As you head into your Memorial Day weekend, here’s a little tidbit you can ponder in the car or while you’re waiting for the weather to warm up and act like summer. It’s courtesy of Sean at Tactical Philanthropy, who asked today, "Why do people really give to charity?"
Sean takes the position that people give in order to find meaning in their lives, and because helping others is basically to help ourselves. That the narrative that says that people give for "selfish" reasons–tax breaks, to feel good, to ease guilt–are false.
Because the very act of raising up another is to better oneself, and the community around you.
We hear a lot of reasons for why people give in the course of our work.
Because they see impact. Because it makes them feel good. Because they learn more about their community. Because they like giving with others.
But I’d have to say that at the core of all of this is a sense that what Sean is saying is true–that by giving, by making our community better, we all benefit.
For we are all connected, we all walk around bumping into one another in one way or another. I’m reminded randomly of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s statement that, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
We don’t work to eliminate injustice or poverty or disease because it feels good. We do so because we know that in their absence our lives and everything around us stands to be stronger, brighter, better.
And that’s it’s not selfish. If anything, it’s smart.
