I’m Not a Philanthropist!

Don’t want to read? Listen here. 

I can’t tell you how often I hear that phrase. I (most likely!) disagree. Well, what do you do? Some sentences I hear: 

I support charities. I give tzedakah. I tithe. I serve on the board of a food pantry. I buy raffle tickets to support my child’s school. I deliver Meals on Wheels weekly. I buy Girl Scout cookies to support a neighbor’s child. I pay dues to my religious institution. I introduce people to each other who may be able to help one another and their organizations. I attend fundraisers because I want to support a friend being honored. I give a talk at a local museum honoring a late family member.

I have news to share.

Those actions — and many others — make you a philanthropist. You may think that only people who give “big” gifts qualify. Think again. A few months ago, I spoke to an inspiring high school student named Lihi about this, and she captured it in a piece on this youth-focused website, The Advantage. 

I’ve written before about Time, Treasure, and Talent — and the other T’s, too: ties, testimony, and truth — and the many ways we show up for the broader community. You may not have realized how you fit into that framing.

Let me tell you about someone I worked with recently. After her divorce, her financial picture looked different than it had before. She came to me feeling like she had lost something — not just in her personal life, but in her philanthropic identity. “I’m not a major donor anymore,” she told me. She had stepped back from the big gifts she’d made as part of a couple, and without them, she didn’t know where she fit.

So we talked. And as we did, I started reflecting back to her everything she had been doing since her divorce: the boards she still served on, the events she still showed up to, the introductions she kept making, the causes she kept quietly supporting in other significant ways. She had never stopped. She had just stopped seeing herself in the definition she held up as the “only” one.

By the end of our conversation, she was in tears — and so, honestly, was I. She hadn’t lost her entire philanthropic identity. She had just needed someone to hold up the mirror and reflect all that she still had.

That’s my work. Just as you use an accountant for your taxes, a financial advisor to manage your assets, and an estate attorney to handle your will and trust, a philanthropic consultant can give you greater clarity and support in securing your legacy — whatever that looks like right now, in this season of your life.

I never start with the charity a client is interested in supporting. Instead, I ask the whats and whys behind their giving. I work to uncover your purpose, goals, and motivations. And then, we build a framework for decision-making together.

I work with individuals and families at all stages of their giving journey — whether you’re just beginning to give with intention, or you’ve been giving for years and want to be more strategic about it.

If any part of this resonates — if you’ve ever thought “I’m not really a philanthropist” — I want to hear from you. Call me, email me, send a carrier pigeon. However you reach out, I’ll be here.

Fondly,

Kari