Non profit never tasted this good

Last night I ate at a great restaurant in Tel Aviv. Lilit is the name. I had Atlantic Cod with portobello mushrooms in a pumpkin sauce as my starter, and the grilled entrecote steak for the main course. Both were phenomenal. In fact, Lilit has a reputation as one of the better

restaurants in Israel, and certainly as one of the best kosher restaurants out there.

I know what you're thinking. This sounds like the start of a very unsophisticated restaurant review. One which concludes like this: good food, I'd eat there again. Which is true, I would. But this is a blog about marketing, not succulent cuts of meat.

And Lilit, after all, is much more than just a restaurant. Non profits take note: Lilit is an example of social entrepreneurship at it's best. Here's their story:

Partnering with 'Elem', the Israeli organization for Youth In Distress in Israel, Lilit offers vocational training to at-risk youth in a therapeutic, supportive environment.

The teens undergo training, with the objective of later integrating them into the restaurant industry. They receive both theoretical and hands-on instruction in cooking, baking, waiting tables and bartendering. Fifty-four teens have succesfully completed this program.

On its own, Elem is a wonderful organization. They do good work, and help children that others ignore or assume will never amount to anything. But the merger with Lilit takes them to another level. It's ingenious in many ways.

1) Great publicity for Lilit. It doesn't hurt that the food is amazing. But this partnership makes Lilit unique. They were the first restaurant in all of Israel to do this. Many people now have heard of them simply beacuse of the good work they do. And a good number of socially conscious people will go out of their way to eat there to support their work.

2) Great publicity for Elem. On the flip side of things, the excellent food has an attraction in and of itself. People come for the food, but then hear about Elem. When I sat down at the table, there was an elegant card next to the place setting explaining the Lilit/Elem partnership. BAM! That's one more potential donor to Elem.

Ok, so it's a good publicity stunt, yes. But it's more than just that.

3) "Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime." Lilit is the perfect expression of the ultimate level of charitable work. Helping people help themselves as opposed to furthering people's dependencies (though often times necessary).

4) It's a unique example of a successful merger between the non profit world and the business sector. And neither side has to compromise on their principles. Lilit runs a successful business (judging from the full house last night) with professional employees and Elem gets to train youth in a serious, hard-working environment.

Normally the words "non profit" and "business sector" do nothing but stir up a little bit of cognitive dissonance in our minds.

But why should they? Why should we seperate these two worlds from each other? They're just two sides of life that we usually don't see operating in tandem. Bringing them together can unify a needlessly conflicting universe.

Lilit and Elem show us the mutually beneficial results that are possible from a merger between these two worlds. And beyond the particulars of this type of merger, they have taught us the power of teamwork, the wonders of creativity, and the limitless potential of human nature.

All it took was a little imagination and some pumpkin sauce.