Regardless of the size of your donation, giving requires some element of planning and introducing our children to the concept of Making a Pledge is a great way to start. And it’s easy.

What is a Pledge?

A pledge is simply a promise. When we make a financial pledge, we are promising an institution that we care about that we will provide a certain amount of money over a certain amount of time. Obviously this can be set up in different ways, but for the purpose of this exercise with your children, let’s make it a once-a-month donation for one year.

Here’s how you can approach it with them. More

TAG Question of the Week

If you start poking around on the internet looking at the need in your community, it can become a little overwhelming. This week, we were thinking about families that would like to host a Charitable Birthday Party and pulled together a list of Columbia nonprofits that have wish lists of items that party attendees could bring in lieu of a typical party gift. While we at TAG live in the nonprofit world every day, seeing our list of worthy organizations representing urgent needs right here in our backyard caused us to pause. We want to help them ALL! More

TAG Question of the Week

We know that there are so many different ways to give. And in many cases our efforts aren’t or can’t be spontaneous our impulsive. Getting involved in a movement can involve significant organization and preparation. We don’t stroke a check without considering our finances and we don’t just decide to jump on a plane to Haiti tomorrow to help build a school. There are ways to give that require significant planning and those that do not. Both are of equal importance and it’s important that our children understand the difference and why.

So while financial giving and major, planned efforts are extremely important, there are lots of things we can do right now that do not involve considering year-end recommendations from our accountant or require extreme organizations, effort or time. More

Last week, we caught a segment on Good Day Columbia regarding a recent report published by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) which ranked South Carolina fifth in the nation for food hardship. And if you zero-in on regions, the Columbia area ranks 13^th in the nation.  (click the link to see the full report)

Hunger is a huge problem and a complicated issue, but we can empower our children to make a difference if we educate them about the issue and provide them with opportunities to help instead of ignoring or attempting to insulate them from the reality of this epidemic issue. One in four children in our state goes to bed hungry at night. It is all around us. More

Chances are, you are a philanthropist. We’ve already established this. Personal wealth certainly is not a requirement for philanthropy and you don’t need have a family foundation or give so much that you receive fantastic tax credits to make a big difference. In fact, did you know that individuals make up 75 percent of giving in America? Did you also know that the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans account for only 25 percent of all charitable giving? Taking it a step further, when calculated as a percentage of income, those who earn less than $20,000 become twice as charitable as those who earn $100,000. More

There’s something refreshing about starting a new year and the possibilities it presents. Some call it a ‘do over’ while others might see an opportunity to turn over a new leaf. Regardless, it’s a great time to consider creating new family traditions and habits.

In terms of making giving a part of your family’s activities and ensuring that the value of helping others becomes part of your children’s lifestyles, here are few new new traditions and exercises to consider for this New Year. And if you have others, we’d love to hear about them! More

We’re in the last leg of the holiday season. We’re squeezing this last week of the year for everything it’s worth – kids are out of school, many of us are on vacation. We’re prepping for the New Year and beginning to consider our resolutions. Maybe you’re also reflecting on the great ways your family gave back during the holidays … and thinking about how you can incorporate that giving spirit into your household year round. More

Belinda Gergel, Columbia City Council, proudly made the Conversation Pledge.

Maybe you’ve been mulling it over. Yes, you want to raise generous children. Yes, you’re concerned about the future of our community. You value the act of helping others and supporting causes that are meaningful. You see the significance in ensuring that your kids understand the value of a dollar, the importance of helping others, and that they develop compassionate hearts.

You’re just not sure where to start? More

The holidays are right around the corner – can you believe it?  While this season is a happy, spirited time, it’s also a time of family, reflection and gratitude. And many of us are moved during this time to give back and help others in our community who are in need.

Looking for something to get your giving spirit in gear for the holidays? Let’s celebrate Philanthropy Week together, November 13-19, 2011 – and Central Carolina Community Foundation is going to help! More

Philanthropist. It’s a descriptor that many people don’t think applies to them. Only people like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and other bazillionaires or socialites can be philanthropists, right?

So simply, as Merriam-Webster defines it, philanthropy and all its goodness is nothing more than goodwill. It can be an act or a gift and it can be big or small. So the guy that gives $100,000 to his favorite university is a philanthropist. The child that puts one dollar of her allowance in the offering plate at church is a philanthropist. The volunteer that reads to children each week at the local family shelter is a philanthropist. The family that donates canned goods to the local food bank is philanthropic. More