Review your Giving

Giving Matters by Lawson Knight

When your odometer turns over 3,000 miles you think about a check-up for your vehicle. You change the oil, evaluate that everything is working the way it should and consider daring new choices like switching to synthetic oil or buying a new car.

As the calendar turns over another twelve months, it can be a smart time to do a check-up on your giving. Ask yourself a few questions, reflect on what recipients accomplished with what was given, explore new avenues for giving, integrate giving with your financial plan and consider involving family.

To begin your review, consider the following. What did you seek to achieve with your donation and over what period of time? Did your gifts properly reflect your intentions, values and beliefs? Were your donations consistent with your overall financial plan?

Do evaluate how well your gift, along with those of others, empowered the recipient do to do its work. There are many avenues to complete this study. Review the annual report of a non-profit. Inquire of a friend who serves on the Board of Directors. Visit with the non-profit’s staff. Ask other donors, such as contributing businesses or foundations. Hopefully, you will discover the success of the organization. A study can also reveal if the gift was used the way it was specified. Another outcome of this reflection can be uncovering other programs or opportunities that fit with your values, beliefs and goals.

Along this same line, examine more broadly what you hope the giving of your wealth might accomplish. Study whether the gifts you make reflect what you care about. I recently had a conversation with a widower. He and his wife believed strongly in the value of education. He lost his wife in the last year and wanted to do something to preserve her memory, do something she would like and benefit the community. He created a scholarship fund to invest in local students going to college. This reflection and investment make him feel great.

In looking at the gifts you might consider in the future, do so in the context of your financial plan. Appreciated property, such as rental houses or low-basis stocks, might make very timely contributions.

Finally, looking over your personal choices in giving annually creates a great opportunity to discuss with family members what you support and why. Doing a review in December around the holidays could “rev your engine” about your giving in the year to come.


Lawson Knight is the Executive Director of the Blue Mountain Community Foundation, located in the Baker Building, 8 South 2nd Ave., Suite 618, Walla Walla, WA 99362.
He may be contacted at 529-4371 or by e-mail.