Stop donating, start investing. The future of Giving

One of the biggest issues the social sector faces stems from the differences between the for profit and non profit space. Dan Pallotta, author of Uncharitable and Ted talk speaker outlines these issues very well. One of the main differences is how the social sector attains capital. The for profit space receives their capital through investments and in the non profit space it is through donations.

Currently, the word donation, although still regarded as a good thing, is not taken as seriously. It says that you will never see a return on that money, once you part with it; you receive your sense of fulfillment, know that you helped out and you move on. But, people giving want more; they want to be involved, engaged with and updated on what their money did or is doing. That is why we need to start talking about our giving in terms of investing.

What if we were to start investing into charities? That doesn’t mean expecting a monetary return necessarily but it does mean expecting a social return. The future of giving needs to be investing, where individuals can invest in a charity or NFP and receive a certain return in impact to the cause they care about. People are starving for a greater understanding in how much impact their giving creates.

So next time you are asked to donate, put on your investor hat. Take a look and see what return you will get for your dollar. What sort of impact yield you can receive on your charitable investments. If everyone started to give like that we would be getting a lot more social returns. Maybe even make some real change.