Entrepreneurship
Giving Back
A friend and business partner of mine mentioned his commitment to a charity the other day. As a technologist, he donates four hours per week to the cause, assisting them in developing technical solutions for their operation.
I probed a little further on this, and he proposed the idea that giving back is part of success, that the incoming opportunities will be reduced or otherwise tend to stagnate if one hordes their resources. He quoted the metric of 10%, citing that his four hours was based on the assumption that he should be working a 40 hour work week. (Like all entrepreneurs I know, including myself, he’s a workaholic, and works day and night.) Donating money or the resources of your business are both alternate paths to reach this state of cosmic balance.
While I tend to agree, I found myself thinking about how I lead my life, run my business, treat my employees, and serve my customers. I proposed that I give back every day by pushing employees to grow, going beyond the call of duty for customers, and coaching strangers in bettering themselves.
My friend proposed that the act of demarcating the 10% was important. “The act of ‘being cool’ is something you should do anyway. That’s just a function of life. It isn’t charity.”
I’m not sure about that. I think that, actually, my business would do better and that I’d have significantly less stress if I was, well, more of an a$$4ole. Just yesterday (on a Friday night when I was supposed to be sipping a cocktail), I took on the duty of considering a biweekly payment plan for a tenant. I give up late fees all the time. I’ve loaned money interest-free more times than I can count. The people around me who I have led by example, inspired by my confidence, and pushed by my faith (in them) have earned literally millions of dollars just by having known me.
Furthermore, I’ve turned my charity inward, employing friends and family in jobs for which they are not qualified (in hope, sometimes not misplaced, that they would step up to the plate). I spend time with folks from my youth who lack the ability to move themselves forward in achievement or socioeconomics, even though that means, often, that the extent of our conversation is limited to the nuances of Star Wars. I often hold my tongue in those situations, in fact, refusing the urge to correct the misconceptions about everything from basic economics to race relations. You can’t help someone if you’re just contrary. You have to teach them how to think critically and push them to embrace objectivity.
But I digress. On this point, you see, I’m torn. I want to give back, but I believe it would come at the cost of these other charitable practices I engage in every day. Most entrepreneurs insulate themselves in gated communities, elite clubs, and stay (or make) friends only with peers within their socioeconomic and education strata. They trade in the YMCA for the Country Club and embrace the close-mindedness that comes with it.
I don’t. Every tenant I have lives in a bigger and better house than I do. Every client I have works less. And every friend I have likes me in spite of whatever financial success I happen to enjoy, not because of it.
Most of all, I feel torn because I feel that in order to participate in charity more traditionally/officially, I’d have to be that much more harsh in my daily life.
(pause)
In writing this, I’ve come to a conclusion. However, before I share it, what do you think? Is it either/or? If it is not, and doing official charity work requires giving up my daily give-back routine, is it worth it?
Do you give back? How?
And finally, what would you do?
Discussion
28 comments for “Giving Back”
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This is a very legitimate post. I usually dont give back. So i’m clueless.
There are several aspects to charity or giving it back. I think these terms are very distinct in the first place. In my country giving it back is considered doing some deed that would benefit the community and would generally outlive you. It’s been practically a rule for the local elites for centuries. It’s lost now during the past several decades.
Now about my views on this topic. First of all charity as we see it is obvious, it is hypocryte and it is least to say a shallow spiritual experience. It’s like trying to bargain fro your soul after selling it. There is a saying: “It’s easy to get into the mud when you know a hot bath awaits you at the end of the day.”
There is only one good point in charity I consider. It might sound rude but receiving this obvious charity makes for some appreciation by the subject receiving it. Thus there is some obvious educational part to it which can be of benefit the subject.
Now giving it back is entirely different matter you can do it by yourself for someone that doesn’t even know he’s met an “angel”. You can do as much good as you see fit. You can cut it out and move to other subject where your help might be more beneficial without the angry looks of high life hypocrytes. You can do anything that would make you feel more complete and useful in this world.
I’m still young myself (age 30) and can’t say I’ve given back enough. So your question has been mine too for some time.
Sorry for the lenghty post. Hope my thoughts serve you in some way as yours helped me get a few points straight.
I think giving back is necessary to life, it keeps our lives balanced… I myself don’t think that I’ve given enough, but I’m constantly trying to do that
Stanley Jackson,
I agree with you,giving back is necessary otherwise our life is not balanced.
