Giving | Charity
Don’t Give Back — Give
Make it a gift, not a payback
When kind, generous, service-minded people do charitable work, they often say that they want to “give back.”
And I think: Why not simply give?
To me, “giving back” means returning something. It means I have something that was loaned or given to me and I’m giving it back.
But most of the organizations I support with my money and time have never given me anything except the privilege of helping them, so I’m not giving back. And I think that’s the same for most of the people I know.
Am I doing some language nitpicking here? Maybe a little. But accurate language is important.
To give back is to pay a debt. I’m not in debt to the non-profit agency that helps families in crisis, but I want to help it accomplish its mission. I’m not in debt to a friend who is recovering from surgery, but I want to take them a meal or help in some other way.
I don’t give back. I just give.
Have I been on the receiving end of kindness and generosity from friends and strangers who didn’t owe me a thing? More times than I can count.
