Better Giving Habits

Something in the air

The topic of giving is very much in the air.  We are in December and are busy fielding requests for giving by air, by letter, by email and by calls.  And we perhaps have our set pattern of giving to our schools, churches, community organizations and to that persistent fellow from the Fireman's fund.  We also respond to disaster relief whether it is the floods in Chennai or Tsunami in Indonesia.

The topic of giving is certainly being discussed in circles well beyond standard philanthropy and well beyond the season of giving.  Former President Bill Clinton wrote a book on giving.  Warren Buffet and Bill Gates have famously created the Giving Pledge, where very rich families pledge to give the majority of their wealth away for good causes.  More recently, Facebook founder Mark Zukerberg has been in the news for announcing that he will give away 99% of his company stock in his lifetime.

This urge is not just with people who are very rich.  Today, even the Millennials,  as they are called, (that is, those born after 1980), think that giving and investing might actually be one and the same thing.  In other words they want to see everyday investing have a social impact.  They want to positively impact the environment, poverty, health, education and other areas.

Jumping onto this train

It seems to me that many of us might be reading about this topic, not only here, but in the news and other places and wondering how to jump onto this train, as it were.

Sure, we episodically participate.  Perhaps the check at the end of the year to the school.   Maybe a few hours of volunteering because an office neighbor was walking around the hall looking for someone to fill out a team.  Perhaps we saw a plea for help as a result of a major disaster.

But is that giving?  Or is that just a response to external stimuli.  It seems to me that giving might have to come from within, and that external stimuli are incidental to it.

To figure out how to get involved, we might need to know what are the categories of giving.  

Donating Money - Writing a check is the first aspect of giving that comes to mind.  But how much constitutes giving?  Some religions have a prescribed percentage.  But what is socially acceptable?  For example if a family earns $50,000 per year, what is the minimum?  Obviously this is not a tax.  But is there a line?

Donating Goods - I am so glad to get emails once a while that ask if I would like to donate books, clothing or supplies to a worthy cause.  It could be sending supplies to soldiers overseas, Toys for Tots or books to the local library.

Volunteering - Time is as precious as money (maybe more!).  How many hours in a year, do we invest in helping others?  Again, how many hours is the minimum acceptable?  In the case of time, it is a great equalizer.  We are all endowed with the same 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year.  So how much should each be volunteering?  Should a Trust Fund baby volunteer more hours than a steel factory worker?  Many of us at work certainly get involved in this be it rebuilding homes, blood drives, food banks, soup kitchens etc.  I myself have been involved in an organization called Rebuilding Together Boston.

Activity based fundraising -  This method of raising funds for causes seems to be on the rise.  Particularly with the viral nature of social media, I see more and more of this.  The Jimmy Fund Walk for cancer and the Longest Day for Alzheimer's comes to mind (so to speak).

Pro bono projects - This is a variation on volunteering.  But I would argue that this is not exactly volunteering.  This is an organization or a team donating its skill to be in the service of another.  Many moons ago, I was assigned to lead a pro bono project for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.  We were asked to help them think about better pricing for their tickets and better negotiation with venues as they toured the world.  To this day, I cannot forget my interaction at the board meeting with Judith Jamison the Artistic Director of the dance company.  When I said 'cost per show', she gently corrected me by asking me to say, 'cost per performance.'

Board seats - The more senior and/or experienced one is, the more likely it is that one is asked to serve on the board of a non-profit organization with a mission.  In this capacity, one might help with fund raising, managing the budgets and so on.

Mentoring - At work and in our communities we see opportunities to mentor.  Big Brother Big Sister is a good example.  Throughout my career, whether in management consulting or in corporate life, I have enjoyed the opportunities to mentor.

Starting a foundation - The more successful among us might have more wherewithal to start a foundation with a mission of our own passion.  It might be about curing a diseases, cleaning up the neighborhood or any one of a million causes that we might each care about.

Investing Money for Social Impact - As I have mentioned at the top of this note, perhaps whatever we do in terms of investing on a regular basis can be directed towards having positive impact or at least avoiding negative impact on society.

Random Acts of Kindness - This was a popular meme a few years back.  A variation of this that I have seen recently is 'Pay it Forward.'

These are just a few examples of ways of giving; there are surely many more ways of giving.  But a critical question remains....

Why is Giving Important?

This seems like an obvious question with an obvious answer.  However, according to the Cleveland Clinic, studies show that giving is also good for the giver —  boosting physical and mental health.  In their studies, they find these health benefits associated with giving:

• Lower blood pressure
• Increased self-esteem
• Less depression
• Lower stress levels
• Longer life
• Greater happiness

Societies give incentives for giving as well.  One can accrue tax benefits by gifting.  One can cite their giving activities on their CVs and resumes.  One can be recognized with awards for their charitable deeds.

But these are still from my vantage 'selfish' reasons for giving (an oxymoron as it were).

There are two other reasons for giving:

A moral obligation - our family, friends and society are investing in us with both time and resources.  Should we be giving back?

That is the way the universe works - A few years ago I wrote a letter to my son and my nephew on their 12th birthday.    I referenced in that letter that all living things are in constant communication with each other.  Birds, animals, whales and of course us humans.  

For us humans, conversations are extremely important tools. This is how we impart information to each other and in large part some of the best learning comes through conversations.    Conversations are exchanges of information and ideas.  It is a give and take.  Giving is the Yang to the Ying of taking.

Thus I believe that the strongest argument for giving, is that by not giving, we are being unnatural.

A new year experiment

The majority of us are tempted and take up a new year resolution or two.  I have myself done so in the past be it with relationships or health or other such matters.  I will candidly acknowledge that when the snow melts, and the leaves turn for spring, I am so busy chasing the golf ball around the course, that it is a relief to 'forget' the resolution!

This year, I am thinking of rephrasing the new year resolution as a new year experiment.  And I would like to experiment on the idea of giving.  The simple design of this experiment is the following.

I would like to ask myself each Saturday night before going to bed, and before the Sunday morning of the new week starts the next day:  "Have I helped somebody this week?"

And there would be no qualification to this question.  Not how much, not who, not what kind.  Just, can I honestly (to the man in the mirror) answer the question, if I have helped someone this week.

The results of the experiment would be an analysis the same time next year.  The questions would be:

1. How many of the 52 weeks, yielded a 'yes' answer
2. Which categories of giving (as described above) did they fall into?
3. Was this above, at the same level, or below, of my episodic giving that I have been engaged in to this date?
4. Has giving become a habit through the course of the year?

It seems to me that this last question about whether giving becomes a habit is the adequate response to the observation that giving is a natural act, and as observed above, that not giving is an unnatural act.  

Perhaps when we give, without labeling it giving, is when we are fully and organically partaking of our connection to our family, community and surroundings.