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Assessing your history of charitable giving
Over the last 7-8 months I have written a lot about charitable giving. I’ve mentioned a process of educating the parish about the concepts of giving; specifically, as it relates to giving of one’s time, talent and treasure to the church. Through this education process we hope to “change the paradigm of giving” and create a ministry based on gratitude for all we have been given in this life. As discussed in a prior essay, we want our parishioners to become transformational givers and not remain transactional givers. Your gifts will not only transform St. Katherine (and its ministries and outreach) but will also (and more importantly) transform you, the giver.
This month, I wanted to share an exercise I completed during a course on religious fundraising I was able to attend. Its an exercise that helps us to think about our philanthropic capacity and analyze our charitable giving. Not only to the church, but to all charitable causes to which we donate. I thought it was very revealing not because it allowed me to see the amounts my family was donating, but to what causes we were donating. I knew how much we donated, but never really looked at the causes or organizations we were supporting. Putting it on paper helped me see what our giving patterns were and helped us make changes we felt would be appropriate going forward. We all want our donations to ‘make a difference’ and/or reflect our passions.
Complete the exercise below and determine if it helps you see if your charitable giving reflects your spiritual values, passions, your faith journey and the important life-cycle intersections that have made you who you are. You too, may find that a quick inventory of what and to whom you give may show you’re giving too much to a cause that doesn’t reflect who you really are or what you really want; or that you’re not giving enough to something that is vital to you right now.
In this exercise you simply:
1) list your charitable contributions over the last year (or any year; or a series of years)
2) break down your giving into dollar amounts. See what giving patterns emerge as to size of gifts, purpose of each gift or circumstances and motivations surrounding the gift
3) think about how your charitable giving reflects what was discussed above (values, passions, etc)
I found it easier to complete and “see” my responses by making a small table that showed each:
Organizations donated to Amount Given Why I gave
When you look at the finished product, you should be able to see a pattern to your charitable ‘history.’ Is it what you thought it would be? Is it what you want it be? Do the organizations to which you donate need your support? Overall, how do you feel about your charitable giving?
Some questions to ponder going forward:
- Am I giving to the right organizations?
- Am I giving enough to organizations I feel passionate about?
- How much could I give if I felt good about a cause/mission?
- What relationships do I want to nurture and preserve in my giving?
- How have I expressed my gratitude for my blessings to God and to others in the past?
- How would I like to express my gratitude in the future?
I hope you all complete this exercise. I also hope it enlightens you about your history of charitable giving and helps you assess how you feel about your contributions to causes you support, admire or are passionate about.
John Chrisagis
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