What is Philanthropy?
There are so many ways to think about philanthropy…it used to be defined as a way to promote the welfare of others, mostly through the generous donation of money. But it’s taken a more modern turn to include promoting goodwill to other people.
I dare say philanthropy is bigger than money. There are so many words that can be used to describe it instead: Charity, Giving, Compassion, Helping, Volunteering, Altruism, Kindness, Community, Support, Good Deed, Noble, Connection, Legacy, Contribution, Generosity.
However we choose to describe it, it’s looking outside ourselves to see what we can offer others. And this is something we can be modeling for our children from a very young age.
Moving into the holidays, I’d like to propose we take a step back from materialism, the stress of buying gifts, and really look at what we can do to help others during a season that is about love, gratitude, and giving. Let’s take steps to make the end of 2018 a memorable one. We can give ourselves permission to make this the year we stop stressing about finding the perfect trinket or this year’s “hot” toy. Instead, we’ll go into the New Year with full hearts knowing we didn’t put ourselves into unnecessary debt while helping others. What a true gift—for ourselves and our children.
Choose a goal (or goals) from the list below or create your own!
* Establish a living legacy of philanthropy
* Figure out what causes are important to you and your family
* Donate to charities in lieu of holiday gifts
* Choose gifts that are associated with charities
* Research potential charities in depth
* Come up with a family donation system
* Model generosity for my children
* Be more transparent with giving – how, when, & why
* Keep giving on our constant “to do” list
What our Philanthropy Guided Journal will look like:
Here’s an overview of what is in store each week during November!
Week One: Identify charities & causes that are important to you and your family
Week Two: Research
Week Three: Gratitude & Action
Week Four: Legacy in Action
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