Three Things. Two families. One community.
https://www.justgiving.com/team/nicolasandmarigold
Most weeks, Three Things is focused on helping you win more business. Better conversations, stronger relationships, a bit of sales psychology and the occasional dig at the legal profession.
This week is different. This is one of the most important editions of Three Things I’ve ever written.
Two friends and colleagues from our business development and marketing community are going through circumstances that no parent should ever have to face.
In September, Claire Rason lost her 17-year-old son, Nicolas, to cancer. Helen Burness has spent nearly three months in hospital with her daughter, Marigold.
As a father, I genuinely struggle to comprehend what either family has been going through.
And whilst there’s very little any of us can say to make things better, there is something we can do.
We’ve spoken before in Three Things about giving, reciprocity and how helping others can strengthen relationships and ultimately lead to more business.
This week, forget the business bit. Sometimes giving isn’t about what you might get back. It’s simply about doing the right thing.
So, this week’s Three Things is dedicated to Claire, Helen and their families, with three simple ways our professional community can come together and YOU (YES, I’M LOOKING AT YOU) can make a difference. Enjoy.
#1. Give an hour
Lawyers spend their working lives accounting for their time, often in six-minute increments. We know exactly what an hour is worth. What if we gave just one of those hours back?
As part of our Christmas fundraising campaign for Claire and Helen, we’re asking law firms to Give an Hour by donating the equivalent value of one senior partner’s time. We’re suggesting £1,000 via the dedicated Just Giving page – https://www.justgiving.com/team/nicolasandmarigold.
Think about what we could achieve if firms across the country each contributed just one hour.
Your action: Speak to your managing partner, finance team or charitable foundation. Ask them to give an hour to support three incredible charities that have helped these families (see below for a list). I’ve even got a ready-to-go email you can send on to make the ask easier. Just DM me and I’ll send it over.
#2. Give what you can
Not everyone can convince their firm to part with £1,000. DON’T GIVE UP. Every contribution matters, whether that’s £10, £100 or something you can offer to help us raise money.
We’re turning Legal Engine’s Christmas celebrations on Thursday 26 November into a charity fundraising evening, kindly hosted by Bird & Bird in London.
We’ve already been overwhelmed by people’s generosity. From a week in a French Alpine chalet to a signed England rugby training shirt, holiday cottages and some fantastic prizes, the response has been incredible.
The quiz is already fully booked, but the fundraising is only getting started!
Your action: Make a donation, ask your employer to match it or get in touch if you can contribute a raffle prize. Our fundraising page allows you to choose which of the three charities you’d like to support. And, if you’re an eligible UK taxpayer, don’t forget to tick the Gift Aid box! It adds another 25% to your personal donation at no extra cost to you. Your £100 becomes £125. Lovely!
#3. Give your network
We’ve spoken many times in Three Things about the importance of building and nurturing professional relationships.
But the real value of a network isn’t simply the business opportunities it creates. It’s what people can achieve when they come together.
Our professional services community is packed with extraordinarily generous, well-connected people. Many of you reading this will know Claire and Helen personally. Many more won’t. That doesn’t matter.
What matters is our collective ability to turn a relatively small individual contribution into something genuinely meaningful.
Your action: Forward this newsletter to three people. Ask them to support the campaign, introduce us to someone who might help or simply share the fundraising link with their own networks.
Chat to Tina by voice, when you’re between meetings, on the commute to/from work, or heading into something you’d rather avoid.
Final thought
We’re raising money for three charities that have made a real difference to these families:
- Ronald McDonald House Charities UK – providing families with somewhere to stay close to their children in hospital.
- Young Lives vs Cancer – supporting children and young people with cancer and their families.
- St George’s Hospital Charity – helping transform the hospital’s children’s wards.
Our aim is simple. Raise as much money as possible to support these incredible organisations, while showing Claire, Helen and their families just how much love and support exists within our community.
Whichever charity you choose to support, and however much you can give, it will make a difference.
Support the fundraiser for Nicolas and Marigold
We’re pretty good at putting a price on our time in professional services.
This week, let’s demonstrate what that time is really worth.
Thank you.
Lee
We’re building a team of voice enabled AI assistants to support you with BD activities and allow you to spend more time being human. Interested? We’d love to chat.
