Reprinted By Permission - Copyright
Boulder Daily Camera
Making Money Matter
Enid Ablowitz
 

RESOLVE TO GIVE

New Year’s Resolutions.  They often start with “lose 5 or 10 pounds” or “stop smoking.”  Then comes the “organize my life” angst which results in trips to buy closet enhancements and storage boxes, or better yet, in drops offs of unneeded “stuff” to non-profit thrift stores.  (Well, you have to make room for all the new “stuff,” right?)  But there’s another resolution that looms large for many: financial planning.  Are you thinking about your spending habits (past and future), how much you are saving, and with all the talk about social security, maybe even planning for retirement? 

In the midst of all this, who has time to think about philanthropy?  

What does this have to do with giving?  Plenty.  Instead of treating giving as a December event and simply a part of the holiday season, how about integrating giving into your life as one of the new “habits” you want to cultivate.  How?  Well, let’s start with giving strategies tied to your resolutions:

Lose weight. 

1.      Donate a dollar for every pound you lose.  If you gain it back, give double.

2.      For every calorie (or carb) you reduce, give the equivalent amount of food to others through one of the non-profits that distribute food to the hungry, like a foodshare program, or the homeless shelter, or the meal delivery service for shut-ins. 

3.      For every added 10 minutes of walking per day, give a dime or a dollar to your favorite cause. 

Stop Smoking.

1.      For every pack you don’t buy, put the money into a “not me” fund.  At the end of the year, donate the money for cancer research.

2.      If you have friends who smoke, make a pact and quit together.  Think of how much money you will all be able to give when you pool your funds.

Organize

1.      Recycle good used clothes, toys, and books by donating them for the use of others.

2.      As you organize your time, take one or two of the freed up hours per week and volunteer.

3.      Organize your giving for impact by selecting a focus area such as education, international aid, medical research, the arts or some other target of your choosing

Financial Planning

1.      Do a charitable inventory.  List all the charitable gifts you make and determine if you are being tax wise in your giving. 

2.      Evaluate your assets to see if you might make a gift of unneeded assets like tangible property, collections, real estate, securities or other alternatives to cash.  You might be able to take advantage of IRS incentives like charitable deductibility and avoidance of capital gains on donated appreciated assets.

3.      If you are thinking of retirement, look into gift annuities as a way to plan for both your long term financial health and significant legacy giving.

Let’s talk a little more about the gift annuity idea.  We hear a great deal about the aging of America.  Life expectancy continues to rise with many people realizing that they might be partly or fully retired for nearly as many years as they worked.  One of the financial techniques planners recommend is creating life income through annuities.  Consider adding a charitable component to your retirement plan, through charitable gift annuities (or possible charitable remainder trusts, if so advised.)  You can protect your future and be generous at the same time. 

Giving isn’t a once a year event.  It is an attitude, a point of view, a part of who you are and how you express your humanity.  It is cultivated by repetition, but even good habits need to be reinforced and deepened through knowledge and commitment.  The more you learn about giving, the more you experience giving, and the more you value it, the greater the impact on those who benefit from your generosity and on you.

What are your resolutions for 2005?  Lose weight.  Stop smoking.  Purge the extra stuff.  Manage your time. Get a grip on your finances. (Take better care of yourself, laugh more, create balance in your life, you can insert the ones I’ve missed.)  How about adding one more: give wisely, generously, and often.

Postscript:

There has been an outpouring of generosity in the aftermath of the devastating tsunami.  Philanthropy professionals are advising that the best way to give wisely is to donate money to an existing international organization with the infrastructure to assure that your gift will help where and how it is most needed. And the needs are staggering.     

Enid Ablowitz is the Vice President for Advancement at the University of Colorado Foundation, Inc., and Director of Advancement for the Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities.  She has been working as a donor advocate for more than a dozen years.  Her book, Making Money Matter:  Eight Steps to Thoughtful Giving was recently published.  For information on how to obtain a copy, contact her at enidablowitz@hotmail.com.

You may contact Enid Ablowitz by email at enidablowitz@hotmail.com