New Series on Charitable Giving

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” - Winston Churchill

It’s tough, let’s just say it, it’s tough. Post taxes, I always feel like the meat's off the bone. And then… I have to give?

I don’t actually have to do anything, and neither do you, but…

I value charitable giving. I value financial giving. I am often amazed to be in an economy where the non-for-profit/foundational sector is so large. Outside the US, these critical services and social innovations are often left to the government.

I was stopped by a friend the other day and she asked me a bit about how we undertake charitable donations. If I was to articulate some of the stronger points:

1. Automation is important, give without having to ‘push the button’ every month.
2. Consistency is important.
3. Focus is important.

I am no expert, and as such, I will first point you in the direction of more helpful literature:

Balancing Giving & Saving - The Simple Dollar
Ask the Readers: How much… - Get Rich Slowly
5 Steps to High Impact Giving - Dave Ramsey

This is an announcement!

Despite the thoughts presented above, I have failed to find a single, balanced, easily-digestible manifesto on giving.

I would like to compile a series on giving in the context of a whole and balanced approach to personal-finance.

What I need:

Academics and interviews. There are 7 primary interviews I want to feature:

• Legal (academic) pespective
• Social (academic) perspective
• Corporate responsbility perspective
• Foundation (501C3) perspective
• Spiritual perspective
• Philanthropist perspective
• Average Joe/Jane giver perspective

What you can help me with:

Do you have thoughts on the matter? Are you good for an interview? Want to recommend someone, leave comments, shoot me a message, or tweet to me @pearoftheweek.

Looking forward to getting started, and be ready for the podcast series this summer. Thanks.