Why is it essential to invest in your community and provide ways to give back?
What is community? Friends, family, co-workers, organization members, a sporting league, your neighborhood, your school – all examples can constitute a community. Wikipedia defines a community as a social unit with commonalities such as norms, religion, values, customs, or identity.
Being part of a community requires action. Giving back to the community, or communities, you’re a part of, is one of the most important principles of the human experience. The relationships formed amongst community members are reciprocal. When times get tough, it’s most often our communities that supply the support we need.
Giving back to your community ensures that help will be available when you and your community members need it, which helps build a stronger community.
Below are five ways to become an active community member by giving back and creating a better quality of life:
Donations
Any charity or organization created to help your community will need and request money. One of the easiest ways to make an impact and give back is through giving a monetary donation. You can give in small weekly or monthly increments.
Fundraising Drives
If you desire to provide a charity with a large donation but can’t donate thousands of dollars, creating a fundraiser and rallying the people in your network to give enables you to raise more money in a short period.
Fundraisers also don’t have to be monetary. You can do a coat drive to assist those in need during the winter, organize a drive to collect school supplies in the summer for the upcoming school year, or collect canned and other non-perishable food from friends and family to give to your local food bank or church.
Volunteering
There are several ways to volunteer in your community. Giving time to serve in a soup kitchen, writing a grant, or breaking out your tool belt to help build a home can benefit the charity and you. The charity gets the benefit of your time and assistance, and you get the opportunity to meet new people, broaden your network, gain more empathy for fellow community members, and improve your ability to communicate with others. If you’re looking to change careers, volunteering is a great way to gain new employment opportunities.
Tutoring
One of the ways to impact the community is to invest in its future. Helping to tutor students improves your leadership abilities and allows you to share your knowledge and skills.
Get Creative
Using your skills to get creative when thinking about ideas of giving can help you to create a personalized connection with your community. Love to cook? You can whip up meals for your neighbors who are elderly or shut in. Have a knack for doing hair? You can set up a beauty day at your local senior living community.
When giving back to the community, you’re not giving a handout. You’re putting a hand in. Giving back to your community makes you a valued member and creates a positive ripple effect, impacting you and those around you. When thinking about giving back, think about the best ways for you and your schedule.
One way you can immediately begin to give back to local charities in your community is by creating an Impact Account. With your Impact Account, you can track the money you give, connect with other difference-makers in your community, and track how you choose to share. Once you’ve set up your Impact Account, perhaps you’ll try one or all of these suggestions.
About Philanthropi
Founded in Philadelphia in 2019, Philanthropi is revolutionary charitable giving by democratizing philanthropy through its giving-as-a-service platform. Allowing everyday donors to seamlessly support their favorite nonprofit organizations.
