Mike Batell: “The Most Important Thing I’ve Ever Done”
We asked Mike to share his thoughts about his donation and RESULTS/REF. REF: What was the process that led you to choose an advocacy organization over a direct service organization? MB: The central question I was trying to answer was: Where could a gift of this size act as a catalyst to uplift the greatest number of people in the biggest way possible? I’d long ago concluded that focusing on international development and extreme poverty would produce the biggest bang per buck, when, for example, a course of TB treatment costs just $20, or sending a girl to school for a year can cost around $100. Knowing that organizations like RESULTS can translate every $1 they spend on advocacy into much greater sums from Congress, it became clear that focusing on advocacy, rather than direct charitable relief, would have the greatest impact. REF: What made you decide on RESULTS and RESULTS Educational Fund? MB: RESULTS is strategic, bold, and cutting-edge. You aren’t afraid to push the envelope and demand from Congress what development experts have demonstrated is needed. And I was blown away by the energy and intensity of the RESULTS activists I saw at the 2009 International Conference. There’s a fire there that I’ve never seen elsewhere. REF: What made you decide to give away your so much of your new income? MB: Just because my income has risen doesn’t mean my lifestyle has to change. When it comes to spending beyond the basics, I tell myself, “It’s not my money; it’s our common humanity’s money.” If I look at it as an investment, giving to RESULTS has been the best bargain I could ever find. RESULTS’ development department will be able to multiply my gift, and RESULTS will spend each of those new dollars to convince Congress to appropriate maybe 20 or 30 new dollars to fight poverty. I can’t imagine buying anything else that would have made me as happy or generated a better return as making this investment in a stronger RESULTS. REF: Share your thoughts on being a donor from a younger generation. MB: There’s a palpable sense of urgency in addressing these problems when we know that within the next 30 seconds, for example, one of our world’s kids is going to die because he or she got bit by a mosquito. There are so many in my generation who view ending extreme poverty as the challenge of our time. It’s no less important than the abolition of slavery or the Civil Rights movement when it comes to the continued march of history towards successive advancements in equality and basic human dignity. If untold numbers in the 1960s were willing to take a freedom ride from Wisconsin to Alabama, or take a beating from a cop with a nightstick, the least we can do is write a few letters to the editor or convince a few friends to join the fight. Making this gift has been the most important thing I’ve ever done in my life. In writing one check to RESULTS Educational Fund, I'm convinced I did more good in those two minutes than I did in the entire previous 27 years of my life combined. Make an investment in RESULTS Educational Fund or RESULTS and impact the lives of millions of people, including your own! |
When Mike Batell approached RESULTS Educational Fund (REF) about making a substantial donation, we were excited and intrigued. After all, Mike is only 27 and not long before had been living on an entry-level nonprofit salary. But a career change had increased his income and he decided to put his money towards his passion — helping people move out of poverty — and to do it in a way that leveraged a greater impact. He dedicated his $30,000 donation as a matching challenge grant to be used towards expanding REF’s development department. With his grant, we ultimately raised a total of $80,000!