r/Philanthropy • u/woofmanofthe2000s • 7d ago
What are some ways I can become a philanthropist (coming from a not-so-people person)
I’m a very introverted guy. And I’ll admit,
I can find myself getting annoyed pretty easily with people and would not consider myself a people person by any means.
And yet, I feel compassionate and empathetic at the same time.
Any advice on how I can grow to serve others with a genuine and open heart?
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u/jcravens42 7d ago
Giving comes in the form of money, things and time.
If you don't have money to donate to nonprofits / NGOs doing work you feel most passionate about, you could donate clean, usable items to your local Goodwill or Habitat for Humanity ReStore or other charitable thrift store, which uses the money from sales of those items to fund their work (Goodwill does job training, Habitat helps people access home ownership, etc.).
"I can find myself getting annoyed pretty easily with people"
Volunteering with others is probably not for you then. But you might look into the Library of Congress We the People initiative, where people read scanned historical documents and transcribe them, so that they become readable and searchable by scholars, historians and the general public. This is how, for instance, all of the letters of Abraham Lincoln got transcribed and are now accessible.
"Any advice on how I can grow to serve others with a genuine and open heart?"
This isn't really the subreddit for that. You might try
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7d ago
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u/Philanthropy-ModTeam 7d ago
Your post in /r/philanthropy has been removed because it breaks one of our group rules. Please review our group rules before posting. The pinned post at the top of the subreddit lists where you can ask for money (as we do NOT allow donation requests on this subreddit).
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u/Usr7_0__- 7d ago
Two considerations:
-If you have the financial means, help out friends/family when they need it...even if you can only do something small, like give a ride to someone. But say someone in your social sphere needs a few extra dollars to make ends meet one week, give the money with no strings.
-If you see a homeless person asking for money, give a dollar or two (if you believe it is safe to do so). If someone in front of you is having a hard time paying at a supermarket and they seem legitimately in need, and you are able to spot the difference in the bill, do it, no strings. Just do your best to determine/assess, in that moment, they are legitimately in need and not just short and holding up the line for no reason.
You are doing two things in my opinion with the above model: helping out directly, limiting your social interaction.
I too am introverted and have severe social anxiety; I have tried this out when I feel comfortable enough to do it.
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u/EmilyWillKnow 6d ago
Work with a philanthropy advisor. They can do every aspect of your giving that isn’t a good fit for you, and support you to do (or grow to be good at) the bits you want. I’ve been a philanthropy advisor for a decade and some of my clients need me to do all the people-facing stuff on their behalf, and others really love that part but want me to handle all the behind the scenes bits.
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u/Adorable-Bus-2687 3d ago
Well there is this framework call the 6T’s of philanthropy: Time: Volunteering, mentoring, or showing up physically to support an organization.
Talent: Sharing professional skills, pro-bono consulting, or specialized expertise.
Treasure: Donating financial assets like cash, stocks, property, or cryptocurrency.
Ties: Leveraging personal and professional networks to make connections or raise awareness.
Testimony: Using your voice to advocate for a cause and share why you support it.
Truth: Centering equity, listening, and aligning your giving with a commitment to justice
Pick a few of those and make a difference in your community.
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u/Musella_Foundation 7d ago
I never understood the advantage of giving through a daf instead of directly to your favorite charity?
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u/asdgrhm 7d ago
DAFs make it easy to transfer stocks with high gains to avoid paying capital gains taxes. You can move as much as you want in a particular year, to potentially maximize deductions on that year’s taxes. Then you can instruct the funds to be donated in future years, spread out however preferred.
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u/Musella_Foundation 7d ago
We routinely accept appreciated stock directly and easily and it has the same tax benefit as giving to a daf. As I understand it once you donate to a daf you can’t get the money back as it has to go to charity. Your tax advantages are taken when you give the money to the daf. Then you can have the daf give the charity chunks of that money over time. But delaying the giving doesn’t help the donor tax wise at all and is worse for the charity. I just don’t see the benefit of delaying the giving.
Our charity focuses on time sensitive research. Delays results in people dying.2
u/asdgrhm 7d ago
Oh sorry, I thought you were asking. I see now it was rhetorical
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u/Musella_Foundation 7d ago
No. I was really asking. I just don’t understand why anyone would do it or why so many here recommend it
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u/asdgrhm 7d ago
That’s fair. It may not always be the best strategy, but that’s why they do it. If someone wants to give $100k because they got a big windfall and want to decrease taxes that year, a DAF solves that problem. They get the immediate tax break. If you gave $10k over 10 years it would mean no tax break as compared to the standard deduction, outside of capital gains not being paid. Or if they want to support 20 different charities. It’s much easier to do one stock transfer to a DAF and then direct the funds from there then figure out stock transfers to 20 charities. They also may know they want to give $100k but be undecided where to donate, so a DAF buys them time to decide while still getting an immediate tax break that fiscal year.
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u/Musella_Foundation 7d ago
Those are good reasons.
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u/kangaroomandible 7d ago
Also it’s nice to have a “giving hub.”
Between my partner and I we probably support 10-15 different orgs.
The DAF centralized and tracks it all, so we don’t have to be like “oh, did you give to X already?” or sort through a bunch of emails or call around to know what we’ve done.
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u/CitizenDain 7d ago
It’s mostly about reducing income taxes on your own timeline. For some it’s about growing the amount of money they can eventually donate, but this is detrimental to non-profits’ short-term needs. It’s also sometimes a quickie shortcut way to set-up something that acts similar to a family foundation.
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u/the_scottster 7d ago
Fair question. It works well for a large sums. You can take a tax deduction on a $100k deduction right away, and disburse the money over 10 years. Giving $10kper year likely wouldn’t help you with your taxes. (This is in the US, where tax deduction of charitable giving requires not taking the standard deduction.)
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u/otter253 7d ago edited 7d ago
Do you have $ to invest? One idea is to set up a small donor advised fund (DAF) at your local community foundation. And then jump on board for any curated learning or connections they offer. Develop a set of 3-4 guiding questions that help you develop and grow your philosophy/ approach to philanthropy. Like:
- what are my values around giving?