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by
Lion L. E. Leguire Ph.D., MBA
In 1925,
at the International Convention of LIONS clubs in Port Clinton Ohio,
Helen Keller challenged us to become the Knights for Sight – to fight
for those who were blind or visually impaired. LIONS members throughout
the World took-up her challenge and forged ahead; pursuing guide dogs
for the blind, supporting legal right-of-way for blind people with white
canes, buying eyeglasses for indigent boys and girls, collecting used
eyeglasses for third world countries, helping with vision screening
programs, setting-up eye banks for corneal transplants and, of course,
funding research into the causes and prevention of eye disease.
The
general public closely associates LIONS with eyesight, one way or
another. For example, while collecting donations during our club’s White
Cane sale, a woman donated $5.00 because her brother received free eye
glasses from the local LIONS – something she’ll always remember. Also, I
proudly mention that I’m a LIONS member and people often reply "you’re
the ones that collect used eye glasses." In marketing, the close link
between the LIONS and eyesight is called branding – like Xerox is to
making copies; when people think of one - they automatically think of
the other. Branding is a great thing…something every business or
organization wishes they could accomplish or strengthen. Branding gives
the LIONS a competitive advantage over other volunteer organizations in
terms of fund raising, recruitment and public relations.
In the
past decade, LIONS members have pursued other noble interests such as
homeless shelters, supporting local school bands, food panties, camps,
parks and many other worthwhile endeavors. However, as LIONS members
support more and more worthwhile endeavors, we spread our limited
resources too thin and, importantly, dilute our brand – of helping the
blind and visually impaired. As we dilute our brand, less and less of
the general public come to associate the LIONS with eye sight and vision
conservation. If this trend continues, at some point we may loose our
branding all together - much like the March of Dimes lost their branding
when polio was cured – along with a lose of donations and public
recognition.
Our
heritage of helping the blind and visually impaired, our branding, is
slowly slipping away. This is not good for the LIONS or for soliciting
donations from the general public. The lose of
LIONS branding will lead to further loss of donations as well as a
further loss of membership, as more and more of the general public asks
the central question: who are the LIONS?
LIONS are
the ones that provide eyeglasses to the indigent. LIONS are the ones
that collect used eye glasses for the poor in third World countries.
LIONS are the ones who support eye research. Let us not loose our focus,
our mission, our branding. Support eye research and the Ohio LIONS Eye
Research Foundation. |
