Are you a philanthropist or a wannabe? The term philanthropist conjures up names like Gates, Rockefeller, and Buffet. In other words, BIG MONEY. That’s misleading. You don’t have to be a billionaire to be a philanthropist.
Being a philanthropist is about giving back to your community and the people who live here. Anyone can “give back” regardless of income bracket. Philanthropy means a voluntary giving of time and/or money to help others without expecting any type of reward in return.
If you never seriously considered being a philanthropist, now is a good time to give it some thought. It’s a new year, ripe for new thinking.
Consider the following:
• Look locally at causes you care deeply about. Visualize what you believe is most important for your community. Make your generosity meaningful to you.
• Make inquiries. One simple way to find out who and what you want to support is to contact the Juneau Community Foundation. You’ll learn about the various funds it manages that support a wide variety of community needs, and more about non-profits in which you could become active.
• Volunteer. If your discretionary funds are limited, donate your time. Become active with your chosen charity or non-profit organization.
• Budget. Really? You’ve heard the old-fashioned term “to tithe” which we usually equate with giving to our place of worship. Those who tithe, budget a certain amount each month or year which makes giving simple and automatic. Your philanthropy habit can be planned in the same way. Budget for it rather than have it become a missed afterthought.
• Take it easy. No need to make your personal philanthropy practice complicated or mind boggling. One easy route is to Pick-Click-Give on your next PFD application. You have until March 31, 2013 to apply for your PFD, on which you can pick a charity, click on it, and give through a deduction from your next permanent fund dividend check. Easy. Wow!
• Make an Estate Plan. Plan to give back to Juneau, even if you may be leaving town. Many people live in Juneau for their earning years, raise their children here, earn a decent living, and then move south to warmer climates or nearer family. Consider giving to Juneau before you leave, or include Juneau in your estate plan with a financial bequest through your will or trust.
Why become a philanthropist? Besides the obvious never ending needs of a community, many people leave the giving to others, thinking it’s not their job. The fact is, in a civil, democratic society we each have an obligation to contribute what we can to keep our community safe, healthy and culturally vital. Moreover, giving back is a personal feel good. Our reward will not likely be a statue downtown, or a park or building named for us. Instead, and trust me on this one, we will simply feel satisfaction and peace of mind knowing we’ve done what we could.
I encourage you to make this a happy new year by taking some action now toward becoming a philanthropist. A quick and easy first step is to contact the Juneau Community Foundation at 523-5450, or at info@juneaucf.org, and by visiting the JCF website at juneaucf.org You’ll be very glad you did.
• Douglas is thankful she has lived in Juneau for 36 years and serves on the Juneau Community Foundation Board of Directors.
Comments (7)
Add commentWe are all philanthorpists in Juneau
We give and give, but it is not for the poor or under-privileged, we give so a few can ski, swim and skate! Imagine what good the $800,000 for Eaglecrest or the $1 million to Augustus Brown and Aquatic center or $400,000 to Treadwell arena could do to truly worthy causes.
I gave at Costco, Foodland and Fred Meyer.
My Hats Off to You...
...for writing a "My Turn" about a noncontroversial topic, and for its content. I agree with your argument here. I have nothing monetarily speaking, but I still try and help our community. Even little things like shoveling my elderly neighbors berm while I am out shoveling mine (although she now has a tenant that does it). A little bit goes a long way when we do something that is not that difficult for us to do, for someone that struggles to do the same thing. Juneau has grown into something much larger than it once was, but we still should look out for the ones around us.
My grandmother, Wilma, always called me "biggun" (big one) because I was her first born grandchild. She would tell me that the biggun takes care of the little ones, and had me keep an eye out for my little sister and cousins. We may not be a family here in Juneau, but we are a community. So do what you can to take care of the "little ones" (or those that cannot do for themselves), I bet it makes you feel good about it when you are done. They do not even have to know that you did something for them, because it is not about the recognition.
Thank you Sioux.
Good for you, Paul.
Good for you, Paul. bjfleutch- while I'm inclined to agree with you regarding tax support for swimming, skiing, and skating, I think your criticism is a bit misplaced here... another forum at another time, eh?
Forced giving
Mark_Trail, in Juneau we are forced to give to organizations and activities we don't support. Can you imagine trying to convince the Founding Fathers that Government should use its authority to tax for funding certain citizens recreational activities? When you are forced to give based on your food consumption, philanthropy is a bad taste in your mouth.
It just makes you wonder
What if consumers had the choice at the check out register? Everyone pays a three percent sales tax to cover basic services, like police, fire, schools, snow removal. However, consumers can choose to pay a four, five or six percent sales tax if if they choose to support the various increased levels of government service.
Now, just how what projects get funded? LOL
I disagree ...
These places mentioned are places to exercise and use for recreation. We all need exercise (especially me). Have you not noticed how sedimentary we have become?
accidently drop $50. bucks
accidently drop 50 bucks in front of a store or something like that and see what happens..