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You should become an outrageous giver. An outrageous giver is someone who gives beyond expectations. If you are going to give more than others expect, you should also raise your own personal expectations. Lift your expectations about how much you are going to give both now and into the future. Set your goal to become an outrageous giver.
WHY GIVE?
There are many reasons why you should give money away. The first is that you will make a difference. Giving money away allows you to contribute to the lives of others in a special way. This might be other people, or other organizations. Often you are able to make your money work in a way that is bigger than yourself; to multiply the effort of your money.
Secondly, giving is fun. It is fun to hand money to someone or some organization and to see the joy that you are giving. It is fun to see the smile on faces, or to hear stories of what your money is allowing others to do and achieve. It is satisfying to be making a difference in people’s lives.
Thirdly giving helps you to be more thankful. As you give money away you are doing so in recognition that you have received good things. You can be thankful for those good things by giving them away. Being thankful is an important step in being happy in life.
Giving also helps you to create an abundance mentality. The act of giving is an acknowledgment that you are ok without the money. If you are giving abundantly, that means that you are confident that you have enough money without it. You are portraying the mindset that money is in abundance. Note that this happens even if you don’t have a lot of money. The act of giving sets your mind to believing that you do; that money is abundant. And if you believe money is abundant you will more likely act in ways that create that abundance.
There is a clear connection that occurs between giving in receiving. The people that give money away tend to receive more back. I don’t think there is some magic reason for this happening, but I do think it works in our psychology. The combination of an abundance mentality and thankfulness puts you in a better attitude and state to attract money and opportunity to yourself.
HOW TO GIVE?
Get started - No matter whether you earn a lot of money, or very little, you should start giving now. Some people decide to wait until they are making a certain amount of money, or reach a certain age. Almost every time they express regret that they didn’t start giving early. You can make a difference by starting to give money away now. Even students living on very limited incomes benefit by giving money away.
Pick an amount - You should pick an amount that you want to give away. You may want to do this on a weekly basis, or monthly basis. You may choose an annual goal, but if you do be sure to break it down into monthly targets. It is often easiest to start with a percentage of your income. A good place to start is by giving 10% of your income. For some, this may seem like a lot, and yet if you set it up as an automatic gift each month you will hardly notice it. And yet, it will be able to make a significant difference in the lives of others.
Set goals to increase the amount – Once you have chosen how much you will give away to start with, set goals to increase that over time. You may be giving away 10% now, but you may have a goal to increase to 20%, 30% or even more over time. This increase may take many years to meet, but it can be an important motivator as you work towards bigger life goals.
Be anonymous – In your giving there are really two types of anonymity and both are valuable. One type is where no one knows who it was that gave the money. There is no record of the person giving the money. The only person that knows is you. The other type of anonymity is where you know and it is registered that you gave the money, however it is not made public. The benefit of this is that you receive a tax receipt. For example when I give to my church, they gift is recorded and a tax receipt is issued. Only a couple of people involved in the accounting process know about my gift. It is never announced or acknowledged otherwise. The government offers tax deductions for charitable donations because it is a practice that they want to encourage, and it is good stewardship to take advantage of those tax breaks. If you want, you can turn around and give your tax return away also!
More than money – you don’t need to give just money. You can give away possessions. This might be giving away used clothes to the Salvation Army or Goodwill. It might mean donating something around the house that you don’t use anymore. Someone I know recently donated a drum set that their kids didn’t use any more to a church. You can also donate your time by volunteering. Look for places to contribute with an investment of your time. This can often be extra rewarding as you are connected directly to the work that is taking place.
WHERE TO GIVE?
Support a meaningful cause – you may have a cause that is meaningful to you and that would be a great place to start with giving. Perhaps you lost a family member to diabetes and so supporting diabetes research would be a great place to start. Look for ways to give to that cause. Be sure to find something that is meaningful or passionate.
Support your local church, synagogue or worship community – if you attend a church, synagogue or similar community you should be involved in supporting it. Not only does it support the ongoing functions of the group itself, but faith organizations often provide an opportunity to pool funds and use them to accomplish things that individual donors would not have been able to do.
Support a microcredit entrepreneur – Microcredit is the issuing of small loans to people in poverty. They then use those loans to create businesses called income generating activities. It may mean purchasing a cow, or buying a sewing machine. This kind of entrepreneurship can play an important roll in poverty alleviation. While this is often done by large organizations, you can contribute as well. Kiva.org partners individual lenders with entrepreneurs in developing countries. You loan a small amount to them, and it is repaid back over the next year. You are then able to take the same money and loan it to another person.
Sponsor a child – There are many organizations that allow you to sponsor a child in a developing country. This can be a very rewarding form of giving. Your funds go to help pay for food, clothing and education for that child. You are able to send and receive letters from your sponsor child providing a hands-on connection to your giving.
