It is hard to believe this is the 10th year we have asked for your support of the "Kate Singer Endowment for Cranio-Facial Research" at Dell Children's Hospital. As you may remember, when Kate was born in 2002 she had to undergo major surgery to correct a condition known as Sagital Synostosis. The bones in her head had fused together, and she needed to have much of the top of her skull removed to allow her brain to grow. At the time we did not have the most state of the art children's medical facilities in Central Texas. Kate was operated on by the amazing doctors at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego (if you would like to donate to Rady Children's Hospital, we have established a similar fund for that foundation). Upon the opening of the new Dell Children's Medical Center in Austin, we began donating money and fundraising to help with research for kids born with similar issues. Today, between the two endowments (Austin and San Diego), we have raised over $60,000. Let's help that grow! Please take a moment and donate any amount. We have proven over the years that small donations add up to real numbers (I call it "Compounded Generosity"). DONATE NOW (look on the pull down menu for Kate Singer Endowment). Thank you. Thom, Sara, Jackie and Kate Singer.
For the 8th year in a row our family is hosting a fundraiser for Cranio-Facial Research at Dell Children's Medical Center. As many of you know, Kate was born with a condition called Sagital Synostosis, and required surgery to rebuild her skull at age six-months. At the time there was no Dell Children's Medical Center in Central Texas, thus we had to search outside of our community to find the right doctors who would operate on Kate and give her a fresh start in life. Since the opening of Dell Children's our family has supported the hospital with regular donations and the hosting of this annual fundraiser.
We celebrate Kate, now age 13, each February by raising money to help others who are born with Cranio-Facial abnormalities. One might think that a small donation does not matter, but over time these fundraisers and our contributions have grown to over $50,000 at both Dell Children's and Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. Your support of this effort is making a lasting impact.
Each week on this blog I enjoy highlighting some of the cool things my friends do in their personal and professional lives.
My friend Kim Trumbo is writing a children's book about generosity, and has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the money to produce the book. ***I met Kim through my podcasting adventure (there are so many cool people in the podcast community). She has a great soul and I am happy to feature her project as week #122 of "Cool Things My Friends Do". This story is about a generous giraffe named "George" who is very generous and teaches kids about generosity. Kim's passion in the past year has been hosting a podcast called, "Generosity Philosophy." With the podcast she highlight stories of people who are out in our world doing generous acts and deeds. It's very encouraging and inspiring to hear these stories. With the podcast she has been encouraging the adults and teens who listen to give back to others and be a bit more generous in their lives.
While, encouraging adults and teens is all good and dandy, she wanted to write a children's book to promote generosity to younger kids as well.
With this book Kim hopes children all over the world will smile, giggle, and be inspired by George and his animal friends. Additionally, she wants to encourage them to begin thinking about generosity and how they can help others in need.
The Singer Family would like to say "Thank You" to everyone who supported our 7th Annual February Fundraiser for the "Kate Singer Endowment for Cranio-Facial Research" at the Dell Children's Medical Center. As you may know, Kate (now age 12 and FABULOUS) was born with a medical condition that caused the bones in her skull to prematurely fuse. She underwent major surgery at age 6-months, and today is doing great. Our family donates a portion of the fees I earn as a professional speaker to a research endowment we created at both our local Children's Hospital in Austin and Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego (where Kate had her surgery). Each February we invite our friends, family and others to donate to the cause. Over the years the two endowments have grown to about $40,000 (and we are not going to stop!). Our efforts at fundraising last month topped $2200. Donations from $10 and up all came together and added up to this meaningful amount. (It is not too late to donate... CLICK HERE). Thank you to all who supported the cause in 2014. Have A Great Day. thom singer
Kate was born with a condition called Sagital Synostosis, and required surgery to rebuild her skull at age six-months. At the time there was no Dell Children's Medical Center in Central Texas, thus we had to search outside of our community to find the right doctors who would operate on Kate and give her a fresh start in life.
Since the opening of Dell Children's our family has supported the hospital with donations and hosting this annual fundraiser.
We celebrate Kate each February by raising money to help others who are born with Cranio-Facial abnormalities. Thank you for your support of this great cause!
