When introducing your family to giving, it’s important that we successfully meet our obligations but also have our expectations met. In doing this, you’re more likely to create a positive experience that will likely have your children asking for more.

When planning your next volunteer opportunity or financial contribution …

1. Consider your time. If you have kids, you have a crazy schedule. Throw in ballet, soccer, choir, etc. and you might need to seriously consider the time requirements of all your commitments, including volunteering.  Look at your schedule, make priorities and be realistic about what your family is able to bite off. Reevaluate as your schedule changes (perhaps quarterly).
2. Consider your financial obligations. As we’ve discussed, financial giving typically involves planning.  Regardless of your method, setting realistic goals specific to spending, giving, sharing and investing is crucial in meeting your objectives.
3. Consider your family’s interests. When attempting to turn your children on to something, it helps if they find it interesting. Your interests may not mirror your children’s interests, so when volunteering for or financially supporting a cause or organization as a family, decide together who you’re going to help and be sure everyone’s on board. Consider rotating your commitments to expose your family to different service opportunities and to keep your efforts fresh and interesting.
4. Consider your family’s abilities.  Be realistic about the expectations of an opportunity and your children’s ages and abilities. What can they offer and what are they capable of doing? What might provide them with an experience to grow and learn while they’re helping others? Be clear as you research opportunities and before you commit, consider a discussion with volunteer leaders so you’re very clear about what is expected of your little helpers.
5. Consider your expectations. What do you hope to gain from this experience? Be clear as you begin exploring options so you can ensure that in helping others, your family has the experience you’re hoping for.

How about our talent?

In addition to money and time, nonprofits have specific needs that others can help them with by providing expertise. Children’s ‘expertise’ and interests might change as often as the seasons, but we can help our kids find opportunities to use their talent for the good of others. For many, this form of giving can be extremely rewarding because we’re not only helping those that we care about, we are using our personal skills to do it.

The examples are countless, but here are some ways people in our communities are using their talent and expertise to help others:

1. Building. Enjoy construction? Good with tools? Perhaps you’re a homebuilder. Get involved with Habitat for Humanity.
2. Entertainment. Do you enjoy singing? Are you part of a dance group? Maybe you’re a future stand-up comic? Contact your local homeless shelter or nursing home and schedule a show for its residents and visitors.
3. Reading. Do you love to read? Would you like to share the joy of stories with others? Volunteer at your local library or make an appointment to read stories to the children at Palmetto Place Children’s Shelter.
4. Running (or walking). Are your kids into running? Road races are fun and a great way to raise money for a cause you care about. Sign-up for a road race or participate as a family in a walk. (Animal lovers in the Midlands, S.C. – See Spot Run 5K run/walk is this Saturday, May 19 benefiting The Humane Society!)
5. Professional Services. Do you know an attorney or an accountant that provides pro bono work to a nonprofit? How about a doctor that participates in free medical clinics? Or a marketing firm that provides free creative services? Think about the people you know, their professional careers and how they might be using them to help others.
6. Products. What about businesses that provide in-kind donations to nonprofits? How about a printer that provides free printing? Or a restaurant that offers meals or profits to a charity? Do you know businesses that help others by providing free services or products?

What other ways can we share our talents with others? We’d love to hear the examples your family comes up with!

For some children, school is a great source of structure. Meals are consistently provided, the classroom is an appropriate and comfortable temperature. There are adults there that are kind and care for them. They can play at recess and escape the reality of what’s going on at school.

School is a place of learning – something that is critical in today’s society. School is a place where our children meet their friends, explore interests and talents and find mentors that will influence who they become and how they live their lives. School provides consistency and routine; fun and play; growth and development; exposure to others.

But sometimes we need a reminder of why we appreciate school, especially at the end of the school year. We are grateful that we have a school to go to and that we can look forward to returning in the fall. We are lucky to have great teachers who care deeply about our progress and our future. What would we do if we didn’t have a school to go to? Who would teach us if our teachers weren’t there?

What else? Why is school important to your children? Find out with the Question of the Week!

If you’re looking for a way to infuse giving into your family’s culture, consider committing as a group to a Monthly Family Give. You can sit down now and plan out the year or decide on your ‘give’ from month to month, just be sure that once you make the commitment you follow through. Before you know it, helping others in your community will become second nature!

