As I mentioned in the post Women Making a Difference I’ve joined a civic club, Business and Professional Women. At each meeting there is a formal opening, or call to order. As part of the opening, the President recites the mission and purpose of the group.

At today’s meeting it struck me that this reciting of the mission at every meeting is not just for the benefit of visitors or special guests. It’s to remind each member of the reason that they are there. This spoken affirmation of the purpose of the group serves to strengthen the focus and unity of the group. I don’t think the power of this ritual can be underestimated.

Does your group struggle with lack of unity or focus? Do the projects and activities reflect the mission of the organization? The following is a simple 4 step system to strengthen your purpose. Remember to involve not only leadership in this process, but general membership as well.

1. Review established mission and purpose statements. Evaluate and revise to create a consensus among the members of the group. Even if these statements are not open to being revised, it’s important to have structured discussions about the meaning of the statements. The important thing is to get people talking.
2. Define objectives and goals to carry out these statements. Evaluate current projects and activities and see if they really measure up to the mission of the organization.
3. Reinforce the mission and purpose by reciting these statements at meetings. Always measure proposals against these belief statements.
4. Follow up on activities to see how they helped your group further its mission. Celebrate the accomplishments and show appreciation to participants.

By constantly believing in and reinforcing the mission of the non profit organization, unity of purpose will be strengthened and greater accomplishments will be achieved.

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Despite being held on a day marked by on-and-off rain showers, the 20th Annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles this past Sunday raised about $3 million for HIV programs in Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Times reports. More than 25,000 people attended the event.

There are still many AIDS charity walks on schedule for the rest of this year. A list of AIDS walks in the USA and Canada is available at aidswalk.org

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I recently found out about a walk for Autism Research from Dan Reinhold of Work at Home Humor. This walk benefits the National Alliance for Autism Research and is currently held in many cities around the US. There will also be a walk in Toronto, Ontario next spring. Visit Walk Far for NAAR for more info.

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If you organization is intrested in or currently solicits Major Gifts, you may want to take advantage of a free teleseminar hosted by the Suddes Group. This call takes place tomorrow, Tuesday the 12th at 4:00 PM Eastern US time.

“Tom Suddes will teach you HOW to make a major gift call. This training session will include a brief overview of the major gifts process (building a case, finding the prospect, etc) and spend the bulk of the time focusing on the framework of the call.”

For more information see the Teleseminar details.

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Today was our Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Wichita Falls, Texas. It was an amazingly beautiful day this morning. Our event was held downtown and as we walked to the race site we ran into a wonderful lady from our church who’s going through treatments for breast cancer. It was good to see her up and going today. There’s actually several survivors from our congregation, some of whom I didn’t realize were until I saw them in the pink shirts.

I can’t say how many people were there as I’m a bad judge of numbers. But it was a really good turnout. There was music and an upbeat atmosphere. I even ran into a couple of the runners from Team in Training last spring. It was fun to see everyone.

The race itself was great. Troy and I ran the first half mile, and then alternated. I’ve only been walking since the half marathon last spring, and not timed at that. So 43 minutes was fair for me. The most important thing is that the race benefits a great cause, and some great people!

Find a Race for the Cure near you

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On October 3rd more than 170,000 Canadians, many of them survivors, ran, walked, cheered or volunteered as part of the largest single-day, fundraising event for breast cancer in Canada. The Run, held in Toronto, raised $19.2 million to boost breast cancer research and programs.

Many corporations sponsored the event including Air Canada and Ford Motor Company of Canada. Many employees of various businesses joined together in the effort to put on the event including race day volunteers as well as participants.

The event benefited the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation which funds breast cancer research and education programs.

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Since this is breast cancer awareness month, I thought that I’d share some facts related to breast cancer and cancer in general.

While any cancer diagnosis can be devastating, there is a lot of hope for women diagnosed with breast cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the number two cause of death among women who develop cancer. ACS estimates that 15% of all cancer deaths this year will be from breast cancer. Of the estimated 668,470 cases of cancer in women, 32% of those are breast cancers.

The short term outlook for breast cancer patients is positive. In fact, the 5 year survival rates for breast cancer patients is 87% (through the year 2000). It is the third highest survival rate, after Melanoma (skin cancer) at 90% and prostate, which has an amazing 98% survival rate.

Progress in treating breast cancer has advanced significantly, which is evidenced by the increased survival rates and the invention of more efficient and less painful treatments.

Source: ACS Cancer Statistics Presenation 2004

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The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation sponsors The Race for the Cure 5K events in hundreds of cities. Many of the events are taking place this month, since this is breast cancer awareness month.

If you haven’t done a 5K before, thats a little over 3 miles. Runners and walkers are welcome. Breast cancer survivors are especially honored, and I believe wear pink shirts. These events are so much FUN too! There will likely be music and freebies after the race. It’s exciting to run or walk with a huge group of people. It will bring out the competitive side in just about anyone.

I’ll be walking in the local Race for the Cure this Saturday October 9th. Would you like to join me? (Virtually speaking)

Find a Race for the Cure near you

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