Each Friday on this blog I enjoy highlighting some of the cool things my friends do in their personal and professional lives.
I saw the news on Facebook - My friend Laurie Loew ofGive Realty, Inc. has now crossed the $300,000 level in donations to local charities through her unique way of combining her business to philanthropy. WOW. Laurie is the founder of Give Realty, a boutique Real Estate company in Austin, Texas. She and her team believe in giving back to the community - and they do it with every sale. They donate 25 % of their commissions to a 501(c)3 nonprofit of the buyer’s or seller’s choice (in their name, not the name of the company!). Their mission is to make the world a better place by fostering philanthropy through home ownership. At Give Realty they inspire their clients to engage in the nonprofit community and encourage long term involvement. They help clients realize that in achieving their dream, they can help those facing adversity achieve their own.
Supporting the community is important to Laurie. I originally met her when we both served on the board of a local children's charity, Heart House Austin (now The BeHive Austin). She was a dedicated board member and I was always impress with her ability to follow through on all she said she would do (I have written before about "Follow Through DNA" - Laurie Loew has that trait!!!).
Congratulations to Laurie and the team at Give Realty for making a real impact on our community!!!
Little actions add up over time. Financial planners advise clients to begin saving for retirement early, because there is amazing power in a lifetime of compounded interest. The same thing is true for giving to a cause. If you start early and give small amounts of time or money, consistently, over a lifetime you will have an amazing impact and create a meaningful legacy. If you wait until you are rich to support philanthropic causes, you may never contribute in a significant manner. Sure, if you make it BIG (think Bill Gates, Michael Dell, etc...) you may have the ability to write giant checks, but most people will not create wealth at that level (nor will they win the lotto). But with intention anyone can serve their communities. Small amounts of time and money over a lifetime will add up. When done properly, and tracked effectively, there is an amazing impact of "Compounded Generosity". I used to believe you had to be rich to impact a charity. There was a specific incident where a fundraiser made me feel insignificant because I could not write a check for $10,000. I wanted to help, but was dismissed. Too many philanthropic organizations focus exclusively on those they identify as wealthy, but it does not have to be that way. Six years ago my family pledged a small percentage of the fees I earn as a professional speaker to a research fund at our local Children's Hospital though a named giving endowment for to the hospital's foundation . Two years ago we expanded this giving to include a similar fund at the hospital where our child received treatment a decade earlier. The checks we send are small. On our daughter's birthday we host a minor fundraiser each year. These donations, coupled with the success of the investments done by the foundations have grown over time to equal a substantial amount that has been marked for research and other needs of the institutions we support. And we are just getting started. A commitment to a cause over many years can grow into something more than you could have ever imagined. My wife and I do not come from families that have our names on the walls of hospitals. We are not seeking to build our own charitable foundation or create a new charity. However, through a commitment to giving small targeted amounts, and in being steadfast with our giving in good times and bad, the endowment funds continue to grow. It was not hard to establish these two endowments. They were promissory agreements (not legally binding contracts). Not not all charities are set up to manage giving endowments, but they can do so with little effort. Some organizations scoff at the thought that someone who is not financially established will keep up their giving commitment, and others worry about their ability to track and manage the funds. Yet future focused non-profits should not turn down what can amount to tens of thousands of dollars (or hundreds of thousands of dollars) over the long-run. I am on a personal mission to inspire 10,000 entrepreneurs to discover a cause that matters to them and to create their own giving programs. You do not need to found your own organizations and hire people to run them. This is about partnering with existing and reputable programs and working together with them over time to build an endowment that can have amazing impact. I received a note this week from an small business owner who heard me talk about our giving program. This was not the topic of this particular presentation, but I mentioned how we came to our pledge to give. She said she has now identified her cause and was going to move forward to support it for the long run. Like my family, she could not write a single check for $10,000.... but she can give small amounts consistently going forward. How about you? Are you ready to join the ranks of those who promote Compounded Generosity? This is not about giving to my cause, it is about finding your own.... but then taking action to be committed for the long run. It adds up faster than you might think. And no amount is insignificant. It matters. Let me know what you do to give. Have A Great Day. thom singer
Each Friday on this blog I enjoy highlighting some of the cool things my friends do in their personal and professional lives.
