If you give charitably, why do you do it?
Family
My mother, her parents and their parents always served in the public good. It was their lifes work to ensure that people were healthy, happy and striving. They’ve imprinted this value that we’re all in it together. I see my nieces today and want to share this gift with them too.
Ideas
Ubuntu- the Zulu aspire to foster Ubuntu within their community. By definition this is compassion and human kindness, but in the community this is the idea that we are all one. That each of our actions provokes a reaction that impacts the group.
Role Models
It is in service to others that we find ourself (Ghandi).
To serve is to live (Hesselbein).
Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?(MLK)
How intentional are you about your giving, and how do you think you can improve?
I try to align my giving with what I have and what is needed.
I don’t look at giving purely in dollars. Everybody needs different things. Generally a mix of the below four ways to give.
These should be considered types of capital or resources:
- Time
- Network (introductions)
- Dollars (fiduciary)
- Ideas
To improve, I’d like to focus my M/IG resources towards working with one or two groups that I believe in and help them scale their impact. We’re doing pro-bono digital support for some non-profits. We could be doing much more.
How have you struggled with your personal giving?
Even when money is tight my Mom is big on giving. She created an account just for giving back. It is my family’s way of tithing, particularly with the Church making some questionable calls with its money.
We throw a percent of our earnings in check by check and could participate more effectively in giving. One thing I’ve struggled with is making giving to this fund a priority. It’s a great system my mom set up. Now I have to follow it and help it grow.
Beyond committing to giving more, understanding the different types of giving and making opportunities to dive beyond just the capital requirements that folks have — to find ways to help them more in depth.
With the Global Shapers I hope to spend my time alongside many more young philanthropists and change-makers. They often lead their organizations and hopefully we can have more in depth conversations about their needs/challenges. That seems like a good direct way to give.
Share your experience. Tell us what the rest of us could consider when we think about giving. After I hear from you, I might suggest a few ideas of my own.
I like what Pricilla & Mark Zuckerber are doing with their wealth.
My experience is that American society look at giving in a very one-dimensional way. It’s reflective of the way our laws are written too.
Non-Profits are for impact and giving. They can’t make money.
Business is for making money and shareholder value. They only create wealth.
Putting their money into an LLC allows for a more participatory way of giving: investments into market driven innovation that can impact life.
They are leading with an example and I hope their example further compliments all the work of business leaders and small businesses to create value for their community. To move their community forward. I’d like to reframe the way we consider business and non-profits in our society. Making an impact isn’t about awards ceremonies and honoring people for being better than our selfish human desires. And that’s not to take away from awarding the people that are committing their lives to impact either.
I use the above points to express that making a difference and create change comes when everyone participates. On a legal and social level, we need to incentivize cross sector participation in sustainable societies where people have social and economic mobility. For business and Non-Profit we need to make it okay to make money and do good. And for Non-Profit we need further the idea that NGO’s have operational needs that cost money and just like running a business, if they’re going to accomplish their goals they need to be adequately resourced.
These are broader ideas about the marketplace, industry and society.
As you consider your asking and giving
I’d ask you to consider how people can give. If we understand our broad needs and the capabilities of people we can better facilitate participation in impact.
At the end of the day giving is all about making someones life better. Giving is about making sure that your community can stand up on it’s own and thrive. Because when the people around you can thrive you can thrive to.
All of us can play a role in that.
