonprofit Technology Conference in Washington, DC.

Over 2000 people gathered to discuss the best ways of using technology to develop, support and advance cause-based work, and the diversity of goals was amazing. From a single person trying to stop the use of pesticides in public spaces in rural Idaho to five people improving the quality of life for people with Sturge-Weber syndrome to thousands of people raising awareness about climate change and the environment, I couldn’t help but being impressed and inspired by the range of missions out there.

But then, I had a panicky thought. “There are so many missions out there! There’s so much work that needs to be done!” And just when I wondered how we’d ever actually make a dent in that work, I was reminded of the solution at the unlikeliest of times: the end of a session on message segmentation and quantitative analysis in e-mail campaigns.

An hour and-a-half goes by quickly when you’re talking regression analysis and median values, but before time slipped away completely, Jeff Shuck, President and CEO of Event 360, left us with the most powerful message of my whole conference experience, and it goes a little something like this.

If you segment the world according to income, there are 1 billion people in the lower class who make up to $365 a year—a dollar a day. There are about 4 billion in the middle class who make $366-$1500 a year, and 1.5 billion in the upper class who make $1501-$20,000 a year. There are only 100 million people (1.6% of the world’s population) in the privileged class who make more than $20,000 annually. Of that 100 million, only a fraction is actually aware of the opportunity to help everybody else. (Here’s where you stop and think: am I one of them?)

According to Jeff, this segmentation leads to a sort of sliding scale of responsibility. Everyone has an obligation to live and contribute and not just take up space in the world. Those with privilege have an obligation to be grateful for the fact that they got a good deal in life. And those with awareness of the need in the world have an obligation to do something.

So I’ll leave you the same way Jeff left us in a basement ballroom of the Washington Hilton:

Do something. Your part matters.