Giving Every Day
Today is Giving Tuesday. And truth be told, I don’t love this day. It defies logic because we talk about and promote generosity all the time. That is exactly why I don’t like a single day being assigned to giving. We need to be thinking about how to make the world more equitable and give back all the time, not just on a single day.
There are also real costs to having such a high profile single day. By designating a day to be “Giving Tuesday!” nonprofit staff that are already stretched thin now have no choice but to focus a lot of time and attention on this day and it sometimes even means they have to work for part of what should be time off with family over a holiday. It also means that really important announcements and great organizations get lost in the cacophony of marketing trying to grab everyone’s attention.
Last year, over 36 million people in the United States contributed an estimated $3.6 billion on Giving Tuesday. This should be celebrated. But where were those people the rest of the year? Everyone didn’t suddenly all have some excess on the exact same day. Which leads me to ask why foundations and DAFs that have already gotten a tax subsidy for setting this money aside for good causes would wait and participate on Giving Tuesday and not before. What if they had talked to their partner organizations in advance (like WAY in advance) and asked if their money could help catalyze more gifts with a match? Or had asked if giving in advance could enable another staff member to make the day or the year less of a burden? Or had gotten the money out to communities to enable them to start changing their trajectory sooner?
By hanging on to these funds, the financialized philanthropy system feeds off of the money that should be out in communities. The fees of DAF providers and salaries of foundations’ staff are dependent on this money NOT going out to community. We are not naive enough to think that all that money will move today on GIVING TUESDAY! Even though we wish it would. And for those of you worrying about what will happen if “all the money is given away” I can assure you that first of all, that isn’t going to happen and second of all, there will continue to be wealth made and accumulated far into the future. (Unless we could figure out how to have a more equitable wellbeing economy and then we wouldn’t need all of this massive philanthropic apparatus and wouldn’t that be great?) So for those of you who have a family office or a foundation, PLEASE consider how your money is invested before it goes out the door. This can often be more impactful than even the grants that you make.
If you feel the urgency of the moment and are wondering if now is the time to get off the sidelines, we would argue that it is never a good idea to wait. By getting resources to communities now, you might just enable them to stave off worse outcomes that will be even more expensive to solve. The compounding of impact is something that we can’t beat the drum on enough. Would you rather your money compound so you can watch it grow or impact compound so you can give communities agency and keep problems from compounding? Sadly when you don’t take the time to consider this question, many will lean into watching their money grow because it might be needed at some point. If you are still wondering if this is the time to get money moving I’d encourage you to consider how many people are really hurting right now.
But, I digress. It is Giving Tuesday! And we encourage everyone to get off the sidelines and give. If you aren’t sure where to start, we’d love to offer a few suggestions of some of our favorite partners. These top ten organizations have highly skilled teams, impactful and thoughtful methodology to solve pressing problems, and a high return on investment. We are smitten with these teams and would encourage you to pick one and then surprise yourself (and them) and give big!
These organizations are ones that we think are worthy of a true partnership, not just a one time gift. But whether you choose to do a one time gift just today or start to engage and get to know these organizations, we believe your impact will be tremendous. So happy Giving Tuesday! Happy Giving Every Day!
Unlock Ownership leverages an investment committee drawn from the ownership economy to invest in catalytic opportunities to enable agency and ownership to grow wealth in disadvantaged communities. Read here to understand why we believe so strongly in this as a lever for change. You can give directly here.
Impact Charitable serves as a bridge between funders and communities, designing responsive pathways that unlock and accelerate capital to ventures, projects, and funds. You can contribute to their efforts around economic mobility, capital activation, or catalytic capital partners with Mission Driven Finance. These are some of our favorite folks to work with! You can give directly here.
Capable equips those in Northern Uganda who need it most with the knowledge, resources, and skills necessary to start a business and permanently transition out of poverty. Some highlights from last year: doubled the size of their program, reduced costs by 30% and increased their clients income by 6.7X! WOW! There is a donate button when you scroll down (through some awesome information) almost at the very bottom.
Legado supports Indigenous communities to build healthy communities and landscapes that they design and build themselves to create lasting changes for future generations as well as the land that supports all of us. Their programs are women-led with 100% female senior leadership and 60% female staff. We love the thoughtful approach and use of indigenous wisdom. You can donate here.
Not sure where to give but passionate about fighting extreme poverty? The Life You Can Save might be your organization! They recommend a selection of high-impact charities and promote effective giving. Give to them and they will get it to those most in need or choose from the organizations that they have vetted and give directly. You can donate here.
Investigative Journalism in the Public Interest - a critical need right now. Distrust in media sources is rising. Corruption and greed is using our exhaustion to take advantage of the wealth pump for the rich and powerful. This is a vital place to support. If you don’t already follow their fabulous stories, we highly recommend following them and Capital & Main. Investigative journalism needs not only our money but our attention! You can donate here.
Recidiviz builds technology that reduces the number of people in prison, increases community re-entry success, and overall makes communities safer. The U.S. holds 5% of the world’s population but 25% of the world’s prisoners, spending $80 billion each year on a system that struggles with addiction, mental health, and high recidivism. Their mission is to reduce incarceration in ways that are safe, sustainable, and fair. This saves all of us money and makes communities and families safer. You can donate here.
The Ownership Capital Lab identifies, pilots, and supports the uptake of strategies for financing employee ownership with impact integrity at greater scale. They pair this R&D with investor education (directly and through partners), and fund engagement and support. No surprise to our friends that moving money in innovative ways to employee ownership is high on our list. You can donate here.
Transform Finance is a research, education, and implementation partner that supports all stakeholders to challenge legacy investment approaches, seed transformative investment models, and build movement power. If you are a regular reader of our blog you know why we care about these issues! You can donate here.
A group of co-conspirators tackling what they consider the world’s most “sizable, solvable, and sorely overlooked” problems. Right now they are working on the future of our food systems, taking down the tobacco industry and making the global tax system more equitable. For us, examining and reworking the tax system is really interesting since money is both power and consumption/climate impact. They are looking for people to join the movement with their time, their voice and their capital. You can donate here.
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