I had the honor to meet Ryan Surber and Nora Harding from MyCharityLife. They are part of a team that is growing the MyCharityLife program and taking it across the country with the mission of getting young people engaged with giving. I was taken in by their story and think they are doing something very cool. Ryan has dedicated himself to this cause and is building a way for people to give small amounts, over time, and then watch their philanthropic endeavors grow to serve charities in their local markets. He and Nora are currently visiting 100 cities to share the message, but are calling "home" a split between Austin, Texas and Des Moines, Iowa. MyCharityLife began a little over two years ago. Since that time Ryan has sold his financial services practice, downsized his life and possessions, bought a touring rig consisting of a 33’ 1999 Bluebird and 28’ trailer that serves as their home, mobile office, mobile video production studio, mobile tradeshow booth, and their party-on-the-go.
The creative team is made up of a great crew from Des Moines and Bangladesh, and two of them were even crazy enough to join him on the road in launching MyCharityLife to 100 cities over the next 52 weeks.
There are so many reasons to give back, and Ryan strongly believes that the millennial generation wants to give back while being heard. He has been an active part of leading this generation in different ways to do good and give back for over a decade, and MyCharityLife is the best of these movements and organizations.
If you are moved by what they are doing, then get involved: Create a profile, build a personal charity portfolio, and commit to funding that portfolio every month. Host a meet-up in your town, or maybe even get a few leaders together to create a local MyCharityLife team. This can become something very personal in this world of social media. And the world needs more givers!!!
Each year we celebrate Kate's Birthday with a fundraiser for our family's "giving endowment" to Dell Children's Hospital. We donate 5% of my earned speaking fees between two funds (one at Dell Children's in Austin and the other at Rady Children's in San Diego). Kate was born with a condition called Sagital Synostosis which caused the bones in her head to prematurely fuse. She was had surgery, and today is doing great. This year we raised $1980.00 from donations from friends, family, colleagues, and others who supported our 6th annual fundraiser. THANK YOU http://www.childrensaustin.org/cmcf/mf-kate-singer Have A Great Day. thom singer
Eleven years ago Kate was born with a condition called Sagital Synostosis, and required surgery to reconstruct her skull.
At the time there was no Dell Children's Medical Center in Central Texas, thus we had to search outside of our community to find the right doctors who would operate on Kate and give her a fresh start in life.
We donate 5% of all speaking fees that I earn to funds we have created at both Dell Children's Hospital and Rady Children's Hospital (where Kate was operated on in San Diego), and each February we celebrate Kate with this online fundraiser.
Today Kate is doing great, but one in 3000 children are born with some type of cranio-facial abnormality. We ask you to support the research for this important cause.
Each Friday on this blog I enjoy highlighting some of the cool things my friends do in their work and personal lives.
Richard Bagdonas is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, family guy and all around good person. I have known Richard for several years, and I fondly call him "the hugger", as his friendly nature is his calling card. He greeted me with a big hug the second time I ever met him. In addition to a successful career in the technology community (he has founded several companies including one of Austin's hottest start-ups - SubtleData), Richard founded Operation Turkey in 2000. Operation Turkey is an Austin non-profit that feeds and clothes the homeless and less fortunate on Thanksgiving Day. It all began with one person and some left-overs. He plated up the extra Thanksgiving feast and gave it to a few homeless people on Austin's 6th Street.
This year in Austin 2,200 volunteers fed over 4,600 in Austin's homeless community. Think about how cool that is.... 4,600 people with no place to go for the holiday meal were able to eat a traditional Thanksgiving feast. Wow.
Operation Turkey has grown beyond Austin and even Texas. Both Dallas and San Marcos have joined in the Operation Turkey goodness and last week volunteers in each city handed out 1,000 meals. There were 30 other participating cities around the country.
The purpose is to provide a warm meal, clothing and toiletries to the most vulnerable members of our communities. Richard is most pleased that this program has captured the hearts of so many people in the community. The Travis County Sheriff's Department, Austin's Police Department, the Department of Health and Human Services and countless other organizations have adopted Operation Turkey.
