the giving manifesto – Jason Toney

“Meadowlands, Meadowlands, ons daak nie ons pola hie” – Nancy Jacobs and Sisters, Meadowlands

My understanding of what happened/happens/is happening in South Africa has come through music. Although I experienced Americans railing against apartheid in my youth and remember “Free Nelson Mandela” and his release and the powerful images of people voting for the first time in that country, I didn’t really get it until I saw Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony a decade ago.

So, yesterday and this morning, these moments after the passing of Madiba at an age I’m sure few ever expected him to reach, I’ve been moved most by two things: his words and the world’s sounds around him.

First the music:

Yesterday, I wrote about my new giving manifesto (inspired by Sloane’s e-thing of the same name) and I was further inspired by constant commitment to humanity and justice of Mandela’s life and thoughts.

We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.

Thank you, Mr. Mandela.

Thank you for being a wonderful trouble-maker.

“We are all terrestrial.” – Eskmo, We Are All Terrestrial

A few days ago, my friend Sloane released The Giving Manfiesto out into the world. How I go about doing my small part in making the world a better place has been a topic running through my head a lot over the past few months.

Tiffany talks about how much “please give” mail I get. I wouldn’t call it junk mail but over the years, I’ve had such a fractured approach to charitable giving that I get mountains of mail from organizations far and wide pleading with me to give more, to give again, to fill out surveys, to mail my congressperson, to come to an event. Also, hey, here’s a map and some stickers and some greeting cards and a calendar and some mailing labels you’re never going to use.

The questions that I’ve kept coming back to, though, are what do I really, personally care about and where do I want to make the biggest impact financially and with my time?

Sloane’s thoughtful approach to this is helping me crystallize what I first posted about on Thanksgiving.

The two most important social ills I want to invest in addressing are Economic Inequality/Food Insecurity and Social Justice.

While I’ve given to a variety of environmental organizations in the past, I want to focus more of my support here to time spent making the world more green and sustainable.

I also will continue my pro bono consulting work with Taproot selecting projects/organizations that address my core issues. I will find more consistent time to work with our local food banks.

I will continue to support local public radio and the local museums and arts organizations (like LACMA) that I frequent.

Supporting friends is a great category that I’ve never quantified or budgeted before. There are increasing opportunities to support a charitable fund drive or micro-funded project and I want to be thoughtful about how I go about doing this.

Emergency giving. Of course.

It’s interesting. I have no idea how much I give financially each year. I want to change that for 2014 and beyond. I hope I’m giving at least 5%, my goal is to get up to 10% and see how that feels.

What I do know is that I’m not giving enough of my time. There are 8766 hours in a year. Can I give 876 of them to helping others?

I wanna try.

Amandla!

We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.

Something’s Gotta Give