I sat down the other day to get some ideas on what to write about. I came across a blog post written by John Stossel back in April of 2011. The blog post was titled ‘Don’t Give BACK’. Of course I had to read it to see what he meant. It could not mean people should stop giving. Indeed he did not mean this. The point of the article was about his being annoyed by the term ‘Giving Back’. In other words, he and GMU Economics Professor Don Boudreaux want people and companies to stop using the rhetoric ‘Give Back’ because ‘it fuels the common misapprehension that corporate profits are either ill-gotten gains, or at best, wealth subtracted from that of other persons in society.’ Now there are many definitions of ‘Give Back’ and if you choose not to look past the first definition then this train of thought is correct.
1. (verb) give back
to give someone something that they owned or had before
Based on this definition a business will not possess something that they can give back, because their profits are not ‘ill-gotten gains’, but ‘legitimate earnings’. Thus, businesses should stop giving ‘back’, and just give. But, just for the sake of argument, there is another definition for Give Back and that is:
2. give back
to allow someone to feel an emotion again that they had stopped feeling
A good percentage of people who volunteer definitely feel emotion and, a lot of times, they have not felt those emotions for a while. Thus businesses’ are giving back by giving people an opportunity to get involved and feel something. What is usually felt is a combination of joy, hope, euphoria, and, sometimes, calm. By putting others needs ahead of their own can even help people find a sense of direction that might have eluded them. No matter what, I guarantee the people involved will feel something, forgotten or not, and it will feel so good they will want to continue lending a helping hand.
Now let’s get to cold hard facts and look at what ‘Give Back’ really is when it comes to business. Giving back by corporations is nothing more than cause marketing and the term ‘Give Back’ is the buzz word. It has nothing to do with a businesses’ discomfort with making money and everything to do with increasing sales, visibility, customer loyalty, employee loyalty, enhancing the business’s image, and positive media coverage. However, when looking at it this way you lose the warm, fuzzy feeling and it becomes cold and calculating. This is where I prefer to put on my rose colored glasses and play along, because the benefits far outweigh the cold calculations. Besides, I believe that the people behind the cause marketing are not cold or calculating, but real people who really want to make a difference for the better.
I agree we should stop the rhetoric. We shouldn’t really care what terms are used to describe it. In the end, whether it is called altruism, corporate responsibility, philanthropy, charity, endowment, giving, giving back, or paying it forward, we all need to be doing some of it. By giving, with our time or money, it is good for our soul, health and even our careers. It connects us and lifts us up. It makes our communities stronger, our neighborhoods safer, and it makes us better.
In my next post I will list ways you can help and places to find volunteer opportunities.
