Jonah Engler most Americans are donors, as evident from giving money for charity. They donate to foreign disaster relief funds, animal rescues, local food banks, and museums. Come forward to put money in the cups that homeless people hold out on the street and drop bills into church collections. They do not hesitate to contribute to online funding pages to aid students. In paying college tuition or for medical expenses. The charitable nature of Americans reflects in figures that reveal that historically donations have contributed almost 2% of GDP over the years. According to Giving USA, in 2017 alone, the donations amounted to $400 billion. Most people have developed a habit of donating, yet most of them do not understand the impact the donations have on the cause chosen for support, feel Jonah Engler.
Jonah Engler those who have some dispensable wealth look for means of giving more effectively by choosing strategic philanthropy. The same is the approach of people who have a bent of mind to leave a legacy of charitable giving. Both types of donors have something more in common as they want to measure the impact of the gift. However, anyone who regularly donates to their favorite organizations and causes can develop a more strategic approach to donating.
Donating randomly is easier, but it seldom gives the donors the satisfaction of knowing how effective it was in helping the cause. Strategic philanthropy requires discipline and time, but those who practice it achieve more meaningful results. Regardless of whether generosity prompts donations or financial motivation was behind the gifts. You can follow the steps described below to develop a process that allows you to be more strategic as well as effective about giving.
What is effective giving?
There is indeed immense pleasure in giving, which motivates people. To donate and their ego by being able to stand by a social cause. It is a way to give back to the society which many people feel they should as an acknowledgment. And the expression of their gratitude about what the society has given to them. Simply said, philanthropic donations are a way of payback. And there can be other reasons too, which make people passionate about giving. But besides the pleasure derived from donating, philanthropists need to avoid. Flying blind as most of them are unaware of how to donate money well.
Philanthropy is indeed about helping the poor, but what happens on the ground could make you rethink the way you give money. The fact is that only one in every three dollars is meant to benefit marginalized or underserved communities.
For making donations meaningful, you must be sure that your philanthropic giving benefits those with the least power, wealth, and opportunity.
Advice from Jonah Engler – Determine a cause
There can be many reasons for people to donate or give money. But why you are donating is the first step. To take when you are developing an effective strategy. What motivates you to donate should be clear in your mind, which you can discover through introspection. If you have a history of donating for charity and other causes. You can review your previous donations to discover the underlying passions. Besides your experience in charitable giving, there is another way to ascertain where your philanthropic interest lies. Start asking yourself a few questions that can help to narrow your focus and direct at the right places of your interest. Consider the issues in your community that is of some concern to you. How much do you worry about future generations, and why? How do you wish people to remember you is another question to ask yourself.
Although these questions are not all-encompassing, it can help you make a start in identifying your priorities, passions. And values which, when taken together, should you determine what you want to achieve by adopting a strategy forgiving.
Involve your family
People achieve different objectives through philanthropic giving. Sometimes people express their beliefs and values through philanthropic giving, which also allows connecting with others in the family and beyond. The philanthropic acts tend to create a legacy that people wish to pass on to future generations. One way of making the experience more meaningful is to involve your family in the process of giving while establishing a future-oriented strategy that can keep the trend alive. Moreover, you can strengthen your strategy of giving by involving your family members. Who can bring their unique interests and strengths to the table that leads to developing more effective strategies. Your family members can make use of the opportunity to express their own goals. And passions, which give them the satisfaction of deeper engagement and may enhance the focus on the legacy you dream about.
Creating a bigger team within the family widens the scope of donations. Which gives more opportunities for fulfilling your passions and goals.
Create an impact
After you, along with your family, have chalked out the way forward by identifying the causes. That is important to you and your motivations for donating, you must next create a blueprint with well spelled out action items. Philanthropy involves skills when you intend to develop a personal approach. To philanthropy, and you must spend time and effort to learn it. You can start the process of self-learning by giving small amounts to a few causes and organizations while studying the impact of your gifts. With time, you acquire more knowledge and experience that helps to focus your efforts better to achieve the results that you have in mind.
You should be able to determine whether the process developed by you is making the right impact. But before that, you must understand the way you and your family look upon success. On knowing what you want to achieve, create strategies of giving that include various criteria. And milestones that help to measure the effectiveness of your efforts.
It takes time to determine the impact of donations, and you must have patience. And the flexibility of embarking on the long journey. Having a disciplined approach to philanthropic giving allows you and your family to stand for a cause. While ensuring the effectiveness of your efforts in philanthropy.