If you would like to support this cause you can visit the website at www.operationturkey.com. From there you can donate your time, financial resources or food and clothing donations.
In keeping with the weekly tradition of "Cool Things My Friends Do"... this is really cool that one man's idea can have such impact on many people near and far.
Each Friday on this blog I enjoy highlighting some of the cool things my friends do in their work and personal lives.
My friend Josh DeFord cares. In 2009 he helped found the Global Human Progress Foundation with his friend Anaclet Barega. Anaclet had grown up in DR Congo and moved his family to Austin, Texas in 2006 where he met Josh.
After working together for a couple of years Anaclet and Joshua developed a lasting friendship. Joshua began learning about the immense suffering Anaclet's friends and neighbors were forced to endure in Africa. Anaclet suggested to Joshua that they start an organization to build schools and help address areas of suffering in DR Congo.
This was the birth of the Global Human Progress Foundation, a 501 (C) 3.
In the spring of 2012 Josh and Anaclet took a trip to Africa to visit the two schools in DR Congo they have helped support. The story of their adventure through the war torn region is like a movie. To hear Josh recount the two weeks in Africa is an amazing story in human suffering and endurance. His photos, videos and first hand accounts of the lives of the people in this part of the world is unlike anything most Americans will ever encounter.
Anaclet did not return to Austin. He became ill and died while in his native land, leaving behind a wife and three children in Austin.
Josh is heart broken over the loss of his friend, but he is not letting this tragedy sideline his desire to help those in need. He is looking to share his story and raise money to fund the two schools the foundation already supports, and to possibly start a third school.
If your organization in Austin, Texas is looking for a speaker.... Contact Josh atjoshua (at) globalhumanprogress.org. His recounting of the trip to Africa will leave your audience in awe of the conditions of those living in this part of the world. If you are seeking a way to make an impact... Contact Josh at joshua (at) globalhumanprogress.org. The organization is small, but it has a direct impact on the lives of kids who when not in school are forced into the mineral mines.
To celebrate Kate's 10th Birthday we are again hosting a fundraiser for the Cranio-Facial doctors at Dell Children's Hospital in Austin.
Kate was born with Sagital Synostosis, a condition that caused the bones in her head to fuse together. To correct this situation she underwent surgery to reconstruct her skull at age six-months.
We were fortunate, today Kate is fabulous. She is smart, funny, enjoys school, and brings a smile to all who know her.
When she was born there was not a state-of-the-art medical facility for children in Austin, Texas. She was treated by wonderful doctors at Rady Children's Hospital of San Diego. Since that time a new hospital has opened in Central Texas, and for the past five years we have supported the research efforts of these local doctors with the "Kate Singer Endowment for Cranio-Facial Surgery and Research" (In 2010 we began donating to a similar fund in San Diego).
We donate part of the fees I earn as a professional speaker, and each year on Kate's birthday we host this fundraiser. Please join us by making a donation of any size.
Thank you,
The Singer Family:
(Thom, Sara, Jackie and Kate)
Update: We raised 25% of the goal in the first 48 hours of February. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE!!!
This was the 4th year that we celebrated Kate's Birthday with a fundraiser for Dell Children's Medical Foundation. Kate is now nine-years-old and doing great, but when she was six-months-old she had surgery to rebuild her skull to correct a condition known as Sagittal Synostosis.
A few years ago we established the "Kate Singer Endowment for Cranio-Facial Research". We donate 5% of all speaking fees I earn in my career as a professional speaker to this fund and a similar fund at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego.
Each February we ask our friends to help support this cause with donations of any size. Donations from $10 to $1000 were pooled together and we surpassed the fund raising goal for 2011 of $3000. This is the highest level in the four years we have been hosting this fundraiser.
THANK YOU for your support. The financial contributions and the "good vibes" sent by the readers of this blog help make a difference for other kids born with cranio-facial abnormalities.
My strongest memory of SXSW 2010 was at a rooftop party when the SXSW party goers spontaneously raised $300 toward the purchase of a wheel chair for the nephew of one attendee. The young man was paralyzed temporarily, and the family could not afford a wheel chair.
