Philanthropy – An art of giving

Just this weekend, a movie channel was playing a wonderful English movie called “Evan Almighty”.

The hero of the movie Evan, who is a US Senator in modern day Washington DC, is asked by the ‘God’ to build an ARK. First few days, Evan is unable to understand why ‘God’ is asking him to build that ARK in this modern neighborhood and in this era; and what does God want him to do exactly. Well, most important portion of the movie is: when he finally builds this ARK with help of his family and it helps to save the entire neighborhood (and animals too) from a dam full of water (improperly built) which breaks down in the climax. 

The follow-up conversation with God is wonderful:

God: How do you change the world?

Evan: One single act of random kindness at a time.

God: [spoken while writing A-R-K on the ground with a stick] One Act, of Random, Kindness.

Brilliant isn’t it??!!

The metaphorical ARK and the real ARK building exercise is something that teaches us plenty, even in this era. Art of giving, also known as Philanthropy in modern day is something that every human being should learn. It’s not called science specifically because there is not exact rule or a guideline on when to give, how to give and how much to give. 

Here is a humble attempt to guide on answering these questions.

So, why should you learn Art of Giving. Let’s examine it through different lenses:

Philosophically: There is always someone who is less fortunate than you. The perspective of giving should be as simple as breathing every minute. The giving action teaches the basic human values to your children.

Spiritually: Giving to charity makes you feel good from inside, it’s one of the objectives of human life as per ancient and religious scriptures as well.

And practically speaking: Even small amounts can make a huge difference in someone’s life.

Imagine a value of one simple meal in a life of homeless person!!

Also, its “Giver's gain” principle - very often you find that the more you give away, the more comes back to you. Whether it’s the money, knowledge or even as simple as mental or emotional support…

When we are talking about any ancient scriptures, some of the old practices and traditions prescribed talk about giving back to the society.

When we talk about main religions of the world, here are very interesting facts to know about:

In Christianity, a Tithe is 10% of your income given specifically to your local church or the less privileged. (Fun fact: The word tithe literally means tenth in Hebrew.) Because the custom of tithing is biblical, many Christians and Jews practice it as part of their faith.

In Islam, the third pillar out of five pillars of Islam is “Zakat” or alms giving or charity. By following this pillar, Muslims have to deduct certain amount of their income to support the Islamic community, and it usually about 2.5% of an individual’s income.  Zakāt is obligatory for all Muslims who are able to do so. It is the personal responsibility of each Muslim to ease the economic hardship of others and to strive towards eliminating inequality.

 In Hinduism, two of the most important beliefs are Karma (good deeds) and Moksha (Liberation of Soul). Hindus believe that by acting with compassion towards those less fortunate (good karma), they will gain good merit, which may help them to eventually attain Moksha.

In Sikkhism, the Gurudwara or the place of worship offers a “Langar” (term used for the community kitchen in a Gurdwara where a free meal is served to all the visitors, without distinction of religion, caste, gender, economic status or ethnicity) and the kitchen is maintained and serviced by Sikh community volunteers of all walks of life.

 In modern world, some of the most famous personalities who believe into Philanthropy are: Warren Buffett of Berkshire-Hathway, has pledged to give away 99% of his net worth. So far he has given away USD 34 billion from his net worth to healthcare, education and sanitation.

Bill Gates of Microsoft, has given away more than USD 35 billion from his net worth to healthcare, education and poverty eradication.

Our own Indian, Azeem Premji of Wipro, has given more than USD 21 billion for education and healthcare sector.

(*Reference: Wikipedia.org, list of philanthropists)

For common people like us then what can we do and how can we learn the art of giving? We all want to make a difference to the world and those who really deserve this help. Its absolutely wonderful and a noble thought! So here are some simple points that we all can consider, while giving away:

1.  Ensure that it is a legitimate and registered organization. Before giving, you should do the due diligence and make sure your help is actually going to help the needy.

2.  Know where the money is really going. If you decide to work with an NGO or an organization working for the under-privileged, its your right to know: how much of the money is being spent of the organization staffing + operational expenses and how much is actually spent on charity. In-efficiently run organizations usually end up spending more on operations and very less reaches to the actual beneficiaries.

3.  Consider the tax advantages of your donations under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act. Its something which is a small bonus or a token prize for you, while you are thinking about others in the society and doing something for them.

  

Finally, to sum up the thoughts again, how can we forget that ARK – Act of random kindness!! In Princess Diana’s words who is known for her kind gestures and philanthropic work even today after number of years of her passing away:

“Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of a reward, safe in the knowledge that one day, someone might do the same for you!”