Gift-Giving Guide 2012

The kids were quiet in the backseat, worn out from a long day of playing, as we drove home from the Civil War party at Mom & Dad’s. The newspaper lay on the floor of the car, so pulled it up and flipped through its pages. One section caught my eye:

Gift-Giving Guide 2012

I was curious. Since I’m a goat-giver and believe a few chickens bring holiday cheer, I was interested what “the experts” would list as the best gifts of 2012.

It was exactly what I suspected. Lots of Uggs, gadgets, and dog-sweaters.

I said to Jeff, Surely there’s something better than this?

There is. It was waiting in my inbox when I got home.

My brother wrote an extensive Gift-Giving Guide for making wise, informed, and strategic charitable donations. Yes! This is exactly what I wanted. Basically, my brother is a genius at taking things I don’t understand (and don’t have time to research and try to understand) and breaking it down to understandable information I can assimilate and make (relatively) informed decisions.

So, I share with you, in parts, each Friday from now to Christmas:

Gift-Giving Guide 2012

Question: I know I am supposed to be generous to the poor, but there are a ton of different charities out there. What is the best place we can give our money?

This is a wonderful question to ask. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul said, “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. ” The love Paul is talking about is “agape”, which is the love where we look for the best for others, as if it was our self. Paul is saying that if we give based on our own self-interest without making any effort to actually benefit someone with our giving (and certainly there are ways to give that can even harm others), then our giving has no gain. So I believe this question of where to give in order to bless others most , moves exactly in the direction that Paul is commending us toward with our giving.

Likewise, Hosea 6:6 says “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice”. Again, the goal of our giving isn’t our ourselves, and our own sacrifice, it is to bring benefit to others. This is a compelling statement on how we approach giving.

If all charities were equal in their impact, this question may not be that interesting. However, I believe that the difference between one charity and another can easily be 5, 10, or even 100 times the impact. This can be encouraging. Someone who has an income $50,000 and commits to giving away 10% to the poor, and makes an intelligent and wise selection of recipients by investing some time in research can easily have a bigger impact than a millionaire who gives away the same percentage of their income. We have incredible opportunity to make an impact, even if we aren’t super wealthy, when we make smart investments.

This giving guide is intended to provide an objective analysis of different types of charitable activities, then recommend types of charitable projects that benefit the poor the most per dollar given.

First, there are different goals we can pursue in our giving, based on our values. Here are several questions to ask, that will guide you to the best donation choice:

• Do you want your donation to result in an immediate benefit to someone, or would you prefer for it be an investment that may not do as much right now, but could reap much larger benefits years from now?

• Do you want to save a few lives, or improve the quality of life for a large number of people?

• If quality of life, what is most important: Having food, being healthy, having freedom, or something else?

• Do you want proven programs, or unproven (but potentially more beneficial) efforts?

• Do you want the donation to be directly from yourself, or use it to push others to give?

• Do you want to donate only to Christian organization, or any organization?

I pray these questions can be helpful to you as you consider how to bless others in Jesus’ name this season. Thanks so much for reading!