Follow Your Donation

Making donations should be more like a choose your own adventure book. The excitement of choosing your story and following it’s path making choices at ever fork to see where you’ll go next. Giving to non-profits and social causes should be like that for you. You should want to go on the adventure of following your cash or time donation to the end of the story.

I encourage you to follow your financial donation this year with a commitment of time to the same organization. The same goes if you give time, give financially as well. I think this is true no matter what organization you support. Anything that you choose to give is deeply appreciated by the organization receiving it and if you don’t feel like it’s appreciated, it might be time to find another organization to support. That’s another conversation.

The encouragement to follow your donation comes straight from the fact that I know you’re missing out on a deeper experience. You miss out on getting to see how your financial dollars are at work for the good. The warmth you get from interacting relationally with either recipients or the organization’s staff is what it’s about.

In some organizations, especially NeighborLink, you get to see how every penny you give goes to the end project and possibly the very project you work on. This is extremely rewarding. I’m happy to do it, but I really want all of our donors to experience what I get to as often as possible. I get charged up when I see volunteers using their money to help others directly because of what happens in them. They feel more connected to making the difference. It’s not as cold of a transaction.

There is also something to be said for making a financial contribution to the organizations you do spend time with. It’s a level of deeper commitment to the organization and to the cause. If you believe enough in volunteering you should believe in giving something, even if it’s $5 here and there.

Another reason to follow your donation is for accountability. Have you ever made a donation to an organization and later on wish you hadn’t because you heard something really bad about their stewardship?  Without donors following their dollar, how can you know it’s being used wisely and in the way you intended?

Our non-profit landscape would be a whole lot healthier and the needs of our communities would be much lower if we all begin following our donation. I hope you’ll consider making a deeper commitment this giving season and into 2010.