Give Together, Grow Together: Strengthen Your Family Through Charitable Giving
“The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own.”
~ Benjamin Disraeli
Think you’re too busy to get involved in local philanthropy projects until life “settles down?” You might be surprised to know that there are solid reasons to start - or expand—your involvement now—and one of them is to teach your children the values of charitable giving and service while they’re still under your roof.
Encouraging young people to support philanthropy obviously benefits the charitable organizations you serve. But it also helps children learn teamwork while gaining empathy and perspective, and builds family togetherness. So many of my clients feel anxious that their children and grandchildren will develop a sense of entitlement surrounding money, rather than a grateful, giving attitude and a humble work ethic. They worry their kids won’t make good financial choices.
When we truly give, we don’t expect anything in return. Yet, charitable involvement provides unexpected dividends in shaping good values and habits. It also introduces children to financial concepts in real-time: sharing even a little bit of my own resources can make a big difference to someone else. It’s not surprising that participating in charity has been shown to improve children’s self-esteem. And perhaps most importantly, it gives them awareness of the impact that they can make in people’s lives.
The first step is to find a volunteer project that your family can do together. Collect ideas and discuss it with your children; what are they most interested in? If you’re not sure where to begin, contact your local community foundation—a publicly-supported non-profit organization found in most communities - that gives to a variety of nonprofits and community groups. As a board member myself of the local foundation, I’m a little partial—but I see the community foundation as a great place to start. The staff may also be able to help direct you to organizations looking for volunteers and those best suited for younger volunteers.
Giving isn’t just financial. We can also give of our time and our talents. Your foundation may also be able to direct you to a giving circle, for example. In addition to donating their money, members of a giving circle often contribute their time and skills to support local causes. In our case, the Women’s Giving Circle offers junior memberships, which we’ve found is a great way to introduce children to philanthropy. The junior members were recently invited to a hands-on event called “Girls Giving Back.” They visited a popular and successful organization serving young girls in our area—Girls’ Inc.—and spent time with the girls in the program, and then got a non-profit education from the director (including the importance of the board of directors, donors, having a budget). And during the next granting period, the junior members will literally get a seat at the table to discuss how to direct their allocation of grant dollars.
I’ve seen firsthand how this involvement resonates and makes an impact - both in the lives of the recipients of the charity - and the individuals who give. The response to the Girl’s Inc. visit was overwhelmingly positive; for the girls who have never known friends or classmates to be less fortunate, they walked away recognizing “those girls are just like us.”
You are probably already giving in some form or fashion. Consider doing it with your family and watch them grow. Get out and do something together!
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