Random acts – Look for opportunities to give as part of a random act. This might be giving a gift card for groceries to a neighbor who lost her job or box of diapers to new parents in your community. It might be buying flowers for someone or just giving money when needed. There are lots of opportunities to give as part of a random act.
You now know the why, the how and the where of giving. The next step is up to you. Just get started and you can become and abundant giver.
[...] » How to become an outrageous giver. [...]
2 caveats I can think of regarding this:
1)Make sure that the charity you give to is actually using the money for its primary goal. Charities employ professional fundraisers who charge a salary or a fee (depending on the circumstances) and sometimes the percentage allocated to them is high (I’d say 20% or more of donations is high). The best way to check that is to look through the financial statements which registered charities are obligated to produce, at least in the UK.
2) Make sure you actually have the resources to give! An obvious point, but one worth underlining – you can’t really help anyone out if you yourself are struggling. Once you have the resources, then you can start giving. These things come in cycles where in some years you may be down and need charity, and in others you may be in a position to give back.
Great post – and much needed call for people to be more generous in their giving and caring.
At the same time, be open to receiving! After al lif we were all giving, who would be doing the receiving?!
Over the last few years I have become better and more open at receiving. Whereas I was world class at giving (much to my mother’s chagrin!), I was closed to receiving even the smallest of compliments. Now I simply say “thank you” – which is actually music to the ears of the person giving.
A while back I wrote about giving and recieving which readers may also find of relevance here:-
http://www.arvinddevalia.com/blog/2007/01/12/give-and-receive/
Everyone has something positive to give. Great post.
Thanks for the comments.
@ Nelson
I agree with your additions. Certainly you want to make sure the charity is using the money for the purposes designated. That is one reason I believe in giving to an organization that you have a personal connection to.
And while I agree that you need to have the funds first, I worry that many people use that as an excuse. People can often start giving sooner, even if they only give a small amount. I know many students who do something simple like have a sponsor child. It is something small and it might mean sacrificing a night out, but it is really worth it.
cleaning out the closet is probably the easiest way to donate, particularly in this type of economy. My rule of thumb: if it hasn’t been worn/used in more than a year and it still looks decent, then I probably don’t need it and can donate it. Sometimes, I’ll find forgotten treasures that I can actually put into good use. But most importantly, if I don’t free up some space, where am I gonna put all my new clothes and gadgets?!
I like donating stuff. :)
I agree completely with K – we have so many things lying around our houses that we don’t use or need, that could be put to a much better use elsewhere :)
This is all nicely said and being giver is best thing in world. Article doesn’t seem to answer the most important question in first place.
How can someone starts really want to help others in emotional way? Many people know why is giving so awesome and they know how can they give, but they doesn’t want to give from their hearth.
i just realized that you referenced kiva.org in your post… i must have skipped the last two sentences. sorry about doubling up on that. good post. good resource. inspirational.
[...] guest post written and submitted – one published and one accepted for future [...]
Thanks for your blog. Its a great post.
[...] How to Become an Outrageous Giver (lifehack.org) [...]
Everyone has something positive to give. Great post.
[...] How to Become an Outrageous Giver (lifehack.org) [...]
[...] helping people? Which would you choose? Sounds like a stupid question, but did you know that givers end up earning more? Your question should not ask how much you can get in payment for your product or service until [...]
Great article. Reminds me of a fantasic book I read that relates to the power of giving. It’s called ” The Go-Giver… A little Story About a Powerful Business Idea.”
It is a great story/parable about a business who man learns the valuable lessons of giving in the world of business that is contrary to what he always believed to be truth about being successful.
I highly recommend it.
[...] The more you make, the more freedom you can give others. Lifehack gives you the goods on being an outrageous giver. [...]
Give whatever you can give and you shall you receive the blessings you never espect of
This is fantastic. Giving is also spiritual, becuase it comes from the heart, and really brings such joy to the giver. You get to see the faces of those you give to, or if you are annonymous, you have the satisfaction of doing your bit, being the solution, rather than the problem. Thanks
Colin
[...] helping people? Which would you choose? Sounds like a stupid question, but did you know that givers end up earning more? Your question should not ask how much you can get in payment for your product or service until [...]
As a pastor myself, I know how important it is to Give, not only through a church, but to other charities or good causes! This is what really makes the world go round. Not the Love of money. Those that love money are the ones that hate to part with it but also happen to be the ones that don’t mind asking for it when in need.
I’m proof that by giving you receive. Not as a formula to force a blessings upon someone, but as a way to prove that God is In Control. See how I supplement my income at http://20kweekly.com , which allows me to be a Big Giver.