4 engaging ways to connect to those in need with charity
The psychology of giving is complicated. Some people maintain that the giver receives a greater gift than the person to whom the charity is offered. But what should the expectation of the donor be? After all, some kindly intent has motivated this act of goodness surely it is not unreasonable to expect to receive something in return?
1. Examine your motivation
It is very easy to give away something you don’t really need or no longer have use for. This is a conditional gift more akin to recycling than genuine charity.
Genuine charity is unconditional. It is the giving of some part of yourself along with your donation of money or food or clothing. Give something that is valuable to you, not a discarded or finished item and give it with an open heart. All charity shop owners and collection centres will tell stories of the outright junk that is donated. Would people really have a need for this? Would you want it for yourself? Presumably not as you have discarded it or are about to throw it away. Don’t view those in need of charity as lesser human beings than yourself.
2. Focus on the individual, not the cause
It is easy in large charitable initiatives to see the project first and not the people. One way to connect with real people who require your support is to sponsor an adult or a child in the developing world. Most charities focus on projects to help as many people as possible but within that, you can highlight just one individual to ensure your connection remains on a purely human and spiritual level.
Sponsoring a child with Compassion involves exactly this and will connect you to a child and keep your act of charity as personal and individual as if the child were within your physical reach. Don’t get lost in the poverty facts which are all about numbers and targets. Keeping poverty real and relevant is about seeing a face not the figures.
3. Understanding what charity is
Charity can take many different forms from a simple kindly act towards someone you know to a financial donation sent halfway around the world.
Put away the yardstick as charity is not about how much money or time you can give but what is in the heart and soul of the donor. The smallest simplest act of charity can have far-reaching ramifications which outweigh in goodness the huge impact of a large sum of money. To measure charity in terms of volume or success is to deny an individual the right to make the smallest gesture of compassion.
Charity does not have to be about giving something tangible such as money or food, it can be about simply giving time and everyone has some of that to offer.
4. Poverty, it’s all relative
It is easy to focus on a natural disaster happening somewhere on the other side of the world or a large project in the UK when there can be a need for a charitable act right in front of you. A homeless person in a shop doorway in your town or city is as much in need as those projects you donate to faraway. People needing your charity can be closer than you think.
Poverty is relative to the situation. Poverty is defined as having enough money or resource to meet the basic human needs of food, clothing and shelter. That is why poverty can be seen everywhere from countries low on the development index to those
The Charities Aid Foundation has plenty of imaginative and innovative ideas about how to connect with those in need. These range from the very simple to standard, traditional routes to some you may not even have thought of. Many of these are inclusive of your family, work colleagues or community and fun. Engaging with those in need can take many forms and is easier than you think.
