Gena Rotstein's blog

What does your past charitable giving say about you?

Does your past giving reflect what you are truly trying to accomplish with your philanthropic dollars?

Before you can create a philanthropic strategy for the future, you need to know where you are starting from; not just how much you want to invest in the charitable sector.

Since it is tax season, let's do an activity.  Did you know that only 25% of Canadians who make charitable investments claim their charitable receipts on their taxes?  Pull out your charitable receipts (even if you are not claiming them) and put them into the following piles:

- Annual investment out of obligation

- Annual investment because I believe in the cause

- One time donation (therefore not investing in the cause)

Once you have divided up the recieipts how many of the donations are inline with your own personal or family values?  Do your "One Time Donations" out number those that you are personally connected to?  What about the charitable investments that you made out of obligation - was that for business purposes (a client asked you), you "owed" a friend a favour, you made a commitment to your child's school?

Looking at the annual investments that you made because you believe in the cause and the organization is inline with your values - are there more or fewer receipts in this pile?  If there are fewer, why is that? 

Now that you know your giving pattern, do you know how your money was invested within the organization?  When you make an investment in the stock market, or purchase a house, or buy a car do you ask what you are getting for your money?  The same approach should be made with your charitable investments.  As a donor you have a right to ask how your money is being invested within the organization.  Make sure you exercise that right.

Imagine Canada, Charity Village and the Association of Fundraising Professionals all have versions of the Donor Bill of Rights and Ethical Fundraising.  As a philanthropic investor you should know if the agencies you are investing have adopted one of these documents.  The way to find out... ASK.

Under the resources section of this website you will find both the Donor Bill of Rights and the Code of Ethical Fundraising.

Welcome to Dexterity Consulting's first blog!  I am very excited about the prospect of exchanging ideas and information about Canada's philanthropic sector.  Whenever possible, resources and links will be provided so that you can continue to ask questions and seek answers.  Of course, I welcome your comments and queries.

The first topic I would like to post is on the methodology of giving.  Much of what has been written on this topic is from the perspective of the non-profit organization or as a psychological analysis of why people give.  What I am interested in sharing is the HOW behind effective philanthropy.

What are your reasons for making a charitable donation?

Is it your affinity towards the organization?

Perhaps it is the person who is asking you for the donation?

Did you volunteer your time with them at some point?

Did you seek their services and this is a way of "paying back"?

In thinking about why you give to the agencies that you give to, have you considered the ripple effect of that donation?  How many people were helped?  How many mouths were fed?  But beyond that, as a result of feeding those people how many were then able to pay attention in school and get a scholarship to university thereby breaking the cycle of poverty? 

Did you even know that you could measure this type of impact?

The first step in philanthropic giving is to think about the impact you would like to have.  The impact can be in your household (engaging your family in philanthropy), in your community or even globally.  That may seem daunting at first, so let's break it down.

Your Household:

Who lives in your home?

What are your family connections?  How have you defined family?

Think about everyone in your home (including your pet!) - Does your current giving reflect them?

Is your family in the same city as you?  Is where you reside, the same place as where you call home?  Does your current giving reflect this geographical distinction?

There are probably many other questions around family and how you give.  By using the above questions as a stepping stone, you will begin to see how your family impacts the way you conduct your philanthropy.

Your Community:

What does your community look like?

Is it religiously or ethnically based?

How do political parties play into your charitable giving?  Yes, even a donation to your local MLA is part of your philanthropic investment.  If you think about it, the ripple effect of that donation could have a major impact on others in your community. 

Have you considered how some of your donations might be in conflict with each other? 

In ranking your priorities, does community play a larger role in your philanthropic activities than your family philanthropy?  Is this intentional?

Has direct interaction with a community agency influenced your philanthropic priorities?  For example, your child received care from the children's hospital so you make an annual donation to the foundation.

These questions are designed to get you thinking about how you are connected to community.

Now let's look at how your philanthropic investments are situated globally.

Global Connections:

In what way do you actively participate with the global community?

What are your consumer choices?  Do you buy items manufactured overseas?  Do you make conscious choices to buy locally sourced items?

Do you travel?  How do you travel?

Do you engage in cultural exchanges (from eating out to attending special events)?

Are you conscious about the impact that your decisions are having on communities beyond your immediate circle?

How you engage the world in another value-set that should be considered as part of your philanthropic plan.

Philanthropic Plan???

Yes, philanthropic plan.  Just as you create a plan for your finances, you should plan for your charitable giving.  By doing so you will ensure that you are achieving the impact that you want to have.  More importantly, a philanthropic plan provides you with the tools so that you are able to hold your recipient agencies accountable for the investment.

So what are the pieces of the plan?  The next few entries will be about mapping your values as they pertain to your family, community and the globe.  This map will be the framework for the types of organizations you should be investing your philanthropic dollars in.