Match your giving activities to your own personality type
Americans give more than $400 billion to charitable organizations every year. Giving is a popular activity in today's social impact culture. Not everyone likes to give in exactly the same way, though. The ways you like to give depend on your unique personality and how your preferences impact your social impact activities.
For example, if you consider yourself to be an "activator," here are four activities you might enjoy as you do your giving:
1. Giving an increasing amount of money each year to a favorite charity based on the organization’s demonstrated results to improve the quality of life for the people or causes it serves.
2. Giving money to three different charities collaborating to achieve a specific goal, such as increasing the graduation rate within a particular school, discovering new drugs to treat cancer, or rebuilding a community center in a blighted neighborhood.
3. Giving to disaster-relief efforts after a hurricane, tornado, or earthquake.
4. Giving money to charities with the condition that the charity report back on the results achieved with the money (e.g., 100 meals were served to homebound seniors).
For people who are natural connectors, these four things are typically appealing:
1. Hand-delivering checks to charities as an opportunity to say “hello” and “thank you” to the people working so hard to improve the lives of others.
2. Giving money to a best friend’s favorite charity.
3. Collaborating with family members during the holidays to make one big gift to a single charity instead of many small gifts to different charities.
4. Encouraging children to add money to a piggy bank designated for charity and then mailing the money to the charity in an envelope with pictures drawn by the kids, or giving online with a credit card and emailing the pictures.
Finally, if your social impact personality type is an Investor, here’s are a few ideas to consider:
1. Structure an estate plan to include several bequests to favorite charities.
2. Give appreciated stock to a charity instead of cash, to minimize capital gains tax exposure.
3. Set up a donor-advised fund to organize annual giving to charities.
4. Establish a budget at the beginning of the year to include a percentage of income designated for gifts to charity.
The point here is that you'll enjoy giving to your favorite causes a lot more if you first understand your own personality and your preferences for helping others.
So what do you think? Is it time to get in touch with your good side?
A BIG IDEA FOR USING THIS ARTICLE
This article is actually 13 articles in one. Start by posting the full article on social media. Then, follow up each week with another post, going deeper into each of the four ideas listed under each personality type. Don't worry--you don't need much content! Use a photo and a quick quote from your CEO, a donor, or a professional advisor to create pops of content. Always link back to the full article to get maximum traction.