Here are a few ways your family can come together once a month to help others and get involved in your community:

1. Give money. Perhaps you have a regular tradition of going out for dessert as a family. Skip one trip to ice cream shop a month and instead, select a nonprofit that you would like to give that money too. Or, as a family set aside a certain amount of money from your budget each month that you would like to donate. The amount doesn’t matter because every donation counts. Whether you mail a check, donate online or drop it off, do it as a family. Spend a little time talking about the nonprofit and educating yourselves on what they do, who they help and why it’s important to our community. And teach your children about due diligence so you know the money you’re giving is used well.
2. Volunteer Together. Once a month, come together as a family to help someone in need. The benefits of volunteering to kids are immense. Serve a meal at a local soup kitchen, host a canned food drive for Harvest Hope or help build a home with Habitat for Humanity.
3. Acts of Kindness. There are lots of little (and big) things that we can do to simply make a day brighter or life a little easier for someone else.  Each month, commit to performing an Act of Kindness as a family. Spend an afternoon doing yard work for an elderly neighbor, bake cookies for your local police department or take flowers to a friend who could use some cheer. Here are some more ideas.
4. Donate items. We all drudge through the grocery store with our kids on a regular basis. Once a month, select a local nonprofit, review their wish list and pick-up a few of the requested items while you’re doing your household shopping. Talk with your kids about what the nonprofit does and why they need these items. If possible, drop them off as a family. Here are some links to Columbia nonprofits’ wish lists.

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.

Why should we make a Pledge?

There are lots of benefits to making a pledge to support a nonprofit, both to us as donors and to the beneficiary. So why should we make a pledge?

1. Small donations add up. It’s easier to give a little at a time than to give in one chunk. You might not be able to give Pawmetto Lifeline $12 today, but over the course of the year maybe you could give them $1 a month.
2. It’s easy to forget. Between soccer, ballet, piano and school you have a busy schedule. Select your monthly donation day so you don’t forget. We suggest the first day of the month.
3. Nonprofit planning. Making a pledge also helps your favorite nonprofit with its own planning. By telling the Riverbanks Zoo exactly how much you’re going to give them each month, they’ll know how much money they have for monkey food for the year.

How do you decide how much you’re going to pledge?

We love the concept of ‘Spend, Share, Save Jars’. You can make your own or purchase a Modern Piggy Bank to keep your money organized.

If you have a job or an allowance, put a portion of the money you receive in each jar. You can decide with your parents how much you want to put in each jar, but consider 70 percent in your ‘Spend Jar’ and 30 percent in your ‘Share’ and ‘Save Jars.’ Can you do the math?

Take a look at how much money you put in your ‘Share Jar’ each month and decide how much money you would like to give to your favorite nonprofit. It’s up to you and you get to pick who you’re going to support. Have you thought about what you care about most?

Complete the Give

There are lots of ways to give and you should be in charge of making your donation each month. Here are some ways to do it:

1. Drop it off. If you’re too young to drive, ask your mom or dad to take you by the nonprofit so you can take your donation in person. They will take checks, dollars or coins!
2. Mail a Check. If you have a checking account, write the check and mail it to your nonprofit each month.
3. Online giving. Many nonprofits now offer the option to make a donation online with your bank account or debit card. Look at your nonprofit’s website or give them a call and ask if this is an option.

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!

Well even Bill Gates and Warren Buffet can’t save everyone, so we’re all going to have to consider what we care about most, how our resources can best be shared and make realistic commitments, knowing that regardless of how big or small our efforts, we will have an impact.

So if you could pick one person to help, whom would you help and why? If you could select one organization in your town to support, which would you pick?

What about your family? Find out, with the Question of the Week!

Published each Friday, use the Question of the Week to spark conversation with your children about family, money, giving and help them explore what matters most to them.

• Be Realistic. Help your children set age-appropriate education, career and financial goals.
• Encourage money savings. Help your children learn about delayed gratification. This means teaching children to postpone getting whatever they want immediately.
• Discuss family savings. These might include a new house, car, television, computer, vacation or college education. Decide if these are short-, medium- or long-term goals and how each family member can contribute toward reaching these goals.
• Be a good role model. Your children are learning personal financial skills by watching you do everyday things such as keep your checkbook, save money, go shopping, use your credit card and manage your household budget.

Looking for some additional resources to assist you in raising financially savvy kids?

Sense and Dollars (Grades 6-12)
Think you know about money? Let’s find out what you and your children know about earning, spending and saving money. The site is aimed at middle/high school children.

Top 7 ways to raise a money smart kid (preschool)
Aimed at preschool children, these tips will help you start your children on the road to using their money wisely. Remember, even preschool children are bombarded by marketers to buy, buy, buy.

Wise Pockets World (Grades K-3)
A fun place where parents can pick up some easy tips, activities, and ideas to help teach elementary age children how to use money wisely.

