How to Live Generously

In many ways, generosity is at the heart of cultivating what matters. At our best, we hope to take what can be seen as a selfish, solitary endeavor—pursuing individual goals—and turn it inside out so that our personal goals can become forces for good in the lives of the people we love. When we are strong, equipped, content, purposeful, that goodness will spill over to those around us.

But some goals are altruistic right from the start. If you've felt the itch to live more generously, to share what you have with those around you, today's blog post will help! As always, we'll follow our three-step proven process to cultivate what matters: uncover what matters, break it down, and live it out.

Uncover what matters

Our world can feel cruel and sad. Everywhere you turn, there's a genuine opportunity to notice the lack and suffering around you and to desire to make it better. As worthy as each cause is, though, we're not meant to—and we cannot—tend to each one in a meaningful way. At most, we might carry 2-3. 

So what is it for you? What injustice or need sets your heart on fire, makes you burn with passion?

If nothing immediately springs to mind (or if you're overwhelmed by all the causes that do spring to mind), pull out a scrap piece of paper or flip to a clean page in your Brain Dump journal and make a list. On it, write down every issue you feel passionate about, every problem you'd like to help solve.

Your list might include your child's public elementary school or all kids' access to free lunch at a Title 1 school nearby. It might include preserving green space in your town or fighting climate change on a global scale. It might include door-knocking for a Town Council candidate or volunteering for a national voter registration drive. It might include sponsoring a refugee or donating to a worldwide food relief charity. The possibilities are truly endless.

Now, this is important: once you've got your list, try not to feel despair. Yes, seeing all that need in front of you can feel heavy, but remember: all good things start with one small step, and all meaningful change is accomplished by ordinary people choosing to care.

Looking over your list, circle just 2-3 causes you'd like to focus on to start. We recommend choosing at least one that is hyper-local (in your town or with an organization you're already affiliated with) as well as one that you can support with money and one you can support with time.

Got it? On to step two!  

Break it down

Now it's time to turn your passion into action, and we do that by making a plan. 

What do you have to offer?

Though your resources might seem small in comparison to the dizzying scale of the world's problems, you—by nature of your wild, wonderful, and unrepeatable nature—have something valuable and unique to offer. 

What you have to offer might change with the season or circumstances, so don't worry about figuring out an answer for all time. Right now, what do you have to offer? Think through these categories:

• Money: Though money isn't the only way to be generous, cash gifts are the most flexible and easily-deployed resource. Could you make room in your budget for a monthly gift or a larger one-time gift?
• Time: Organizations everywhere are in need of warm, dependable bodies to greet, sort, teach, call, stuff, set-up, drive, pack, and much, much more. A can-do attitude, a willing heart, and a little space in your schedule can be put to great use by almost every cause.
• Expertise: Are you a whiz at QuickBooks? A semi-professional party planner? A former teacher? A handyman? A natural conversationalist? Whether it's fixing a squeaky door at HQ or greeting new volunteers for a Saturday work session, almost any skill can be deployed by a creative organization.
• Connections: Maybe for you it's less about the skills you have to offer than the connections you're able to make. Could you connect your boss, who's hosted dozens of interns, with a non-profit leader looking to start an internship program? Or maybe your retired CPA dad with a friend who's just starting to set up her organization's systems? Being willing to share your social capital is a massive and often under-appreciated gift.
  
• Physical Space or Tools: Do you have a spare bedroom? A vacation home? A used car? A gently-used laptop? Access to a church hall? A large yard? Clothes your kids have grown out of? In the right hands, these resources can turn to gold —all that's required is for you to hold them loosely.

What resources can you take advantage of?

In addition to your individual resources, what community resources might you be able to tap into? For example, many larger employers offer matching funds for educational gifts. Others offer paid time off for volunteering. (If you're not sure whether your company offers benefits like these, try checking with the HR department!)

One other amplifier to look into: donor-advised funds. A donor-advised fund is a charitable giving account that allows individuals to make tax-deductible donations whenever it's convenient and then distribute them to the charities of their choice on a schedule they choose. Donor-advised funds can help to streamline and simplify charitable giving.

What needs to happen to put your generosity into action?

Last step! You know what you're passionate about and you know what you have to offer. Now, it's time to put your generosity into action. This might look like:

• Researching local partners for your cause of choice
• Researching volunteer opportunities at a specific organization
• Reaching out to a volunteer coordinator
• Putting a volunteer session in your ideal week
• Adding a recurring donation to your budget

Whatever action steps you decide on, add them to your Tending List, your Season by Season to-do list, or whatever system will ensure you move forward.

Live it out

Make generosity a part of your life for the long haul.

Set a rhythm of reflection

Gretchen Rubin is fond of saying that something that can always happen often never happens, and we heartily agree. Here at the start of your journey, set a date to reevaluate your efforts and celebrate your impact. January 1, the beginning of the school year, or a date meaningful to your cause are all good options.

Cheer yourself on

What's that about celebrating your impact? Living generously can be hard work: it can feel thankless, pointless, and draining. To keep yourself buoyed, be intentional about cheering yourself on! Keep a file of nice notes you've received. Track the total number of hours you've volunteered or dollars you've given. Go out to dinner to toast to a major milestone or victory.

Yes, there's always more to be done, but it's still so important to celebrate along the way.

Invite others

If you've found a mode of generosity that's meaningful to you, it's natural to want to share it! Of course, your friends and family might not have the same availability or priorities—but they also might just be waiting to be asked! Invite a friend to a diaper bank volunteer day, buy a ticket for your mom to a charity dinner, forward a flyer for a fundraising concert to your small group, mention a recent volunteering experience in casual conversation. You never know what flame your passion might spark.

We'd love to hear: how do you live generously? How have you incorporated rhythms of generosity into your days, weeks, months, and years? Leave a comment and let us know!