helping others through unpaid time, providing services,
expertise, donating supplies or materials or making a
financial contribution to help others, that is philanthropy.
Philanthropy is not defined by the amount of money we
have or give. we have to change our way of thinking about
our philosophy of giving. we all have a heart to give,
sometimes we may not have time to volunteer or feel like
we are not giving enough financially. But there are simple
more practical ways that you can practice philanthropy
that will provide a mutual benefit for our business and
those wecan help in our community. In business the
saying goes “time is money and money is time”. According
to Independent Sector online, “The estimated value of
volunteer time for the year 2013 was valued at $22.55 per
hour”.
So what does this all matter and mean to you?
Only a small percentage of the population was born with
a silver spoon or inherited wealth. The rest of us have
actually put in the work to obtain the “American Dream” by
pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. And sometimes
we forget that our brothers and sisters and neighbors
and friends need us. So, we don’t volunteer our time and
resources. Neither do we give to organizations outside of
church. But we must do better. Our survival depends on it.
In the midst of maintaining the quality of life we want and
supporting our own families, we must also consider how
we can support the local community where we reside. And
determine how to help others less fortunate, remembering
that we all at one point benefited from some level of
assistance (student loans) and support (family, mentors
and friends) to get where we are today. whether it was
financial, personal or professional support; we all received
something to help us move forward. It’s not about giving
people a handout, it’s about helping with a hand up. If
we did more of this in our community, the Government
would have to do less. remember that giving benefits the
both Giver as well as the receiver. And business owners
can receive added benefit through tax incentives for the
giving that you ˈ