People who give money away consider these giving tips and think in terms of buckets of money. How much to give? How many buckets? For whom is each bucket? How much in each bucket?
HOW MUCH TO GIVE AWAY?
Consider any of these four formulas (or any other variation):
- Give a percentage of your annual income
This is the most common formula. For example: 10% of your annual income.
- Give a percentage of your net assets (or your assets in stock investments)
Many experts believe that if you spend less than 4% per year of your invested assets, you will not run out of money in your lifetime and that the rest of your assets will still keep up with inflation. Of course this is based on many assumptions, and you need to check with your financial advisor.
- Give a percentage of your disposable income
Deduct from your income your basic expenses: mortgage (if any), income taxes, basic living expenses, etc. Why not give part of your disposable income to advance equality?
- Give a part of your annual bonus
A bonus is not usually counted as part of your regular income. So why not use part of it to obtain your legal rights (e.g., to ensure that you cannot be fired solely for being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer)?
TO WHOM TO GIVE
There are many causes that deserve your money, but if you are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer why not give to help your own community?
Among the many worthwhile causes that deserve support in the LGBT community, eQualityGiving focuses exclusively on achieving legal equality. We encourage you to also give to the other LGBT causes.
Donors may want to print this Giving Plan and refer to it throughout the year.
AMOUNT YOU WANT TO GIVE IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS TO ADVANCE EQUALITY: $_____________
AMOUNT YOU WANT TO GIVE IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS TO OTHER LGBT ISSUES: $_____________
AMOUNT YOU WANT TO GIVE IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS TO NON-LGBT ISSUES: $_____________
For the amount that you want to give to advance equality consider the following buckets and assign how much money you want to place on each:
POLITICAL GIVING: CANDIDATES AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Even if in the past you have only given to nonprofits, consider giving at least 25% of your donations to political candidates and political organizations. These donations are not tax-deductible, but elected officials are a strategic component for reaching legal equality.
Consider giving to as many of these groups as your resources permit:
- Start by giving to your state politicians who have been Endorsed by eQualityGiving.
Personal contact is critical:
- Attend one or several fundraisers for them (or better yet organize a fundraiser for them)
- Meet them personally and thank them for supporting equality
- Come out to them as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer
- Focus the conversation on the legislation that they should work to pass after the election or re-election. Remember: supporting candidates is a means to the end of passing equality legislation. Follow up after the election to remind them about passing legislation.
- Give to politicians that you know personally if they are in a competitive race. Personal relationships are critical.
- Give to the eQualityGiving Endorsed Candidates in states other than your own. They are pro equality, and they hold the most influential positions to approve legislation to bring legal equality to most areas where it is missing for the LGBTQ population.
- Give to state candidates recommended by Gill Action, HRC, and other political organizations.
- Give to LGBTQ candidates endorsed by the Victory Fund. Most of them are running for local offices... which prepares them to run for statewide and federal positions later.
- Give to political organizations
- National Stonewall Democrats if you are a Democrat
- Log Cabin Republicans if you are a Republican
- Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council of the DNC. Note that in this case the money is branded as gay and lesbian (which is important) but the funds are used for general operating expenses of the DNC. (The RNC does not have a corresponding fund.)
- Give to the presidential race. The Supreme Court is divided 5 to 4 and several of the liberal judges are about to retire.
Therefore it is critical to elect a president who understands the importance of an independent judiciary and will appoint fair judges instead of conservative idealogues. eQualityGiving's analysis of the presidential election shows that all Republican presidential candidates are Anti Equality and that the majority of the Democratic presidential candidates are Heartbreakers---with the noticeable exception of Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel who are Pro Equality.
- If you have the resources to invest heavily in politics, it is important to max out to the federal limits ($2,300 per candidate and $28,500 for a federal committee). Even if you do not fully agree with all the actions of your party, giving them $28,500 consistently each year places you in an important category that receives attention and access (including three or four dinners a year to discuss issues). Donors at that level are, in effect, ambassadors for the LGBT population.
- If you are investing heavily in politics, you should consider supporting legislation at the state and federal levels to ensure the auditability of elections. This is the only way to protect your investment. Unfortunately, federal legislation addressing this problem (Rush Holt's HR 811) has stalled in the current session of Congress, and it is not being brought up for a vote despite that more than 50% of members of the House are sponsors or co-sponsors of the bill.
GIVING TO CHARITY: NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
Even if in the past you have only given to political candidates, consider giving
at least 25% of your donations to nonprofit organizations working to achieve LGBT equality. These donations are tax-deductible. Check the Giving Center for different approaches to giving.
Consider these giving tips:
- Give for multiple years. Some people recommend three year commitments, but your commitment should be until a specific Equality Goal is reached.
- Give consistently. In election years, it is very tempting to
give more for elections at the expense of the nonprofits. Organizations
need stability, so continue supporting them despite that this might be
the "election of a lifetime."
- Check outcomes. What has the organization achieved each year for equality? How relevant is this to achieving legal equality?
- Help with unplanned opportunities. In a perfect world, organizations would know what they are going to do for the whole year. In reality, events change and require funding to take advantage of a new development. For example, an organization may need extra money to fund a survey on a new development. This is not an excuse for organizations that do not plan properly. It is helpful to be there for well managed organizations that want to take advantage of a new situation.
OPPORTUNITY GIVING
Reserve part of your giving for opportunities that may not emerge until later in the year. Even the most well-managed organization cannot plan perfectly one year in advance.
As a guideline, you can allocate up to 10% of your giving to opportunities that may appear during the year.
SOCIAL GIVING
A strategic giving advisor may tell you to say no to requests for money
that do not fit your giving plan. In reality, donors are better served
by accepting that some "social giving" is necessary. Sometimes donors need to give to causes that have lower priority for them just
to be social and maintain good relationships.
The issue then is not to eliminate social giving, but to limit it to
a small percentage of your total giving (e.g., less than 10%).
SUMMARY
If you are unsure on the proper allocation of your funds for achieving equality consider:
- 40% for politicians and political organizations that will assist in passing legislation for equality
- 40% for nonprofits working to achieve equality
- 10% for opportunity giving
- 10% for social giving
Of course, modify these amounts as you see appropriate.
Check also: Giving Center | Strategic Giving for Equality | Tax Wise Giving | Philanthropy Books
Exclusively for Registered Members: Strategies for Each Equality Goal | Giving to Reach Equality Goals
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