Reflecting on loyalty: what does being loyal mean to you and your philanthropy?

On a beautiful spring evening recently, the Community Foundation hosted more than 120 donors, friends and colleagues at the Atlanta Botanical Garden to hear from James Kane, a leading expert on loyalty. Kane has studied the issue extensively from a psychological perspective and led the audience through an engaging presentation of the different stages of loyalty, with the key elements being trust, belonging and purpose.

To help our attendees reflect on what makes them loyal to a person, to a brand or to a cause, Kane has provided two valuable tools that can guide their thinking:

The Elements Booklet takes a deep dive into the building blocks of loyalty in depth and shares examples of how some organizations and individuals demonstrate and communicate each.

The Loyalty Switch Workbook is an interactive tool that allows individuals to assess their current relationships and make them more loyal. The workbook includes teachings from Kane’s academic work as well examples of how some well-known brands try to build and engage a loyal customer base.

The workbook also has guided exercises for individuals to reflect on what these concepts mean in their personal relationships. We encourage those who attended the dinner to take part in these reflections and examine their own key relationships – personally, professionally and philanthropically. The workbook exercises can also be a helpful tool to spark family discussions around philanthropic priorities and activities.