Five beginner mistakes we make in philanthropy

Not starting to give back soon enough

I always thought of my charitable efforts as something I’d start doing in earnest once I reached a certain level of wealth X; the target over time became 5X, 10X and so on. This was a very shortsighted way to go about it. Financial contributions to good causes should be a matter of habit from the outset of our careers, not an aspirational phase to be triggered at some arbitrary moment in the future, which often never comes. 

I recently listened to Andre Agassi, the famous tennis player, discuss overtly the problems of his youth: drug abuse, family and relationship troubles, injuries, painful losses. When asked what he regretted the most of all that he said, “Not starting my foundation sooner.” 

Action: Donating a portion of our income to charity should be a habit adopted at the beginning of our careers and respected throughout. 

Not recognizing our responsibility to train and empower 

A few weeks ago, I gave a speech to about 100 leaders of Toastmaster clubs from across Switzerland, some of the best public presenters in the land. I began by asking them to raise their hands if they considered themselves master public speakers. Nobody did so. However accomplished we are in our field, we prefer to consider ourselves “lifelong learners” and nothing more, because there is a social stigma associated with a claim to mastery. 

But this mild stigma is worth enduring, because it comes with a strong call of responsibility. A master must consider their trade something they live and breathe rather than just do twice a week or from nine to five. They must perform at the highest level consistently. Crucially, they must act on the responsibility they feel for training and empowering others around them. 

Action: The decision to “become” a master in our field, and accept the accountability that comes with it, is one we can take immediately. Until then we will always have an excuse for not becoming the best we can be and for not helping others do likewise. 

Not investing time and money in a way that maximizes impact 

Investing for the greatest benefit is not easy at all. There are two separate pitfalls. One is the tendency to invest out of “compassion” rather than a humanitarian need. The other is the propensity to invest without grasping, into half-formed goals of “helping Africa” or “feeding the needy.” Humanitarian challenges of today are some of the most complex problems worldwide and they require multi-disciplinary learning to understand properly. 

Then, there is the modality — how do you invest? Big, international humanitarian organizations can be bureaucratic and wasteful. Small associations can lack basic organizational skills. Starting our own foundations and nonprofits is complicated, sometimes more so than starting a successful business. 

As an example, I volunteer with a Geneva-based NGO that pairs people with a handicap with a companion for joint outings and spending time together. There are dozens of people currently waiting for a volunteer, simply because the marketing efforts of the organization aren’t good enough and not many people know about it. So I have helped recruit a few volunteers. In hindsight, this was the least efficient thing to do. My time would have been better spent organizing a marketing training for the staff. Even better, if I had “industrialized” that training and invited a dozen other NGOs across Geneva maybe that would have resulted in 100 volunteers across the city a year from now. The required additional effort on my part would not have been significant. 

Action: While it makes sense to invest in causes we believe in, we should constantly seek ways to do so in a way that maximizes impact. Time and attention are the most valuable resources we possess, and they are very finite. If we are not efficient then people are left out. 

Not learning the technical skills needed for giving back 

Years ago, I went to volunteer briefly in a war-torn West African country. I went in with a lofty ambition and left soon with my tail between my legs, because I had been all but useless — I knew nothing about water purification, delivering babies or AIDS prevention. My untrained “pair of hands” was not needed — there were many of those already available on the spot. 

Giving back requires a unique set of skills that we should not automatically assume to have. We must nurture our public speaking so as to be readily able to inform, motivate and inspire any room we walk into. We need the technique — the passion and the knowledge are not enough. Next, we must learn how to mentor. To successful people, who on occasion may be single-purposed and overly self-centered, this can be far from second nature. Listening, guiding and competence building are all skills that simply need to be learned and practiced over and over again. 

Action: Practice public speaking and mentoring on a regular basis. Seek constant feedback about your performance in doing so. 

Not adjusting our career goals to include others explicitly 

What is the reasonable end goal of a successful career? Perhaps for our family to be financially secure by the time we retire? What if we chose to live in a world where we have only succeeded if we have helped another 10 or 100 people succeed, and if that was the norm for those who’ve been lucky to be born in the right place or receive the right education? We would know that we would need time to devote to this, throughout our careers and in particular in the latter years. Our schedules would change. I think that this would make us more creative, more entrepreneurial, more focused. 

Action: Think of who the ten people you would like to help succeed are. Think of how you can assist them. Don’t consider that you have succeeded until they have. 

Summary 

There is no shortage of literature that demonstrates that focus on others leads to a fulfilled life. In his famed Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl demonstrated that such a focus can give meaning even in the dire environment of a concentration camp. Yet browse any self improvement bookshelf, listen to any achievement guru, and 99% of the content will focus on achieving your own goals, and present others as competition and the world itself as something to be “beaten.” A healthier way is to think of our society as something to be improved, and of others as our partners in doing so. Ironically, there are very few courses or books out there that teach us specifically how to give back. Working to rectify the five mistakes we tend to make would be at least a first step in the right direction.