Are you looking for ways to increase your philanthropic impact on the world? Perhaps you’d like to start a new organization or increase your impact through existing organizations?
Whatever your goals are, this article will help you gather ideas to step up your efforts and become a more effective philanthropist.
1. Set your intentions
Setting intentions is the foundation for successful philanthropy. Your intentions will pave the way for your actions, so you need to know what your goals are before you can take steps to achieve those goals.
If you need some inspiration, Grow Your Giving has some great prompts to help you set your philanthropic intentions. For example, ask yourself what change you’d like to see in the world. Which organizations hold your values? How can you expand your support to new organizations and causes?
Ask yourself the important questions and dig deep. What do you really want to achieve with your contributions? How committed are you to your goals? Are you willing to put in additional time, effort, and money to achieve those goals?
2. Choose causes you genuinely care about
You’ll always be more effective when you’re working on solving social issues you genuinely care about. When it comes to philanthropy, money can give you the opportunity to gather the resources you need to provide support, but without passion, you won’t be as effective.
If you’re realizing you aren’t really interested in the causes you’ve attached yourself to, look for new causes to support. Dig deep to find issues that impact you personally. Finding your passion is easier when you work on issues that directly affect your life.
3. Get your hands dirty
You can’t be an effective philanthropist with your hands in your pocket; you need to get your hands dirty. Philanthropy isn’t hands-off like charity where you can give money and call it a day. If you’re going to be a more effective philanthropist, you need to take some big action.
You don’t actually need any money to be a philanthropist. Your biggest asset will always be your time. If you’ve been waiting to become rich so you can make a bigger impact, start thinking about volunteering your time. Since philanthropy is about fixing social problems, your time will go a long way in making a big impact for your chosen cause.
What kind of action can you take within the causes you support? How much time can you volunteer? Do you have ideas to share with board members or people involved in making decisions? If you’re a decision-maker, can you implement changes that make your efforts more effective?
Whatever you’re involved in, get more involved. If you’ve always been on the sidelines or in the background, ask how you can help out more. Whatever organizations you currently support will certainly appreciate more hands-on contributions.
4. Have laser focus on one cause
There’s no doubt that you’ll become a more effective philanthropist when you place the majority of your focus on one particular cause. Be issue-oriented. Don’t spread yourself thin by giving a little bit here and there to a bunch of causes. Identify your priority and stick with that.
For example, maybe your priority cause is ending world hunger, or perhaps you’re focused on helping local farmers build businesses to feed their communities with high-quality, organic food. You might want to support both causes, and that’s a noble intention. However, you’ll be more effective when your efforts aren’t distributed between multiple causes.
5. Change your life so you can give more
Do you wish you had more time to give? More resources? Maybe you’re full of ideas, but you can’t act on those ideas because you’re stuck working a 9-5 job or running a business that requires too much of your time. Freeing up your time will give you more time and energy to focus on your philanthropic efforts.
If you’re feeling stuck and you’d like to be more available for your causes, start making changes in your life so you can give more. For example, if you’re working a 9-5 job, start building assets that will generate income on the side. If you’re running a business you don’t want to run, start outsourcing your tasks and automate as much as possible.
Follow your heart
No matter what causes you choose, always follow your heart. When you’re committed to your cause, you’ll automatically be more effective. The key to being a better philanthropist is simple: keep your heart in the right place and give your all to whatever cause you pursue.