I think giving is a basic need, almost like food, water, or air. It’s not that you will suddenly die from it, however, the lack of giving starves the soul. I don’t think it matters how you do itl; I just think we all know inside when we are doing right and when we are not.
its simple, when we giving to someone, another ones will giving back to us. life is like a circle.
The only thing I do is donation in terms of giving back. Helping the poor ones will sure help me to feel great.
Well it’s like karma =) We give something but we don’t hope for anything back in return. =/ If you’re the kind that gives and hopes for reward then it’s not sincere and it’s ain’t cool.
Donate–donate–donate.. this is the only way that you can give something back.. to balance out.. now is the great time to make donation so many things going on around the world… help those needs..
yes life is a circle…help the poor ones!
Thank you for the well presented and informative post. It certainly explains things in detail. Please do keep it up. All the best.
Thanks for bringing such a nice post to the fore. I too agree, life works in a circular manner. when we giving to someone, another ones will giving back to us.
true, i usully give back to the total, not the singel though
I’m a person who tries like you to keep it close to home.When I crusade for a cause it’s something I care about and can see the results from our efforts.My community as most has had it’s share of hardships to overcome.Lets just keep going outside ourselves to help others .
Giving back is very important. I agree with you entirely.
Yea sometimes we forget that we should give back. You are amazing
Yup. Giving back is important as to taking. It really balances things out. And donating really helps you release some stress or tension. You feel good that you could be of help to those who are in need. I think that is one of the reasons that kept us, humans, exist.
Giving back is important, but I have issues with organized charity. As I am getting older and older I feel more and more to be true that only the one can save him or herself. Dont get me wrong, I usually give my change to the guys asking for it, Im just thinking.
Usually.. Well, I usually give some money by buying kids-sold-newspaper on the street with higher price
You see, sometimes at about 9pm in rainy season I see kids selling newspaper on the street
I agree, I think there needs to be balance in all things and we need to give as much as we receive.
I really don’t see how getting involved in charity work would interfere in your daily “giving-back” routine. You should be able to continue your daily routine AND do a little official charity work. You could simply donate monetary funds I suppose instead of putting in hours.
this article is really great. i believe that for everything that we get, we have to also give back something, whether if its small or not cause in that way, someone else is receiving as well. then the chain goes on.
Official charity work requires giving up my daily give-back routine, i personally think that it’s worth it. I think that it is meaningful to help somebody out there who needs a lending hand.
I have noticed that lately I have been becoming nicer towards people and being more charitable to them. I don’t have employees or anything like that but I have been trying to give back to people and society in general. It is nice to see people smile when you do random acts of kindness. Thanks for the post.
In a likewise difficult search on how to give back to the community, I came across many things that made me ponder on what exactly I was doing, and if all the effort was going to pay off for anyone in a better life as the end result.
At first I would look for, and easily find, people who needed a meal,and then feed them.
The first hard lesson I learned was that after eating, and sometimes thanking me, and sometimes not, I would see them begging on the street again within 24 hours.
I then found temp job agencies.
This allowed me to find out the attitude of those I proposed to help.
By walking up to them and simply saying “COME ON ,I KNOW WHERRE WE CAN GET WORK RIGHT NOW. LET’S GO TO WORK!
If they wanted to work then I would help them. If they refused to work for their own betterment, I quickly left them standing there empty handed.
Later on I found out that this usually didn’t have real results for the long term .
What I ended up doing was simple. I adopted a needy family, they were a small family that I, with my small budget, could make a real difference for
I have been able to make a real and lasting difference in their lives.
They have gone on to independence, and are living in a better place than I live. Due to the head of house being able to take job training that enabled them to take a step up in life.
Out of this experience, I have life long friends, who are really more like family. and this result will not only help them but their child, who is learning the results of working with his brain over working with his back.
You have been practicing this philosophy by hiring those who you need to teach the job to.
I guess it all falls back to the saying that “to give a man a fish you feed him a meal, to teach a man to fish you feed him for life”.
If everyone who is capable helped one family, poverty would be cut in half.
In answer to the question, am I giving enough? I would have to say , in a case where you are helping more than one family, you are doing more than your fair share in helping others.
You have not only “stepped up to the plate”, you hit a home run!
Thanks for doing your part.
Dave
You must give to receive… Very simple stuff!
Great post, I have stood in the same spot many times. What is the best way to do what we preceive as the right thing, or just what is the right thing. A motto I like is “give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime”.
Yea sometimes we forget that we should give back. You are amazing