Many people want to do more than just create a "Killer App", they want to impact the greater good. But the media only covers how the rich and successful donate, and it leaves others thinking they have no place in philanthropy.
There are so many ways in social media and live to impact charities and individuals in need (not just money), it just takes a little dedication and creativity.
This panel will bring together four people who help a variety of causes. Together they will show entrepreneurs and others how they can, with minimal effort, make HUGE contributions to society.
This panel is scheduled for Monday, March 14, 2011 at 12:30 PM.
I will moderate the panel.
The experts are:
Beth Krueger Executive Director atHeart House
Beth Krueger has more than 20 years as a professional non-profit manager. Krueger has built strategies, developed programs, raised funds, and served as a part of the leadership team for a variety of non-profits including those in animal welfare, social services, and professional association management. A passionate advocate for organizations that enrich the community, Krueger has served as an officer in the Austin Chapter of the Association for Fundraising Professionals and was the 2003 Fundraiser of the Year. She has served on the grants distribution committee for St. David’s Episcopal Church and is a 2008 graduate of Leadership Austin.
Estrella Rosenberg Founderof Big Love Little Hearts
Estrella Rosenberg is the Founder of Big Love Little Hearts, an organization that helps children with heart defects in developing countries get lifesaving surgery. She is also the Host of 501 Mission Place, an online learning community for non-profit leaders. She blogs at Adventures In Philanthropy and is @charityestrella on twitter.
Eugene Sepulveda CEOEntrepreneurs Foundation
Eugene Sepulveda believes children can make an impact in charity and every single adult even more. Last year, through the Entrepreneurs Foundation over 8,600 Austin children ran lemonade stands, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for themselves and their favorite charities, while learning about entrepreneurship. The Entrepreneurs Foundation practices disruptive innovation in philanthropy, helps make nonprofits profitable and promotes entrepreneurship. Every year, he and his staff at the Entrepreneurs Foundation help hundreds of employees and entrepreneurs identify the intersection of their skills, their passions and community needs to best channel their charitable involvement. As a business professor at the University of Texas teaching social entrepreneurship & international business, Eugene’s undergraduate and MBA students provided tens of thousands of consulting hours helping nonprofits better reach, define and otherwise support their missions. Eugene’s served in leadership roles on the boards of numerous foundations and nonprofits including the Austin Community Foundation, the Human Rights Campaign, the KDK-Harman Foundation, Leadership Austin, the Austin Museum of Art, PeopleFund and the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. He’s involved with national and international charities, most recently raising over $1.5 million for Haiti earthquake relief – raising over $4mm for charity and politics the last two years. He also serves on President Obama's national finance committee and as co-chair for the LGBT Leadership Council. Eugene and his husband, Steven Tomlinson, established ABPorter.org to support art and conversations which build community.
Ray Blue Senior Development Director at Dell Children's Medical Center
Ray Blue joined Dell Children’s Medical Center Foundation in 2009 as Senior Director of Development responsible for major and planned giving. Prior joining Dell Children’s, Ray was Vice President of Development at United Way Capital Area in Austin, Texas. With over 15 years of development experience, Ray is trained in consultative sales strategy and relationship centered donor practices. He received a BA in Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and a Masters of Divinity at Emory University. Ray lives in Austin with his wife Sally and daughter Ruby.
To celebrate we are hosting a fundraiser for Dell Children's Medical Center. We are specifically raising money for the doctors who run the Cranio-Facial program.
Kate was born with Sagital Synostosis, and underwent major surgery as an infant.
Today she is great, but one in 3000 kids are born with cranio-facial abnormalities.
Donate Today. Any amount can help make a difference for kids that are born facing these types of issues. It matters to the kids and their families... we know.
****FYI, we donate part of all speaking fees I earn as a professional speaker to endowments at Dell Children's Medical Center in Austin, and Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego.
Kate is turning nine-years-old and we are celebrating with a fundraiser for Dell Children's Medical Center.
I hope that if you are a regular reader of this blog, and find any value, that you will donate to this cause. Even $10 makes a difference!
