When dollars are tight, consumers focus on what gets them more bang for the buck. It’s no different with charitable givers. Inspired by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other foundations and corporations, donors and volunteers are beginning to use high-impact philanthropy models to compound the efficacy of their efforts.
One subgroup of charitable givers and volunteers has considerable long-term impact, and they may not even be aware of it. The subgroup? Parents.
Parents who communicate with their children about the importance of community stewardship, who openly support charitable organizations and, even more significantly, who engage their children in volunteer activities pass along a valuable legacy. They’re instilling in the next generation the concept that charity is a primary responsibility as members of a community. They’re teaching their children that charity is an important line item in the family budget. And they’re ensuring that the impact of giving is not restricted to the single transaction, but creates a ripple effect by reaching into other situations and setting the stage to address other needs.
My parents taught my siblings and me the value of community stewardship – not through preaching but through their actions. Dad made sure we remembered our envelopes for the Sunday collection, but more importantly modeled his ideals through countless hours of volunteer board meetings and fundraising. As a busy mother of six, Mom found time to volunteer at church as well as for political and humanitarian groups. And she prevailed upon us to respond with compassion to those in need, once signing me up to help an unwed mother move her belongings to another apartment, and more than once persuading me to accompany the Fuller Brush salesman, who was blind, as he went door-to-door though the neighborhood.
Parents who donate, whether through cash, in-kind donations or volunteerism, are critical to the people and organizations in need. But when they demonstrate their values about charitable giving to their children, and engage them to participate, it increases the effectiveness of their actions exponentially. That’s truly high-impact philanthropy.
~ LuAnne Speeter is a guest contributor.
Thank you, Rachel, for calling attention to this organization and its website. I agree – it’s chockful of excellent ideas for family projects. And it encourages a holistic approach through planning, reflection and additional reading.
We’d love to hear from anyone who can share his or her experience with a family project – whether it involved volunteering, donating or fundraising. What kind of an impact did it have on your family members in addition to those you were helping out?
Getting children involved in service builds compassion, empathy, understanding and is a great way for families to spend time together, Check out the wonderful organization, Doing Good Together (www.doinggoodtogether.org), for ideas on how you can get started volunteering as a family.