I recently started volunteering with Travelers Aid at Reagan National Airport.
We volunteers staff the information desks, answering questions, giving directions and helping with a variety of problems.
(One of the volunteers I shadowed during my training once had a man ask if she knew an exorcist in town. She went online and found three. It was for his mom.)
I don’t need to tell you that airports can be busy, confusing places, especially for passengers who fly infrequently.
There are plenty of signs, sometimes too many, sometimes situated in the wrong places.
Sometimes a sign lacks a key detail or two that would make it truly useful (the sign that directs travelers upstairs to ticketing but neglects to specify for which airlines).
So travelers need help navigating from check-in to gate.
That’s where we volunteers come in.
We cut through the visual bedlam, give travelers the information they need at that moment and send them on their way.
It reminds me that sometimes we don’t need more information, we need help making sense of the information that’s right in front of us.
And that’s what nonprofits should do as well.
Nonprofits can help donors, supporters and potential supporters better understand their issues or cause, by offering context, perspective and thoughtful analysis in an accessible way.
By accessible I mean writing in plain English (hold the isms, please), prioritizing information and making it readable (white space, subheads, bullets and can anyone really read small, light website type??).
In doing this, nonprofits can give donors and supporters something they can’t get anywhere else and make themselves a trusted and valued resource.
I know that many nonprofits worry about how they can cut through the noise of competing causes and issues.
I think this is one way to do it.
P.S. If you happen to find yourself at National Airport on a Sunday between 10 am and 2 pm, stop by and say hey. You can find me at the information desk near the South Security checkpoint.
As always, thanks for reading!
