One of the most challenging aspects of this past year is that as I became less able to write healthy checks, I became more familiar with the works of the organizations I support financially. Within my new limits, I did continue to give. And I have been giving service in abundance. This has put me in more direct contact with the service of others and more importantly the needs, in need. I have not discarded the requests for donations and the stack of requests grows and the repeat requests are now coming, some for the 3rd or 4th time, and the phone calls are ever so frequent.
So where would a paycheck go? All those ongoing giving decisions would see a boost and some would become sustaining a.k.a. periodic contributions. I would resume prior giving levels, or better than before my limited means. In some cases I could give directly. I also want to be supportive of the local giving model established by giveGreater so donations would pass through that portal, ideally during a matching campaign.
The only new giving I started last year was with DonorsChoose.org. This program is well vetted and the young people are aware that contributions are made to their teacher's projects. I think this kind of giving creates an awareness in our youth that could be transformative.
The other financially aware decision I made this past year was to purchase local food. I am now a member of 3 CSAs that are located in, or near, my hometown.
What I have learned is that sustainability is a value and a goal. I do not need compensation to own this value nor work toward this goal -- but it sure would be nice to be able to write more, and bigger charitable contribution checks.
No comments:
Post a Comment