Over the next few blogs we'll be going over my personal all-time favorite rules of business (which you can probably apply to your relationships, family, community, and other parts of your life)...

#7 Golden Guide to Success: Give Back

Giving back is one of the best things you can do with your talent and with your treasure. Your individual donation of $25, $50, or $100 quite literally keeps your local community groups, churchs, and educational nonprofits going. Individuals provide the most support to nonprofit organizations: people like you and me, and Joan Kroc who bequested $1.5 billion to the Salvation Army, or Sheila Johnson of Virginia, whose sale of Black Entertainment Television, which she cofounded as a classical music teacher, allows her to donate millions, including $7m to the Parsons School of Design and more through her own foundation.

“Charitable giving is the lifeblood of more than a million American nonprofits,” said  Henry (Hank) Goldstein, CFRE, chair of the Giving USA Foundation. “Contributions  fund research in medicine and the social sciences, endow scholarships, support  museums and orchestras, and so much more." 

Giving USA's research shows that most Americans are philanthropists: "about 70 to 80 percent of Americans  contribute annually to at least one charity. Being a ‘philanthropist’ does not merely mean making huge gifts; it means giving to any cause that you value.” 

Which causes do you value? What change do you want to see in the world? Find a way to support groups that stand where you stand on the issues. Make a commitment to that group and support them in whatever way works best!


"I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back." - Maya Angelou