How much should one give??

If you had the opportunity to catch CBS Sunday Morning this week, you might have caught an interesting discussion  about philanthropy. There was a story of a family who sold their large home, moved into a smaller home and used the profits that they made from their downsizing to support a number of charities. The move was sparked by the daughter inthe family who felt a need to really get involved in a meaningful way.

Brian Gallagher, President of United Way Worldwide was on the program speaking about people's giving. His feeling was that people should give until it makes them feel good, which is something that I have said many times when addressing potential donors. At one time, there was a guideline called "Fair Share" which was widely promoted by United Way, but has disappeared from the lexicon in recent years. One definition was that a person should give the equivalent of one hours pay per month for the year.

CBS then turned from "Give until it makes you feel good" and "Give your fair share" to "Give until it hurts." The thought being that the true spirit of giving should involve sacrifice much as the family above gave up their large house for a much smaller one in the name of charity. Peter Singer, author of "The Life You Can Save", agreed that giving should have an element of sacrifice and everyone noted that people who have the least are often more charitable than those who have the most. They used a store clerk as an example. The woman annually donates 10% of what she makes to charity.

Many have pointed out that 10% being given by a person in the financial situation of the store clerk is probably  making much more of a sacrifice than someone making a million dollars a year even though she gave much less in actual dollars. In addition to his book, Singer has a unique website: thelifeyoucansave.com.According tot he website, "If everyone who can afford to contribute to reducing extreme poverty were to give a modest proportion of their income to effective organizations fighting extreme poverty, the problem could be solved. It wouldn’t take a huge sacrifice."

One thing that makes the site unique is its "donation calculator". You can find it at: http://www.thelifeyoucansave.com/pledge/pledge_calc.php?curr_country=171&lang=EN. There is also a separate pledge page with suggested guidelines: http://www.thelifeyoucansave.com/pledge/pledge.php?curr_country=171. It's an interesting concept, what do you think?


For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.