Ringing the Big Bell

In December of 2010, Help/Systems had a charity drive for the Salvation Army and I got to ring the bell for charity. For the occasion, I brought my own, bigger bell to go for the most donations we could get. Before people even got out of their cars, they could hear me across the parking lot.

The combination of a bigger bell and a greeting for each potential customer of happy holiday cheer really seemed to work (or maybe they felt sorry for me because of the “warm” five-degree weather we had that day). Our team filled the bucket and helped a great organization help others who were in need for the holidays.

This opportunity reinforced the importance of raising the bar a little to reap the benefits. Just change a process a bit and you may see great new results. People loved our smiles and our enthusiasm, despite the cold. At the end of the day, our bucket was full and our team felt a deep sense of pride about delivering money to buy a child a gift, or to put some holiday food on the table for some needy people.

And, I now have a better understanding about who the actual givers in the world are. It seemed like every elderly lady that walked into the store gave at least a dollar—it was amazing. On the flip side were the busy male office workers rushing into the Cub Foods store for a quick lunch. They seemed to be the least willing to give. Often, they walked on by without even a smile. Ouch, this is my demographic that’s not contributing.

So, I challenge all of you to “ring a bell” sometime—I guarantee you’ll learn a lot from the experience.