Finding your Motivation to Give

                     I really could keep this post to a single sentence or two. If I did it would read something like this, "More than one billion people in the world live on less than one dollar a day. In total, 2.7 billion struggle to survive on less than two dollars per day. Poverty in the developing world, however, goes far beyond income poverty. Get out there and do you part to alleviate that povery!" Another sentence might have more of a local or national focus and read, "Congress is only a step or two away from repealing the Affordable Care Act. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says in a new report that repealing major parts of 'Obamacare' without a replacement plan could lead to an additional 20-25% hike in premiums above existing projections. And it says 18 million Americans would lose their healthcare outright. Agnostic to your political beliefs, as a concerned citizen and/or person of faith, you have a duty to do all you can to help your community members in need." 

            I can't prescribe the motivation that will produce a reflective moment for yourself or your family to act and give all you can (money, time, etc.). That said, we can all think back to moments in our history that gave us pause, and those moments of reflection to ask ourselves, “Am I doing enough?” It might have been that volunteer event you did for your community, the story of a loved one or colleague that was suffering through an illness or difficult situation, a philanthropic endeavor by your company, an experience in a foreign country. Perhaps it was merely a book, TedTalk, or blog post that impacted you. What I can and will do here is provide some insight into my personal motivations and I hope that they resinate with people. 

For me personally, as I sure for most, there wasn't a single event that pushed me to give or to strive to selflessly do more for others.  Often the motivation comes from a combination of events and experiences. For me it started as a volunteer at Glide Memorial, the exploration of my faith, and being a member of that church. This spirit of being a community working to alleviate suffering has continued at my current church, Imago Dei. I was lucky enough to start my business career at a company, Salesforce, that was built upon the philanthropic guidance of Marc Benioff, Parker Harris, and the 1:1:1 model. I am constantly moved by my wife's compassion, her unconditional love of other, and even her stories of visiting groups of children in Uganda. I am constantly impacted by the heart-wrenching stories of modern slavery and human trafficking from a close friend that works for IJM. I was motivation by Peter Singer in his TedTalk and book. I am encouraged by the transformative stories of my friends' experiences in the Congo, Rwanda and South Africa, and their current efforts with CongoVoice and These Numbers Have Faces. I cherish the hope I get from the daily work of the Holla Mentors here in my hometown of Portland.  I seem to be constantly moved to action by the great podcasts found from the Liturgists. I have also found motivation to give out of spite when seeing the excesses sometimes found my own backyard, like the $384,000 that Paul Allen spends a WEEK to maintain is stupid yacht! Imagine the positive impact that could come from that ridiculous amount of money if it were spent on those in need, and not for the mere pleasure of an accidental billionaire!

            As you can take from the above list, for me, in order do as much good as possible each day, week, month or year, I have to remember what has motivated me in the past, what pushes me now, and what gives me hope in the face of hardship. Please join me/us in taking moments to reflect on all that we personally have, putting away our selfish desires, searching for what good is needed in our communities, and then helping to create ways to bring about that positive change.