Many students/educators are blessed by the opportunities they have to engage with our agencies and our people. We open our doors often to the curious minds that seek to know more about our industries. And while we give, we also receive…in the enthusiasm, the freshness, the vulnerability of these curiosity seekers. And now we also receive in another way.

We’ve started charging “admission” for an opportunity to view our agencies from the inside. Not in cash, but in something greater for a greater good. We ask students visiting us to make contributions to our partner non-profits, generally in the form of a wish list. This semester we’re focusing on Family Promise and filling their bins with personal care items and gift cards for the families who partake of their services.

What’s good about this, besides the obvious? It’s a way to help remind students that to give is just as important as to receive. And giving doesn’t always have to be grandiose. But, it needs to have a purpose and to satisfy the needs of the receiver. Well, boxes of tissue, washcloths and socks don’t further the specific daily needs of our agencies, but they do further the mission of our agencies to provide great work with superior results for our clients. And a number of our clients are non-profit agencies furthering causes and ideas that make lives better.

When I first began blogging, I wrote about my contract with those seeking my career advice where I required they give of their time to a non-profit by Paying It Forward. This idea has gone over well with those who want help. So, I took it to another application (as my Davenport U. Creativity students would say…a solution looking for a problem/opportunity). And viola, a win-win-win situation: more resources for the non-profit, more gratification for our agencies and more learning for the students.

How can you apply an idea like this to your world?