Exploring the “Hows” of Giving to Help Others
I’m sure we’ve all heard numerous times regarding the importance of giving. Everyone from your pastor to various bloggers have discussed it. I’ve even talked about the importance of giving in the past. ChristianPF is preparing to run a 10 Day Give challenge to inspire others to make it a priority as well. For Christians, the most basic impetus is that God tells us to give and to help others. But all people (ok, most) have a sense that giving to help others is a good thing to do - it’s good for those you are helping obviously, it’s good for the world as a whole, and it’s good for yourself as well. So, we’ve talked about "why" we should give, I’m curious "how" people give.
Large or Small?
Do you give small amounts freely whenever you get the chance? Like dropping $5 at Cold Stone for their Make-A-Wish donations or giving a few bucks for Alex’s Lemonade Stand donations at Rita’s? (we apparently spend a lot of time at dessert type restaurants) Or do you save it up to give only larger donations? If so, is this because you feel there is a greater impact giving significant amounts? Or is it for tax deduction purposes? We tend to do both - more of an emphasis is on larger donations, but we also occasionally give small donations at random times (like at Cold Stone last night) (if using Twitter and Plurk is considered "microblogging", would that be called "micro-donating?")
Directly or through Charitable Orgnizations?
Do you only give to established charities or through organizations? Or do you like to target your giving directly to the people in need? The former seems a lot easier to do and maybe you feel like you can be assured that it will go to better use (as long as you’re comfortable that most of the money is actually getting into the hands of people who need it and not being used for administrative costs). I personally don’t have a lot of experience giving money directly.
Scheduled or Spontaneous?
Do you schedule your giving so that you ensure it gets accomplished? I mentioned earlier that I like to automate as much as possible in my finances and also that I actually have a a special tithe fund to make sure I do not lose track of any money we’ve decided to give. My wife feels that this is somewhat sterile. She thinks there is too much regimentation and process and not enough heartfelt giving. She would like to do more spontaneous giving whether or not we have money allocated in our tithe account to do so. How about you? Do you like to schedule and automate it or just give as you are lead to give? Do you keep close track of how much you give or just give when the opportunity arises?
Why Types of Charitable Organization?
If you do give to charitable organizations, do you typically give to a certain type of organization? For instance, if you are a spiritual person, do you give only (or mostly) to related charities or do you give to secular ones as well. Or, if you are an atheist or agnostic, do you give only to secular charities or do you also give to religious ones that you feel are doing worthwhile work? For our scheduled giving, we typically give to Christian organizations but for our micro-donations we give to all organizations. In the book I’m currently reading, Your Money Counts , the author suggests that Christians should give mostly to Christian organizations. His rationale is that all people give to secular charities while only Christians give to Christian ones. I’m curious if that is true…it probably is.
So what does this all mean?
I’m not really sure what it all means. I’m just curious to see where everyone stands on this. I imagine that most people dabble in a mix of the few options I discussed. Maybe not, maybe I’m the loner who worries about making sure I donate all the money I "said" I would.
I do think we will all agree that helping and giving are two very good things that we can do for each other. And though this post was written in the context of giving financially, giving doesn’t necessarily have to be solely about money. Maybe that should have been another question - do you typically give financially or otherwise? For instance, in the process of starting up this blog, I have been blessed with much help from established bloggers and have learned a great deal and made some new friends. And that certainly was good for the one being helped (me!).
Photo Credits: Victory of the PeopleIs Giving Really that Important?
We’re delving into step 2 on my list of Personal Finance Basics and it is a controversial one - give away some of the money you earned in step 1. Certainly some people would argue with me on this step. "Why would you want to give some of your hard earned money away? You’ve worked so hard to get it. Certainly, you should at least get out of debt before you start giving. You should save your money and invest it - when you have a lot of money to help others, then you can worry about this giving stuff."
Well, I’m going to have to disagree with those who would say that…let me tell you why. (you might be thinking about now, "uh oh, here comes more of that church and Bible stuff," and, if you are thinking that then you are correct. Even if you’re not interested in using Biblical principles to guide your life, please stick around. At the bottom of the post, I’ll provide a few secular reasons to give)
Why should I give before any of the other personal finance stuff?
