This post is part of a 13 money resolutions for 2013 series. You can check the first post for an updated list of the following ones.
Courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
Now that you got your finances back on track, it is time to get out there and give back. For many, during times of financial hardship, giving is not in the picture. I am not going to talk to you about the bad karma you are building, or what the books say about tithing, simply that giving is a great, selfless act, and you don’t need to be rich to give.
Giving on a limited budget
You can give your time and bring so much to people around you. I used to go play the piano at a retirement home. It was no big deal, we went there with friends and played music. We enjoyed playing anyway, and this audience was welcoming and really not picky. You too can take an online piano tutorial and do the same! So while doing our usual practice set, we would bring a bit of joy and animation to the house. My friend goes every week to a children hospital. She is a gifted painter and has a class of ten kids or so who gather to paint with her. Another one serves hot food under a subway bridge in Paris a few times a week. Even if you don’t have money, you surely have time to give a little something.
Offer your skills. Charities always look for people to raise money, organize events, build their website, supervise youth camps, tutor kids, bake cookies, or even fix a leak in their roof!
Find a charity you like, get over there and offer to help. You should never be pressured to give money, or anything more than what you are willing to give.
Giving builds social capital
Remember George Bailey? On the old classic movie It’s a wonderful life, George spent his life helping his fellow citizens, approving small loans and mortgages for them to improve their living conditions. When he finds himself on the verge of bankruptcy, all the citizens give him their life savings to help him.
George Bailey was not rich by financial standard but he had an amazing social capital. Helping and giving will help you build social capital. If you volunteer at your church or local charity, you will meet a lot of people that will be ready to lend you a hand should the need arise. While I hope you will never need food or emergency housing, you may be glad to see the charity’s accountant offering you an hour to go over your taxes, or the church lending you a room to host your book club meetings.
Never give in hopes of receiving, but be aware that you may live a richer life by being generous.
Giving to the right people
We all like different kind of charities. I like local charities, because I can see what my help does, and I can volunteer on top of giving money. I also like a few causes like women literacy, access to potable water, and education in general.
You may choose to give to research for a rare disease a loved one has. To sponsor a 10k race your niece is raising money for. To buy girl scout cookies. Or to give to the homeless guy down the street.
Try to do your research a little bit. While the great majority of charities have good intentions and offer transparency in their accounts, some are not as noble.
As far as people are concerned, I try to give material help. If I know a family has a gambling father or an alcoholic mother, I will prefer to bring a bag of groceries or offer to take the kids out for a fun day.
Giving back, or passing it forward doesn’t have to mean giving to a charity. You can help a family member, a friend, a neighbor, again with money or material help. Offer to relieve a busy single mum by taking her kids once a week. Teach your neighbor a skill you master, or watch their house while they are away. Giving starts around you, by trying to help in any way you can.
Giving the right amount.
Only you know what amount of time or money you can afford to give to charity and causes. Any night that you spend at the soup kitchen is a night you are not spending with your family, or earning extra money, or simply resting at home.
Start with one night per month, or a small amount, like $10 per month. Then gradually increase your time or donation until you are satisfied about it.
Many people talk about 10% of income. If you are still paying down debt, you may want to put that money towards being debt free, then resume your donations. Or if you earn $2,000 and want to give $200, figure out how many hours of your time represent $200, and volunteer for that duration.
If you are a great couponer, you can stretch you donation money even further. Ask the charity if they have use for whatever product is on sale and go buy a big amount with coupons.
Giving has hidden benefits
Quite amazingly, the person who will benefit the most from you giving, is yourself. You will feel good about it. People will like you and respect you for it. You may even get financial benefits out of it. Donations are tax deductible, so if you take your old clothes to the Salvation Army, you may get a tax deduction.
I raised money for a project we had in Africa, and we were able to take 20 kids who had very limited resources almost for free. I was a supervisor so we flew for free, and after the project I stayed for another month enjoying my free flight to Africa.
I obviously didn’t do it for the money, but this is an example of a hidden benefit of giving. You will receive. An old person smiling at you while you play music for them, or a troubled teenager thanking you for pushing her to do something with her life is priceless.
Are you volunteering somewhere? What charities do you give to?
Don’t forget to enter the $1,000 and $100 giveaways, you can choose to give the money to charity!
DC @ Young Adult Money says
One of my favorite things to do each year is selecting what organizations to give to and how much I will be giving to said organizations. I have it auto-deduct from my paycheck and try to increase my giving each year. Learning about various nonprofits is a lot of fun and giving back is something that allows you to make a difference even if you don’t have time to volunteer.
Pauline P says
Yes it is great to pick a good cause and know you will contribute to it. With auto deduction you can’t forget about it!
