“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.”
Albert Schweitzer is oft-quoted. The quote above has been used regularly in graduation speeches and toward the promotion of volunteerism – and despite it’s kitch, cliché, and ubiquitousness, it’s still one of my favorite quotes of all time, and something I strongly believe.
I served, on and off, as a chaperone, then Head Chaperone, then Vice-President and Treasurer of a small non-profit serving local middle- and high-school students over the course of about 10 years. I worked to help the group successfully complete their probationary period (the first 5 years of a non-profit’s official IRS-approved life), and was there when donations were good and when they were very very very thin. I was part of a tight-knit group that banded together during hard times but nonetheless celebrated major successes with all we had; cried together over personal and organizational losses; fought city hall (after a fashion) and won. And lost. It was one of the best experiences and happiest times of my life [and I need to remember to thank my son Douglas the next time I see him for encouraging me to participate early-on].
My brother Jason did some soul-searching about his motivation for giving and serving a few months ago, and that has driven him to new levels of altruism. This is not a bad thing at all. However, we were talking about why we give, and I had a revelation of sorts.
A tangible donation to a non-profit or charity, whether in the form of a cash gift or clothing or time or blue- or white-collar services or blood or a car (yep, several charities even have drives, pun intended, for [not quite] used [up] vehicles), comes with several benefits. I speak from experience when I tell you this:
What comes first on a person’s list of reasons why doesn’t matter much to the non-profit!
The reasons I give it away, give it away, give it away, now vary. They include self-satisfaction and self-worth. Ego (bragging rights) is pretty high up there. For example, I’m hoping to hit the 10 gallon mark at The Red Cross before I reach age 50. Why? So I can say I did it. I’m glad I’m helping somebody’s son survive losing a leg after the car accident, or someone’s grandmother get safely through skin graft surgery after a fire, I really am. But that’s not what gets me juiced up for the needle every couple of months – it’s the personal goal. The number. Lots of people won’t, don’t, or can’t give blood, so it’s what *I* do. I don’t run for breast cancer or walk for JDRF as many of my friends do. I lay in a chair and let the nice people in white coats stick metal in my veins. To each his own. The Red Cross doesn’t care any further about my motivation than figuring out what the hot button is so they can encourage me to give more.
Others have other reasons, and here’s one: tax deduction. I still give to that local non-profit, and that’s one reason why. I always give in December – and the folks there remember that and make it really easy for me by calling me at year’s end to ask if I am willing to help out. In one more year ALL of the students that I had a personal connection with will no longer be in school. Most of the board members have changed, and I have very little interaction with any of them – certainly not the kudos and thanks I received when I was more involved. But the tax deduction still motivates me to give!
In my bracket, that’s about $17.55 back from the IRS for every $100 I donate… it’s not a lot of money, but it’s all it takes to push me over the edge into donation-land. I pay more than that for lunch at least once a month (which I think is outrageous, but I’m a sucker for the Cheesecake Factory)! However, $17.55 worth of motivation gets the non-profit $100. The opportunity for the tax deduction is all it takes to make me do it – it certainly isn’t the financial ROI! And hey, that’s $17.55 more that I’ll be able to use next year toward the 
next donation…
So thanks for going out and supporting your local Winter Guard programs (”Winter at the Beech”, March 15 and 16 at Beech High School in Hendersonville, TN). Thanks for putting a check in the plate at church. Thanks for coming to Show Your Soul and dropping $10 in the bucket for Faces of Hope (there, you got kudos AND a tax deduction).
Whatever motivates you to donate to a non-profit, whether local, national, or international, I applaud and encourage it. Thanks simply for having your reasons to give it away…
Be free,
Jeff
Jeff Elkins serves on my personal board of directors (I’ve never officially told him that), and acts as my writing sherpa. He cringes when he hears me say “Hey, can you look at something for me?” Oh, and he’s my brother. You can see him perform with The Anna Ross Project on April 4th, at the Show Your Soul concert series in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Read more about Jeff here.Check out his very cool blog here.——-Jason
Be Our Friend on Facebook
Follow Us on Twitter
Be Our Friend on MySpace
Connect With Jason at Linked In
March 10th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Jeff- Thank you for that article– some good food for thought– and tidbits to chuckle about too! You know, as the mother of the little “Faces of Hope”, I have to give you just one more reason for giving– one I never would have appreciated were it not for these two precious little boys. I’ve got a reason that’s better than the number, the bragging rights, and the tax deduction…. When you give, you just might be changing the world for a little boy or his Mom or whomever— one penny, one dollar, one word, one heartbeat, one drop of blood, one answered prayer at a time. You just never know where your contribution– whatever size or kind–might fall in that miracle! God bless you and Jason both!