Personal Philanthropy: The Power of Giving to Others
In
most cases, individuals are not hurt by giving to others. My co-author,
Noriko Chapman, emailed me last week about royalties on our book,
Second Chance, and how the funds would go to charity. While I looked at
this book as an opportunity to provide assistance for nonprofit
organizations, it was her idea to leverage our written work over the
long-term. Noriko, who is an automobile production manager, selected the Tennessee Rehabilitation Center in Maryville as part of her MBA project.
We pledged 30 percent of the book proceeds to this organization.
Noriko's giving attitude helped the Center's financial needs. With the
current economic crisis and the holiday season before us, citizens
should use personal philanthropy as an option to improve society.
According to Merriman-Webster.com, philanthropy is defined as an act or gift done or made for humanitarian purposes. When
most people think about philanthropy, they think about the wealthy
among us such as Bill Gates or Warren Buffet. Personal philanthropy can
be so much more than that. In fact, individuals can have the same
philanthropist mindset when giving to organizations or people. Social
responsibility is a buzzword in a society demanding more accountability
from its corporate citizens.
Social
responsibility speaks to a company's stance on the way its managers and
employees view their duty or obligation to make decisions that protect,
enhance, and promote the well-being of stakeholders and society as a
whole. Gareth Jones and Jennifer George, authors of Contemporary
Management, argue about the importance of social responsibility: "The
way a company announces business problems or admits its mistakes
provides strong clues about its stance on social responsibility." With
the economic crisis, there are many institutions in trouble.
However, philanthropy
must start with a mindset and an attitude for giving regardless of
where a person stands on the economic ladder. Marc Benioff, Chairman
& CEO of Salesforce.com, built his organization with a
philanthropyfocus. Salesforce.com is a cloud computing company with a
mission of 'The End of Software." Benioff has had a history of
successful business ventures, including The Oracle Corporation and the
Macintosh Division. However, he is noted for the achievement of
designing a new philanthropy model.
The
Salesforce.com Foundation aims to inspire companies across the globe to
give 1% of their resources to support charities and social causes. This
1%; 1%; 1% philanthropy model includes 1% of its company's time, 1% of
its equity, and 1% of its products be donated to charity. For
Salesforce.com, this model means giving employees 6 paid days of
volunteer time to use over the course of the year. To date,
Salesforce.com employees have donated over 178,000 hours. Other
companies like Google have embraced this model.
The Salesforce.com
Foundation has supported the giving of products to 8,000 nonprofits in
70 countries. On the equity front, 1% of its founding stock is used to
offer grants focused on technology innovation for nonprofits and youth
development programs. The company has given over $20 million in grants
to qualified nonprofit organizations. Therefore, a philanthropist
mindset can carry great rewards in sustaining meaningful programs in
society. It is not exclusive only to the wealthiest people.
© 2013 by Daryl D. Green
About Daryl Green:Dr. Daryl Green has done extensive research on cultural issues impacting today and future leaders. His last book, Job Strategies for the 21st Century: How to Assist Today's College Students during Economic Turbulence, has been rated number one on Amazon.com. For more information, you can contact him at www.darylgreen.org or www.nuleadership.com.
