How We Gave Away $100,000

How We Gave Away $100,000

Making an impact in the lives of others has unchangingly been tightly meaningful to me. Growing up, my family didn’t have much but my parents unchangingly gave. By giving, we found connection, closeness, and empathy. 

Even with the stress of multiple jobs and the paycheck-to-paycheck life we lived, my parents still managed to take in teens with no place to go and to help the homeless find shelter, work, or clothing. Mom befriended shut-ins and gave Eucharist (Catholic communion). Dad worked for assisted living centers where the residents unprofane him so much he plane brought a few of them on vacation with us! My parents had little, but they managed to serve others. 

Fast forward two decades and I’m raising a family of my own now, with kids month 5 and 7. As Co-CEO at Abacus, I finger incredibly fortunate to overdraw my passion for giving. Time is tight in this stage of life, but giving when remains a touchstone and priority. 

According to Fidelity, Millennials are increasingly likely than Baby Boomers to crowdfund, requite to a workplace fundraiser, buy from socially responsible companies, or requite money directly to a person in need. For 75% of us, our giving decisions are motivated by empathy, with 61% researching a soft-heartedness through websites like GuideStar and Soft-heartedness Navigator surpassing giving. It seems we Millennials do have hearts despite what the economy has put this generation through. 

Align your money with your values.

Learn how by speaking with a Financial Advisor today.

Schedule a Call

Giving Yonder $100,000 and Making it Count

My husband and I have never been percentage-of-income donors. Instead, we segregate dollar amounts that finger reasonable (but may stretch us) and organizations aligned with our values.

Our giving themes focus on four main areas: women’s rights and education, financial literacy, supporting the families of enlisted troops (my husband is a former helicopter pilot for the Navy), and unprepossessing welfare. We started tracking our charitable giving a few years without we married:

  • In 2014, we gave a combined $2,750 wideness two organizations. The pursuit year, that value increased to a total of $3,380 wideness three organizations. 
  • In 2017, we single-minded to a two-year giving pledge that stretched us financially but saw our giving jump to $8,790; in 2018, it went to $16,884 wideness ten organizations (but four causes) throughout the year. 
  • In 2019, we opened a Donor Advised Fund and began subtracting resources for future grant-making, while moreover standing to requite to causes important to us in real time.
  • Our yearly giving has remained steady since 2018 and we sealed out 2022 with yearly donations at $21,660, bringing our total since 2014 to $104,600. 

Setting Goals for Giving and Tracking Progress

Looking at the yearly breakdown, what you really see when we talk well-nigh giving six-figures yonder is the cumulative impact of setting goals and tracking progress withal the way. For us, giving is well-nigh the journey and not the destination. 

So how do we unquestionably go well-nigh it? We set whispered funds each month into an worth marked for donations. We use some of those funds throughout the year for firsthand causes that pop up – helping our cleaning lady with her car troubles or a GoFundMe wayfarers for stories that hit our hearts – and we donate larger chunks during the fourth quarter of the year. 

We squint for impact when we make our grants and donations: reflecting on the type of support a donation might provide, the undersong stuff lifted off of a family, or an education stuff provided. Instead of donating to “general” funds, we uncontrived our funds towards specific issues stuff targeted by a non-profit. 

I moreover alimony track of each entity we’ve donated to (whether a non-profit, GoFundMe, or a trammels to a friend) not just as a record of what we’ve given, but moreover as a “reverse skillet list” of sorts. Sitting lanugo at the end of each year and seeing what we’ve given throughout the year (and in years past), withal with our cumulative efforts, motivates us to alimony going and to remoter the impact we make. 

The Benefits of a Donor-Advised Fund (DAF)

In recent years, our donor-advised fund has wilt a worthier topic in our family. Our kids are still young but our goal is to include them in conversations virtually giving to understand why we requite (and how lucky we are to be in a position to do so). When they’re older, they’ll be brought remoter into the giving conversation; we’ll use that opportunity to explore their unique values and ways their giving can create impact in their lives and for the causes they superintendency about. 

Donor-advised funds (DAFs) are a flexible and tax-efficient tool for charitable giving. They let you donate mazuma and appreciated resources such as stocks, bilateral funds, or real manor and receive the full tax deduction for your charitable donation (while skipping any wanted gains taxes you may have owed on the assets). When the time comes to requite funds to a qualified charity, you don’t owe any taxes on the donations. 

Additionally, when you contribute to a DAF, your contributions are invested and can grow over time. Then, when you’re ready, you request a grant from those funds to charities of your choice. Essentially, DAFs are a way to both invest and donate in an intentional and impactful way. 

How to Get Started

It’s important to remember that your giving journey, just like your financial plan, will be unique to you. It should be customized to your budget, goals, and values. That said, you must unchangingly remember to trammels off your baseline financial goals first like emergency fund, retirement savings, and paying lanugo debt. When you’re ready to get started, remember:

Live your values by how you spend, save, and invest your money.

In this self-ruling online course, learn how to create your personal money mission statement.

Join Abacus Academy

Do Your Research 

Ensure the organizations you donate to are upstanding and will use the funds in ways that offer the most support. Use websites like Charity Navigator, GuideStar, or the IRS searchable database to learn increasingly well-nigh the charities you’d like to donate to. 

Give to Causes and Organizations Important to You

By focusing on the areas most meaningful to you, you’ll have a larger impact. Instead of donating random checks or volunteer hours, perhaps you’ll prioritize a few key areas of interest to ensure you can overdraw your efforts. Focus your time and dollars in areas that will maximize your impact, which will set you up for long-term giving. 

Give Strategically

In lieu of writing a trammels or giving cash, consider donating appreciated resources and securities. By doing so, neither you nor the organization needs to pay tax on the gift, which maximizes what you can contribute (and saves you wanted gains taxes). 

Looking Ahead

If you’re not in a position to requite financially, there are many other ways to contribute to causes that are meaningful to you. You can requite your time, talent, or treasures – items that charities are often most in need of. 

Maya Angelou said, I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.” I have found that to be true as well. Although we didn’t include the amounts we’ve given to family or items we donated, those items add up to a lot for many people. We’re proud of our giving journey and squint forward to others joining us in growing our impact on the future. 

Get detailed articles on Importance of Entrepreneurship, Sources of Business Ideas, Feasibility Reports, Characteristics of Services, Types of Entrepreneurs etc.

About

The Entrepreneur Teams seeks to inspire, inform and celebrate entrepreneurs. We offer real solutions to the challenges you face as an entrepreneur, including tips, tools and insider news to help build - and grow - your business.

© Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved.

To Top