Have you ever heard about the Robin Hood Foundation? Ronn Torossian is betting you haven’t. But, you’re about to… and it may just change your perspective on the rich, how they live, and how they give.
The Robin Hood Foundation is a charity founded by hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones. Since 1988, the charity has, reportedly, donated $1.25 billion to those in need in NYC’s neediest areas. Yes, that’s billions with a “B.” Better yet, any administrative costs taken on by the organization are paid for out of the pockets of the board of directors. Translation? All the money goes to those who need it. ALL of it. Perhaps best of all, the charity is represented by all manner of folks from different political viewpoints and perspectives. But, why haven’t you heard about this group? Perhaps because they are content to do these “good works” in silence. They already have notoriety. They don’t need the PR. They just want to help. Yet, people are learning about them. After all, this is a wonderful story, and despite all the “bad news” out there, it’s tough to keep a heartwarming story like this – particularly one that challenges assumptions – from the spotlight.
In other words, sometimes the best PR is to get out there and DO THINGS worth writing about. And there’s so many good charitable foundations – including those of entrepreneur Chris Burch.
So ask yourself, when it comes to your non profit work, what are you doing that others would consider newsworthy? This is not a criticism or an indictment. Quite the contrary. This is an opportunity for you to see both the forest and the trees. You might be doing some amazing things that need to get noticed. In fact, you might benefit directly from the PR related to those stories. But you might be in a situation where you are so busy doing good that you don’t take the time to let anyone know.
In the case of the Robin Hood Foundation, they WANT to be relatively under the radar because that works for them. But what about you?