Seriously, we want to help

I wanted to get an idea down so that it's clear to all the nonprofits we want to work with.

The idea behind GoodCause magazine is to be a guide and connection point for volunteers and donors. It sounds simple, but we do keep in mind that thousands of nonprofits and volunteer-services agencies are trying to do the exact same thing.

I know that there are people at the organizations whose job it is to engage volunteers and donors. I used to be one of them. We enlisted other volunteers to send the message to their peers, we ran ads, we promoted opportunities in newsletter and our Web site, we got the media to cover events, we created competitions among volunteers and donors to see who could raise the most... lots of approaches. Lots of capable, creative, and tireless people in Austin are reaching out to volunteers and donors every day. I think every one of them, however, would tell you that there's always room for more volunteers and donors.

GoodCause believes there are people out there who want to volunteer and/or donate, but who haven't found the right cause or opportunity. They haven't found a comfortable entry point. So we want to shake things up a bit. Tell your story differently or tell only the part of your story that we think will move people to action. We want to describe how easy and rewarding the experience can be by telling the stories of other volunteers and donors. We want to take your stats and data out of the charts and into photographs and copy that connects with people emotionally. We want readers to feel that they can make a difference.

We're excited about it. And I think we'll be good at it. We love magazines and we know how powerful they are at building relationships with their readers. And we believe in this mission. What a good excuse to do what we know and love best.

Random thoughts. Thanks for listening.