Nine years ago Kate was born with SagitalSynostosis, a condition that caused the bones in her head to fuse together. To fix this situation she underwent surgery to reconstruct her skull. We were fortunate, today Kate is fabulous. She is smart, funny, enjoys school and dance, and brings a smile to all who know her.
When she was born there was not a state-of-the-art medical facility for children in Austin, Texas. She was treated by wonderful doctors at Children's Hospital of San Diego. Since that time a new hospital has opened in Central Texas, and for the past four years we have supported the research efforts of these local doctors with the "Kate Singer Endowment for Cranio-Facial Surgery and Research" (In 2010 we began donating to a similar fund in San Diego).
We donate part of the fees I earn as a professional speaker, and each year in February, to celebrate Kate's birthday, we host this fundraiser on my blog. Please join us by making a donation of any size.
The January 2011 Leadership Austin Engage Breakfast Series featured Justin Evans (Capital One Bank) and Matt Kouri (Greenlights for NonProfit Success) talking about how Non-Profits and For-Profit organizations can better work together.
The sold-out crowd packed the private meeting room at ChezZee Restaurant. Attendees were a mix of those who worked for charitable groups and corporations.
Whether you work for a company, or are just a person sorting your own mail, you are constantly receiving envelopes with requests for donations to support some cause. In all economic conditions charities are seeking money to allow them to serve their constituencies.
Many philanthropies host big events where they seek company support, promising to provide the business with exposure to the community. These become "Logo-Soup Galas", where banner after banner of corporate logos cover the walls. In the end there are so many logos, that none are noticed.
So what?
In today's world a non-profit must do more than promise to promote a corporate sponsor on the website, invitation, and event brochure. Companies can do a better job of buying their own advertising. Better is to help link them to an experience that will bring along PR opportunities. The media does not "like" corporations, but they "love" charities!
Smart non-profits are working in partnerships to create unique experience based ways for companies to get noticed. American Express is running a very creative charitable campaign in conjunction with the hit TV Show Glee, and getting a lot of attention for their efforts (I have not seen these ads, but others in the audience nodded in agreement!).
Locally Sweet Leaf Tea donates 1% of their profits to local charities, and is always participating in positive charity events passing out their delicious teas and lemonades. This has become part of their culture, PR, and the experience of all who know them and buy their products.
Corporations that are not engaged with giving back are starting to experience a competitive disadvantage. People expect the businesses they hire, and where they work, to be good citizens. 62% of Generation Y want to work for companies that allow them to volunteer in a meaningful way. If your company is not paying attention to this you are missing out on recruiting and retention tools.
Austin has more charities, per capita, than just about any other city in the United States (the most in the Southwest). This means that non-profits are in competition with each other for a limited number of dollars. We are starting to see mergers of non-profits so that they can maximize their effectiveness, and create economies of scale. If two similar organizations become one, they might double their chance of winning the money that might be given to their cause!
The most interesting statistic I heard at this breakfast was that 75% of all charitable giving in the United States comes from individuals.... NOT corporations, churches or philanthropic foundations! (Did you know that? I did not!). This reinforces my own themes that "You Do Not Need To Be Rich To Impact A Charity" and ""Non-Profits Need To Get Beyond 'Elephant Hunting' When Seeking Donations".
I am leading a panel at the 2011 South by Southwest Interactive conference on this very topic (You Can Impact Charity Without Being Rich)..... if you will be at SXSW, I hope you will come and listen.
The December 2010 issue of Money Magazine has a great article by Dan Kadlec about philanthropy. "How To Give Like A Billionaire" chronicles the things that Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg, and other uber-rich do when they support worthy causes. Recently Buffett famously urged his peers to give away half their wealth, and while the average person cannot part with half, there are lots of things we can do to have a greater impact in our charitable efforts.
Several years ago I approached a famous local philanthropist at a networking event and asked how I could help with a local cause, of which he was spear-heading the fund-raising efforts. He asked me if I could write a check for $10,000 (or more). When I replied "No", he turned his attention to others in the cluster of people, as if I had just evaporated into thin air. No "big check" meant I was invisible to this man and his cronies.
