GO BEYOND THE POWER OF ONE!
We’ve all heard stories of the mythical “Power of One.” A brave Chinese student marshals the courage to stand in Tiananmen Square and stare down a line of tanks in 1989. An unknown seamstress in Montgomery Alabama refuses to give up her seat on a bus in 1955. A gentle man from India seeks to raise consciousness without raising his voice in the 1950’s. The images are moving; the stories are inspiring; the “Power of One” is a powerful myth and the stuff that self-help books, Successories posters and Youtube videos (like this) are made of.
Personally, I’ve never found “The Power of One” to be all that useful as an organizing strategy, especially if the goal is to bring about lasting change. The tanks in Tiananmen Square paused for that one student, but they eventually crushed thousands of others, thanks in part to a lack of organization and cohesiveness within the student movement. Rosa Parks’ act provided the spark but millions of other equally courageous acts provided the momentum for the United States’ Civil Rights Movement. Mahatma Gandhi’s strategy of non-violent resistance would have had little force if millions of Indian citizens had not been willing to embrace and employ it.
One person might be able to change the world, but they usually can’t do anything significant without support. The true test of the “Power of One” is whether or not that individual has the capacity to develop the Power of Ten by building a team of people that is committed to bring about lasting, significant, sustainable change.
Here’s how I think this principle can be applied to the Keep It Campaign for Ivory Park.
THE POWER OF TEN FUNDRAISING STRATEGY
If we could tap into our individual circles of influence to build a network of well-connected folks, and each of those folks could get 10 people to make a commitment to line up 10 additional people make a minimum donation of $10 each, we would reach our $50,000 building fund goal very quickly. We could do it all with small contributions processed through the PayPal link on the website or through personal checks made out to The Keep It Campaign.
Think of the networks you’re connected with:
Your Family
Your School
Your Church
Your Neighbors
Your Community
Athletic Teams
Civic Organizations
Folks from work
Your Facebook Friends
What we want to do is challenge folks to identify their circles of influence and then to find one person in each of those circles to raise $100 each by finding 10 or more people to give at least $10 each (and their email address) to the project. If they do this, each team will raise $1,000 and help us to build a fan base of 100 people.
Encourage folks to use the Pay Pal Link by clicking on the button below:
Or have them make a check out to “PASC Keep It Campaign” and give it to you. You can send the checks to
The Keep It Campaign,
174 Link Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
Are you in? I hope so! Send us an email and let us know what we can do to help you to make this work in your neighborhood, school or community.
send an email to keepit@me.com
BT