Holly@ClubThrifty says
This is a great post. It is so important to give, yet it’s hard to determine how much and who to give it to. Sometimes I get frustrated by the lack of inforation that certain “charities” give out. It’s important for me to give money to organizations that use it for good instead of for salaries and overhead.
Pauline P says
I wouldn’t give to a charity that isn’t 100% transparent. I saw a few US charities that guarantee all of your donation money will go to their projects. Salaries and running costs are covered by company sponsorships. I find this a great idea.
Savvy Scot says
I am with you on giving the time equivalent. If you are paying down debt etc. then I think it is totally acceptable to volunteer instead…. In some ways this is even more valuable!
Pauline P says
You can donate your time even though you have the money as well! I’d rather see where my work goes than write a cheque.
Lakita says
A lot of people remember George Bailey. Indeed, it’s hard to match social capital. However, it’s not about charity at all times. We all need to spend wisely and save our hard-earned money or whatever is left of it.
Pauline P says
Absolutely, it is about managing money so you can make the choices you want in life.
Jordann @ My Alternate Life says
I give blood every two months and I’m involved in an organization that does volunteer work for the local community. I don’t have a lot of money to spare, but I’ve got time.
Pauline P says
That’s great! I want to go back to giving blood, too long since my last time.
John S @ Frugal Rules says
Good post Pauline! I think often times we think that we can only give if we have a certain amount of money, when you can still give in many ways when you’re on a tight budget. Our favorite way is to give time, especially to local charities as we can tangibly see the impact it makes.
Pauline P says
Same here, I prefer to see my work. Selfish, maybe, be so many fake charities ask for money and do nothing.
Deacon @ Well Kept Wallet says
I have volunteered for many years teaching personal finance to young adults at our local church. We also give to our church as well as other organizations like Angels of East Africa, Neighborhood Ministries, World Vision, Charity Water, etc.
Pauline P says
Teaching PF is something I am looking forward to do in my community. People are clueless about money and I think could benefit a lot from it.
Laurie says
You’re so right about giving, Pauline. It really does boost your life in so many ways. We find that it makes us want to spend less, as well, b/c we are able to see through giving just how fortunate we really are. Love the part about building social capital, too!
Pauline P says
Only good can come from a good thing after all!
Jason @ WSL says
Being a Christian, I look to the Bible to give me guidance on how much I’m to give and where to. With that in mind, I believe in tithing (10%) and therefore we give that our local church. However, the New Testament talks about giving sacrificially which brings up debate on what that means exactly. It also mentions being a joyful giving and talks of having discretion. Personally, in addition to tithing we give to a cool charity in Uganda and we do a few different things around Thanksgiving and Christmas. I really need to work more diligently on giving my time. I’m excited about some changes that are happening in our lives and the changes should free up some time to give more of it. We shall see.
Pauline P says
nice, more time sounds like a cool luxury these days.
Looking forward to hearing about the changes!
AverageJoe says
On top of our normal gifts, we like gifting when it isn’t expected. We’ll have people come to a party and you have to bring a check to a charity to get in (in a sealed envelope…I don’t care how much you give). We’ll ask for canned goods when people come over to play board games and take them to the local food bank. We’ll pitch in at a local coat drive. Those are fun for us.
Pauline P says
Very creative ideas! I was invited a couple of times to dinners where we should bring a donation instead of a bottle of wine, I thought it was very nice of the hosts.
Marie at FamilyMoneyValues says
Volunteering can be a life altering and enriching activity. One of my nephews (still in high school) will be taking an international trip (Peru I think) to volunteer and live with an indigenous family. I guarantee he will learn more doing that than from all the rest of his high school years!
Pauline P says
Oh he sure will! Humility, respect, hard work, simple living… just to get started.
Anne @ Unique Gifter says
We both posted about giving on the same day, yay! These are all great points and make a strong case for volunteering and giving both time and money. I am a huge, huge fan of philanthropy and kind of into gift giving, as you’ve probably noticed!
Pauline P says
it is hard to miss 🙂
Money Bulldog says
No matter how bad things are in your life there’ll always be someone worse off than you in need of help. I know I could give more and the world would be a so much better place if we all did.
Pauline P says
There is a real gap between Europe and the US in terms of charity donations, I wonder why that is. I was brought up in a catholic family, we did all kinds of volunteering and scout projects but I don’t think our monetary giving was very high. Nonetheless giving time was important too, and yes, the world is a better place if we all give a little something.
Budget & the Beach says
I don’t have anything do I do on a regular basis per say, just when I have either time and or money to give. It’s always a good reminder though to look into regularly either giving your time or money to a charity or organization which “calls to you.” Thanks for the reminder!
Pauline P says
It is easy to forget, I admit. Those past months I have been caught up with so many things there was little time left but I hope to start helping the community more.