This exchange hurt my feelings and put a sour taste in my mouth about philanthropy for several years.
Three years ago I gave it another try. When I became a professional speaker and started earning extra money from my presentations, training workshops, and EmCee-ing events, my wife and I decided that we wanted to connect our successes to a worthy cause. We approached the Dell Children's Medical Foundation (the new Dell Children's Hospital was just opening its doors in Central Texas). We selected this charity because our youngest daughter, Kate, had been born with a medical condition that required major surgery when she was an baby. We had to look out of the area for the best level of doctors and facilities, because Austin did not have a "state-of-the -art" children's hospital at that time. With this new medical center, other families who faced similar issues in the future would not need to travel to find the best care.
The staff of the Foundation were wonderful, and helped us set up the "Kate Singer Endowment for Cranio-Facial Research". We pledged 5% of the money I earn through speaking fees to this cause, and by making small donations consistently over three years the money has added up. This year we met our first giving milestone, and have directed our giving to a similar endowment at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego (where Kate received her treatment 8 years ago). When we reach an equal amount in donations we will split our efforts to 2.5% to each hospital into the future.
Had we given small amounts to many random charities (who call on the phone at dinnertime) we could never see the impact that our donations can have in the long run. By selecting one or two causes and being dedicated to the giving plan, you can better understand how your dollars add up over time.
The Money article sights several things that regular folks can do to borrow a few pages from the playbook for the super rich, and do more for favorite causes without giving away a fortune:
*Write bigger checks to fewer charities
*Plan out your giving for the year and take the time to research charities
*Give away highly appreciated assets
*Round up your like-minded friends and pool your charitable resources (we do a fundraiser on this blog every February to raise money and awareness for Dell Children's Medical Center).
*Work giving into your estate planning
*Open a donor-advised fund to spread your giving over time
*Give time to your favorite cause.
I hope that people will not feel that giving is reserved for the rich, and that negative experiences like I had with that wealthy "philanthropist" will not sour them on the idea of making a difference. Additionally I want charities to look beyond the "elephant hunting" tactics of seeking only rich donors. Seeking to make connections with average people who will consistently give, and then cherishing their contributions as much as they do the "big checks", can have an even greater effect on an organization than simply getting money.
There is a disconnect between what people want and what they have. Human beings are seekers. We seek more money, love, spirituality, adventure, sex, knowledge, experiences, etc...
In discussions with clients I am discovering that many people are frustrated. The economy seems to be in a holding pattern of uncertainty, and the lack of options have many people feeling stuck. It has been over two years of economic uncertainty, and for most of us that is the first time we have lived through this type of financial downturn.
We have become conditioned to fast results. The recent political election goes beyond the politics of left vs. right. People do not change ideology in an instant, but instead they are looking for the quick fix and assume new leadership in Congress will bring new results.
Employees are frustrated with their companies. If they have survived this long through the rough times, they are more than ready to see some of the good times return. They want to go seek something new, but the reality of their obligations and the lack of job options mean they cannot make a change. Too many are just going through the motions.
Employers see the situation differently, but they too are frustrated. Business owners and managers want to grow their companies, and most have already made deep cuts in spending to keep afloat. They are left with options. They have tried to save their way to prosperity by not investing in advertising, sales incentives, marketing, client development, etc.... In the end, you cannot save your way to growth. Plus, employees miss the good times when every penny was not being pinched. The owners and managers miss those times too!
Focus on a task or hiding in a cubicle is not the path to seek a route out of frustration. Those who want to make a real change must get off their butt and engage in their community. All opportunities come from people, and directly or indirectly, if you want to find "more" you must come out into the light.
I suggest people take advantage of the end of the year to network and volunteer like their life depend on it (because it does). The holiday season brings with it many opportunities to engage with other people at parties and other events. It also presents the chance to serve others in your community who are in need.
If you want to start your 2011 with a new sense of empowerment, make two new friends and help two people (or organizations) who are in need. When you take the attention off your own situation and begin interacting with others (and listening and learning), it can take you away from the frustrations that seem so overwhelming.
