As this semester is coming to an end, I have been thinking a lot about how my philanthropy may change after taking this course. Before, I never thought so in-depth about an organization; I simply donated because I thought I was helping out a good cause. In reality, there are many different things one should think about before donating. After doing the research that we did for this class, I know how I participated in philanthropy will change.
When I donated to specific causes, it was very impulsive. It was either a bake-sale at my high school, someone knocking at my dorm room door asking if I wanted to donate a dollar to a specific cause, or, like a blog post from last week, at the supermarket. I never knew if the money was going towards the organization that they said they were donating it to, nor did I really ever think about it. In addition, when I wasn't donating impulsively, I was donating to a cause that I cared about and that I felt a personal connection with. I never once thought about if they used their funds in an effective way, or if the money I was donating was going to operating costs, or the cause in general. In retrospect, my thought process is a little naive.
Now, after learning about different organizations and researching many to determine if they are a good candidate for our grant money, my personal philanthropy will change immensely. I will no longer impulsively donate to causes when people approach me, simply because there is no way I can tell if that money is even going to the organization, or if it is going into the pocket of that person. When I donate to a cause that I am personally connected to, I will now look into how their organization is made. Using Give Well and Charity Navigator, I will be able to determine if the organization is using its money effectively as well as if they donate a majority of their profits, or if they use it for managerial costs.
This class immensely changed how I think about donating. What about you? What's going to change with your philanthropy after this class ends?
I was thinking the same thing. For this entire semester at least once a week I've thought about philanthropy. Now that the semester is coming to an end I wonder what will change. This class has opened my philanthropy world in so many ways.
ReplyDeleteFrom researching organizations to knowing if my donation will be effective and assessing community needs, there are so many new ways to donate. With the $10,000 we have to donate we have to do the research and consider as many factors as possible. The grant money can make a huge impact on an organization. But when I donate after this class I'm not sure if I will donate the same. I don't have a lot of money to donate on my own therefore my donations would be very small. Since they would be so small I don't know if I would research an organization as much as I have done with this class because it wouldn't make as much of a difference. However, to make up for my lack of money I plan on continuing to participate in philanthropy through my organization on campus. If I can't make a donation I can volunteer and continue to help plan events that raise money for great causes.
I like to think that when I have a career and a stable job I will participate in philanthropy a lot more. My parents have always done so and it would be something I would like to do too. Being a college student really limits funds. However, when I have annual income I plan to donate a portion of it. This is when I would do my research again. I'd want to assess the community need around me and make sure my donations will be able to make an impact.
My approach to philanthropy had been very much like yours in the past, Kayleigh. An occasional bake-sale, an unenthusiastic "Yeah, sure." at the cash register, or some similar circumstance. These are always donations made in small amounts, and I never put any thought into them at all, and never even realized that I should be thinking about these things.
ReplyDeleteI think that, given the fact that we are responsible for the distribution of $10,000, it was important for us to learn how to give effectively. A few thousand dollars can make a huge impact on an organization. I don't believe that I would do this same amount of research in the future, if I were to only donate a few dollars as I have in the past. However, when I am in a position to donate larger sums in the future, I will put more thought into where my philanthropic donation goes.
What has really struck me the most throughout the course is the initial definition of philanthropy - love of mankind. While I am not currently in a position to give financially, or even to volunteer much of my time in between working and completing my education, I can, day in and day out, live my life in a way that demonstrates my love of humankind via interactions with the people that I encounter. I think that those daily acts of kindness, respect, and compassion are just as important, if not more important, than writing a check for a large sum of money.
I agree that this class has and will continue to have a vast impact on the way I approach philanthropy. Prior to our exploration of the various factors involved in donating to an organization, I made my judgements solely based on my own personal connection to the cause. I based my decisions on a "hunch" or a feeling that what the organization was doing was effective.
ReplyDeleteNow, my method of decision making will definitely prove to be more in depth and logical. We have adopted the skills that will allow us to effectively contribute to a cause and make the most of what we have to give. While this is a huge change in who I am and will be as a philanthropist, it is far from the only thing I absorbed from this course.
Much of this class contributed to a feeling of obligation to give that I now hold. I did use to feel as though I must give, but those feelings existed due to guilt and an emotional connection to the cause. Now, the feelings of obligation exist because I know how necessary my giving really is and the impact that a small portion of my time and monetary funds can have. The Singer book began to highlight this idea, but it was further developed through many other readings we have done throughout the semester.
I definitely agree with all of you that my way of approaching philanthropy is entirely different. Some of the things I have learned I feel will definitely stay with me, whereas others I feel will fall by the wayside once this class ends.
ReplyDeleteTo start, Peter Singer's book, "The Life You Can Save," is a book I believe I will always remember and constantly reference throughout my life. That book, while it was a bit extreme in its preaching, taught me a lot about the world and the larger picture of philanthropy, and what our ultimate goals should be in the long run. After reading that book, I realized I think very differently than I did before reading it. It taught me a lot about the circumstances of people in other countries as opposed to the United States, and many of the comparisons that were made will stay with me for a very long time.
I also agree that the decision making process from this point on will be much more in depth than it has been in the past. I never thought there could be so much to deliberate when choosing to donate to an organization, and I also previously had the notion that all non-profit organizations were great organizations and would donate to any of them. Now, I know that some organizations, while their mission statements may be good-hearted and ambitious, do not actually perform up to acceptable standards. I will now be much more cautious and research an organization before donating large sums of money. Yet, I think I will still continue to donate small sums of money at the register and for bake sales, for example, because the risk is not great enough to outweigh the possible benefits of donating.
I have learned so much from this class, and, overall, my method of philanthropy will be much more informed and much more generous. I am an extremely fortunate and blessed person, and after reading "The Power of Half" and talking with Kevin Salwen, I realize that I can be giving so much more than I have in the past, and I will still be able to survive and live a comfortable life. This realization, paired with the critical thinking skills I have learned from this class, I have high hopes for my philanthropy in the future.
I agree with you Dina. Even though this class has taught me a great number of ideas on philanthropy, I will not stop giving to small at the register charities. These charities may not be the best, but giving daily is very important for both the giver and the receiver. I also claim that the effect of giving is so positive on the giver that we should all give to small charities just for the feeling that we did something good. This feeling is extremely powerful in making us better people, which is much more important to me than three or four dollars a week. This is not to say that I will only donate small amounts of money on impulse. I plan on having the ability to donate a significant amount of my money and/or time to charities that I have previously researched and decided that they are effective.
ReplyDeleteI think that we should leave the class with the ability to know how to identify a charity that deserves our money, but to also continue giving to other charities on impulse. This is because if we start not giving small amounts to charities. We can start to unconsciously stop donating at all because of small faults we find within charities that we would otherwise give to.