My kids and I talk about philanthropy all the time. When they ask, “Mom, what did you do all day?” I say, “I asked someone to give money to Berkshire Country Day School to make it an even better place to go to school.” Sometimes, they respond with one word: “Cool.” And sometimes, they say, “Will you use it to buy lollipops/soccer-balls/playgrounds-in-every-classroom/hot-tubs-for-after-gym-class?” They understand the idea of raising money to make the School a better place, but we are not always on the same page about what defines “better”.
We also talk about giving money away to places besides BCD (shocking?!). In the past, some of my approaches have worked. Some haven’t. In 2013, I will try some of the tactics below that Beth Kanter wrote about on her blog and keep some of my favorite approaches that I included at the end of this blog.
Parenting Tips To Encourage Your Child’s Philanthropy by Beth Kanter
1. Help Them Learn More About Nonprofits: YouthGive is a site that helps young people and their families easily donate to charities while learning more about the organizations. The organizations listed are profiled by other young people.
2. Let Your Kids Choose: Get a gift card from Razoo and let your kids tell you how to spend it.
3. Offer a Match: Blogger Marion Conway,whose children are now grown, recommended the book Raising Charitable Children by Carol Wiseman. With her children’s fundraising projects, she and her husband offered to match what they raised because they both worked for companies with matching gift programs. Marion also recommends “Giving with Confidence“ written by Colburn Wilbur, former CEO of the Packard Foundation with Fred Setterberg
4. Set up a Spend, Give, and Save Allowance Policy:For younger kids, here’s a nifty piggy bank, with separate slots for investing, saving, spending, and donating is a great way to teach kids about devoting a portion of their income to charity.
5. Encourage Them To Give Their Time: Teach your kids that even if you are cash poor, you can donate your time to help a nonprofit, whether you are helping to sort food at a local food bank or contributing your professional skills to a nonprofit, and you can have an enormous social impact. Here’s some resources from VolunteerMatch if you want to volunteer your time to help out hunger organizations. And it can be a rewarding experience.
I really like #5 for kids. I think it is important early on to teach them that they can make a difference on their own. Their time, talents and spirit can make a big difference.
And here are Amy Elmore’s #6 and #7
6. Talk to your kids about what they want to change about the world in an open and non-judgmental way. It is important for kids to learn to be active participants in their communities, and to identify challenges and feel empowered to solve them on their own. They may care about different issues than you. That is okay. You may discover new causes through your kids.
7. Talk to your kids about your philanthropy. Tell them why you give to the BCD Annual Fund (I have talking points for you if you need them). Tell them why you give to your college, a homeless shelter, an environmental group, or your church. They will learn more from watching you than any of the approaches listed above.
If you have other tips, post them here!
