Confusing Morality with Frugality
"We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give."
Winston Churchill
One of our routines in the morning is to "listen" to something intelligent. Whether that is a news broadcast from NPR, or a News podcast, or a Ted-Talks, my wife and I try to feed our mind as well as our body as we prepare for the day ahead. This morning we listened to a Ted-Talks by Dan Pallotta called "The way we think about charity is dead wrong." - http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pallotta_the_way_we_think_about_charity_is_dead_wrong.html
He sets forth the belief that we confuse Morality with Frugality.
Part of my vocation is to raise money for a non-profit. I've never raised more than $150,000 in one year but compare that to the fact that the first year I began fundraising, we raised only $15,000.
There are those in my life who might look back on our early days and think nostalgically of them as the better days when I was working part-time in a bar to barely meet the rent, and Bethany was living below the poverty line. It sounds incredibly romantic and moral to give so sacrificially to a cause. The downside is that it takes a toll on the "Sacrificial one" so that eventually they go do something more profitable and sustainable with their life. Fortunately for us we found a way to continue giving our lives to the cause while also changing how we raised money so that we could pay me a living wage and give the ministry the resources it needs to grow.
I want to raise substantially more money than I have done. I'd like to increase again by ten-fold what we bring in each year. I believe if we can raise ten times what we do, the effectiveness for our cause will increase exponentially.
When I first started asking people to invest in the cause we had given our lives to I received a handful of coins that I was incredibly touched to be entrusted with. 9 years later I receive a large roll of bank notes that I feel incredibly touched to be entrusted with. I want that roll of notes to grow into something incredible and I want to be someone who will use it wisely....
My Faith tradition has a sacred text that touches on this.....
Luke 12:48 - When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.
There are those in my life who might look back on our early days and think nostalgically of them as the better days when I was working part-time in a bar to barely meet the rent, and Bethany was living below the poverty line. It sounds incredibly romantic and moral to give so sacrificially to a cause. The downside is that it takes a toll on the "Sacrificial one" so that eventually they go do something more profitable and sustainable with their life. Fortunately for us we found a way to continue giving our lives to the cause while also changing how we raised money so that we could pay me a living wage and give the ministry the resources it needs to grow.
I want to raise substantially more money than I have done. I'd like to increase again by ten-fold what we bring in each year. I believe if we can raise ten times what we do, the effectiveness for our cause will increase exponentially.
When I first started asking people to invest in the cause we had given our lives to I received a handful of coins that I was incredibly touched to be entrusted with. 9 years later I receive a large roll of bank notes that I feel incredibly touched to be entrusted with. I want that roll of notes to grow into something incredible and I want to be someone who will use it wisely....
My Faith tradition has a sacred text that touches on this.....
Luke 12:48 - When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.
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