Someone I follow on Twitter is Michael Rosen who shares great insights into charity, philanthropy and non-profits in general.
His recent post “4 Valuable Lessons Nonprofits Can Learn from For-profits” – is one a real gem and I’m sure you’ll gain from reading it.
I believe that the nonprofit and for-profit sectors can learn a great deal from one another. Over the past several months, I’ve had some experiences that have confirmed this belief. I’d like to share two negative and two positive encounters I’ve had with the for-profit sector and reveal the lessons I learned that can help any nonprofit organization.
Under promise, and over deliver.
I ordered a roast-beef sandwich to go from Au Bon Pain. While I’m not a frequent Au Bon Pain customer, I’ve been one for many, many years. I was looking forward to my sandwich. When I got home, I unwrapped my lunch, and took a big bite. Something wasn’t right. I spit out the bite. There was a piece of paper. I opened my sandwich and found a sheet of deli paper!
Ok, if you make thousands of sandwiches, you’re bound to a make a mistake sooner or later. However, rather than just let the incident slide completely, I thought Au Bon Pain should know about the situation. I thought they might have a new sandwich guy who might benefit from some additional training. So, I called the “800” number on my receipt.
I was not looking for anything. I just wanted to inform the store about the incident so management could be aware and take any action they deemed appropriate.
Read in full here
charitymattersnz.com 