A Meaningful contact

I live on Long Island and recently had the opportunity to experience my second hurricane (the first was Gloria.) As it turned out, we were fortunate and the actual impact of Irene was far, far less than was predicted. As a result, I found myself in my office on Tuesday morning reading my email.

To my great surprise, one of the first messages that I got was from the president of my Alma Mater - Allegheny College. It was a very, very simple message:

I hope this message finds you and your family well after the recent hurricane.

All of us at Allegheny College are thinking of you.

James H. Mullen, Jr.
President

A couple of key points about it really caught my attention - it came from a "person" address. I can't say for certain that it is actually his email address (and am skeptical enough given bounces and some of the just plain crazy folks we all have that it is not) or a really well created f aux version of his email. It really doesn't matter because it accomplished the first thing they were looking to do - got me to read it. I did so, in great part because it "felt" real. So many of the messages that we get and send in annual giving are from generic accounts, yet looking at my own email and what I respond to on a daily basis quickly reveals that they are almost all from people not organizations.

Second to that, it was about me. Simple statement asserting concern and that people out there care. No expectation of feedback, no request for input or institutional message, just a simple declaration about me. I liked that - made me feel good and a part of the family rather than someone being cultivated. Interestingly it was very similar to the text from my sister: Hope all is ok, let us know if we can help.

Sometimes simple, direct and real means so much more.