Debt Roundup says
I try each year to give to organizations that work with the military or health charities like American Heart Association or American Diabetes Association. These charities work hard to change the world and make it better for those with health problems. Any military charity is good in my book.
Pauline P says
I had never thought about military charities, being from a military family I can’t think of reasons why, thanks for the idea, will look into it!
Mackenzie says
Giving more to charity is one of my goals for the year. I believe it is really important and I feel like I didn’t do enough last year.
Pauline P says
Great goal, if not money you can try to give time.
Tackling Our Debt says
I agree that it is very important. We drop non-perishable food off at the food bank collection stops and donate to the cat shelters. I use to do volunteer work at the Children’s Cottage, a temporary home for infants when it was deemed that it was not safe for them to live with their parents any more.
Pauline P says
That is a very noble cause. I love to give to causes that are dear to me, and children condition is part of my list too.
The First Million is the Hardest says
i don’t donate on a regular basis, but there are a handful of charities I make sure I donate to each year. My favorite of which being the rescue shelter I adopted my dog from 🙂
Pauline P says
I never gave to an animal shelter. We adopted a few as kids and I think there was a donation involved but this is not something that I feel attracted to. It is a good thing that we all give to different causes, the world would be boring otherwise!
My Financial Independence Journey says
For some reason I’m much more in favor of giving time. Maybe this comes from my grad student and post-doc days when I didn’t have much (any) money to part with. Anyone can give money, but it’s a lot harder to commit your time to an organization or cause that you care about.
But I give money on occasion too. A lot of times there are people in a situation where I can’t realistically give my time. For example, helping the victims of the recent hurricane Sandy. In those cases I’ll offer financial support.
Pauline P says
I am like you, I like to see my work doing some good. Writing a check is so impersonal. Just as needed as volunteering time, but not really my style.
Kim@Eyesonthedollar says
I try to give mainly to local charities. My favorite is the local humane society. I have served on the board for almost ten years and do numerous things like feeding feral cats, answering phone calls, providing investment advice for the endowment fund, wide variety of things. I also set up a small scholarship fund at my former high school in my grandfather’s name. He was a well respected dentist in the community, and it is for the graduating student who received the highest grades while taking the most difficult science classes. I also donate eye exams quite often. I can’t cure cancer, but I can give someone an eye exam. Everyone has a strength they can share if they so desire.
Pauline P says
That is great! I like local charities best too. Giving eye exams is very valuable, so many people can’t get proper health care and getting help with vision can really change their lives.
KK @ Student Debt Survivor says
Giving (money and/or time) is something that’s really important to us. Because I work for a non-profit and do a lot of overtime (that’s not paid) I like to think that I volunteer hundreds of hours per year ;-). In all seriousness, we give regularly to our local homeless shelter and food bank. Thanks to couponing we’re able to give both literally hundreds of dollars worth of groceries and personal care items per year for very little out of pocket cost. It’s something that we’re really glad we are able to do. We also give to Heifer International and our local animal shelter regularly.
Pauline P says
Just what I was talking about with the extreme couponing, if every food charity had a pro couponer they would get so much food!
Canadian Budget Binder says
Great post Pauline,
I don’t volunteer but I do help out our senior neighbours whenever the need a hand for example shovelling, mowing the lawn or minor maintenance that I can help with. We give food and toiletries to the food bank and to our friends church. We put a box together and once we fill it we donate it. I agree one doesn’t have to be rich to give back sometimes all it does take is a helping hand or someone to listen to. Mr.CBB
Pauline P says
Thanks mr CBB. Like you are proving, there is a lot to be done locally, starting with neighbors. You don’t have to go on the other side of the planet to make a change.
Sarah says
This is great Pauline – and one of my new year resolutions! I’m attempting about $100 per week in generosity – which to me includes gifts (which might be a cop out, but it’s still money not spent on me, for me). So far, I’m going OK – last week wasn’t as great as I’d like, but this is another week. And when I read what you write, it draws to mind all the time I give to my church too. So thank you for reminding me. And I am so rewarded in love and kindness for that time!
Pauline P says
$100 per week is a big amount, that is fantastic. And the time volunteered on top of that, well done.
Kathleen, Frugal Portland says
This is my favorite tip of the series! I automate my giving ($55/mo) and volunteer my time. It’s important to me to keep my perspective. I will ALWAYS have it better than most. Always.
Pauline P says
That is sure, we have so much we forget to realize how blessed we all are.
Suba says
Giving is an extremely important part of our life. Even when we struggle with our other expenses, as long as we have money for rent, food and basic needs, we won’t stop giving. It is all automated, so I won’t even see the money coming into our accounts. We have a charitable trust set up, so we donate a lot of appreciated stock (saves us money as we don’t have to pay capital gains and the charity gets the exact same amount we were planning to donate).
Pauline P says
that is a great win win! Didn’t know about that tax exemption, thanks for sharing.