It s time to reexamine and restate the core assumptions about pledge drives. The usual routine when we have a problem perhaps especially for men is to wheel in some kind of technology fix for the problem. The fix de jour lately has been the Internet. We ll fix our membership problem by getting and renewing members via e-mail and websites. The reason is, machines cannot replace the need for human contact and interaction.
Humans are still hunter-gatherers at their core.
Gossip, stories and other forms of social networks serve many different functions for humans. The residue of these human interactions has a term. That term is social capital. It is the trust, good will and affection that develops over time when people interact and develop relationships with each other in their community or workplace. It s human nature.