As president of S.C. Economics since 2003, Helen Meyers leads initiatives that provide K-12 teachers with resources for teaching economics. She brings extensive classroom experience to this role in addition to non-profit leadership experience including Junior Achievement of Central South Carolina, the National Association of Economic Educators, the SC Jump$start Coalition, Women in Philanthropy and serves on the Talk About Giving Advisory Board.

Meyers received a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary/special education from Western Illinois University and a Masters of Education from Southern Illinois University.

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.

What do your kids think? Ponder the options with the Question of the Week!

We’ll give you a few ideas to get the conversation rolling … and we’d love to hear what your family comes up with!

1. Headed to the grocery store? Check out the wish list of a local shelter. Do your children realize that these basic items are not readily available to everyone? Buy a bottle of laundry detergent (or whatever) for yourself and a second for a family in need and drop it off at the shelter on your way home. (Check out these Midlands wish lists: St. Lawrence Place, The Family Shelter or Palmetto Place Children’s Emergency Shelter)
2. Headed to the curb on trash day to wheel in your big green can? Perhaps you have a neighbor that could use some assistance, too.
3. Does your family know someone that could use a helping hand? Perhaps someone is sick or going through a difficult time. Maybe you know someone that has a hectic schedule. Prepare two meals – one for your family and one for them.
4. Bake and decorate cookies for residents of a local nursing home.

Published each Friday, use the Question of the Week to spark conversation with your children about family, money, giving and help them explore what matters most to them.

We’ve all had days like this. We all know how frustrating it is to watch your kids unravel because they’re bored. The solution? Help your kids shift the focus from themselves to others with a quick “kitchen table project.” Using these everyday moments at home to micro-volunteer is an easy way to do some good and remind your kids what really matters.

So next time the rain is falling or the heat index is off the charts, the whining is rising, and you don’t want to hear “I’m bored!” yet another time, gather your family around the table for a volunteer project. Your kids might grumble at first, but be patient: we’re guessing that getting absorbed in something that’s not about them will change your entire family’s attitude—and brighten that rainy day.

Our friends at Doing Good Together have brainstormed a comprehensive list of Kitchen Table Projects, but here are our favorites:

1. Make greeting cards to deliver to ill children in need of some cheering up. Two websites (www.makeachildsmile.org; www.hugsandhope.org) provide photos and information about sick children who are hoping for some happy mail. Families can make a card together for one of the children. You can also enclose something lightweight with the card, such as stickers, coloring sheets, a postcard or a bookmark.
2. Write a family email to a soldier. It will only take a few minutes, and it will bring joy to men and women who are far from home. For more information, check out https://wwwcfi.cnet.navy.mil/dearabby/ or visit www.amillionthanks.org
3. Write a letter. The monthly AIKids’ Urgent Actions are things children can do while learning about letter-writing as an empowering tool. Each action listed on the website provides information about young people who are experiencing human rights violations. Information is available at www.aiusa.org/aikids.
4. Decorate lunch bags. Families can decorate brown lunch bags to be used for Meals on Wheels volunteers to pack lunches. Pull out the crayons, markers, stickers and any other art material you have handy.
5. Make a blanket. Families can make a blanket for a child in need of comfort. Create a simple, no-sew fleece blanket (anyone can do it!) and then donate through the Midlands chapter of Project Linus. Watch a video about Project Linus with your children so they will understand the impact these blankets can have in kids’ lives.

When we participate in giving and helping others, the experience can be similar. What one person experiences might be different from another and by reflecting on our efforts together we can influence one another’s perspective. Maybe your family helped out at the soup kitchen and you were busy cooking in the back, and didn’t get to see the smiles on faces of those you were helping. Perhaps you were tired of raking leaves for the senior citizens, but your son pointed out how nice the yard looked when you were finished. Or maybe you dropped off some items at Goodwill and your daughter caught a glimpse of another child in the store eagerly picking out a gently used bicycle.

Here are some leading questions you can use to help your family reflect on your efforts, share personal experiences, perceptions and opinions about your efforts, and possibly offer a different perspective or unique point of view.

• Who. Who did we help? Why did we choose to help here? Are others in the community engaged with these people/this group and how?
• What. What did you do? What worked well? What went wrong? What was the impact? What can we do next?
• Why? Why did we choose to help in this manner? Why did we select this group/person/etc.? Why would we like to do it again? Why would we choose not to do it again?
• And lastly. Did we make a difference?

What other questions would you ask to aid in reflection? We’d love to hear your perspectives and experiences!