Huddled around the Campfire, watching the reflected fire light dance on each others faces, feeling warmth on our feet and hands and seeing stars dance overhead is an iconic image of wilderness travel.  It enhances a group experience.  One person tells a ghost story and everyone is scared.  A marshmallow dropped into the fire while roasting brings a collective sigh.  You look around and see the faces of friends and feel great.  It is a special time precisely because it is unique.  Most of us get this campfire experience only a few times a year if we are lucky.  We depart the fire ring and head our different directions in the morning.

When we try to stay for too long we become stagnate.  Yet that is what many causes do far too often.  They attend a training for the latest fundraising system and implement it tomorrow.  When all the other local social sector enterprises take the same approach we all find ourselves back around the same campfire.  We recruit the same board members, trying to get them to serve our organization along with three other causes, stretching many of them too thin.  One group throws an party during the Oscars and then next year there are parties for the every award show.

Sometimes we need to remember that each cause has a unique approach and personality, otherwise they should have partnered or merged.  Gather at the campfire for conferences, breakfast meetings, shared-retreats and community gatherings.  Then walk-away and return to the wilderness.  Those that stay at the fire ring for too long start to look alike as there clothing and faces become caked with ash and smoke.  Bring back your stories from the frontier, take pictures and share never seen before techniques on survival. 

Head to open spaces, you will stand out and define your world.
Photo credit: eHow.com