Quite simply, you should give some of your money away because we are instructed to do so in the Bible. Of course, there are numerous Old Testament passages regarding tithes and offerings. And remember, these passages are directed towards all people - not just the wealthy or the ones who have managed to get out of debt. I think everyone should give what they can no matter what situation they find themselves. If you can only give a little, then give a little. If you can give more, then give more. Remember, God doesn’t ask you to give because he needs the money, so don’t worry about not having much to give. I think God instructs us to give for the following reasons, among others:
- Giving shifts our focus from the temporal to the eternal - It is quite easy for us to get caught up in our current situations and get distracted from our focus on God and the eternal. Purposefully and periodically giving money (which most of us deem important and find hard to do) shifts our focus from ourselves to God. At the same time, we trade our earthly treasures that are so dear yet so fleeting for heavenly treasures that are eternal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:20-21
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Matthew 6:24
- Giving shifts our focus from ourselves to others - As people, we are naturally selfish and self-absorbed. It requires effort to place others before ourselves. Giving causes us to look outside of ourselves and our day to day concerns. As a result, we learn about others and are exposed to the difficulties other people have in their lives. Not only does giving help out other people, but it also helps us as well by enabling us to be content with our current situation. It’s hard to complain about how much it costs to fill up your car with gas when you are giving your money to people who not only don’t have a car but don’t even have enough money for food.
- Giving typically results in material blessing and increase - This is the quite counterintuitive but it appears to be true. Check out this verse from Proverbs:
One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. Proverbs 11:24-25
This verse teaches that being generous towards others actually results in our own prosperity. I don’t think this is some guaranteed contract and I do think it only occurs if you have the correct attitude in giving. If you are begrudingly giving some money because you think you’ll get more money in return, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that probably won’t come to fruition.
On the other hand, here are some personal stories from ChristianPF and Capital Couples Finance via Gather Little By Little about how tithing affected their financial situations. My wife and I have regularly given a set percentage of our income since we got married. We continued this even while paying back huge amounts of student loans and somehow (I’m seriously not sure how it all came to pass so quickly) we have paid off all of our student loans decades before they were scheduled to be paid off.
How much should you give?
How much of your income to give is quite controversial as well. I really believe that amount is between you and God - there is no correct answer for all Christ followers. I’ll put some of my thoughts out here as a starting point to the discussion but these are only my opinions.
The most important component is your attitude.
If you are just giving money because you feel you have to, well, that’s alright because at least you are doing it to be obedient to God, but I do feel that you are still missing out on some of the associated benefits and blessings. On the other hand, if you are giving so others will tell you how great you are, then you are really missing out. You’ll get your reward, but it will be from a few people and not from God:
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. Matthew 6:5
Shouldn’t I give 10%?
In the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites to give a tithe, or tenth, of their possessions and income. I personally do think that it directly applies as a command to Christians.
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7
Though I do not feel bound by the tithe, I do think it is a good starting point for investigating how much of your income you feel led to give.
To whom should I give it?
Some people feel that your minimum tithe amount should be given to your home church and then whatever monies above and beyond that should be given to others in need. Personally, I don’t ascribe to this philosophy either. I believe that the Christ’s church is more than just a building with four walls; rather it is the collection of all Christ followers throughout the world. As such, I think we honor God by giving to wherever God’s work is being done.
For instance, we personally give 10% of our gross income (I don’t think that I should give less money to God when I do a better job of using tax deductions). We give the majority of this to our local church, but we also support a few organizations and directly support some missionaries.
What if you don’t believe in all this church stuff?
If you don’t believe in all this church stuff, I am really impressed that you made it this far into the post (sure, you probably just skipped ahead, but I’ll be optimistic). I still think it is important to give your money to others. Obviously, you won’t have the same reasons for giving as those described above. I do think it can be a worthwhile endeavor for a few reasons:
- Give to help others - You can make a real difference in a person’s life by giving them a helping hand when they need it.
- You can make the world a better place - direct your resources to people that need help and you improve their situation and make the world a slightly better place. Repeat this process and who knows how far you can get.
- It feels good to help others - you generally get great satisfaction from knowing you reached out to a fellow human being and made things a little brighter for them. Don’t believe me? Try it sometime and see what happens.
photo credits: Daquella manera and Phillie Casablanca
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