Welcome to Cultivating Generosity,

a Rad Philanthropy Newsletter

Welcome to Cultivating Generosity, the newsletter to help you create a values-driven, joyful, and intentional giving plan. Here you'll learn about ways to give, you'll receive prompts to help you hone in on your giving philosophy, I'll keep you up to date about news and trends in giving, and we'll have a fun time while we're at it.

 

All that being said...I want to take a moment and acknowledge I'm not feeling super joyful this week and you may not be either, given the tremendous violence and dehumanization taking place in Israel and Palestine. To be candid, I don't feel ready to talk much about it publicly, or privately. I feel frozen, stuck in a doom-scrolling doom-loop, and unsure how I could share this week's pre-written newsletter given that the verve I felt writing it doesn't feel authentic to me at the moment.

 

But, this week's issue is themed around music. If you know me well or have followed me on LinkedIn for a while, you know I care deeply about music and its ability to help us see and understand ourselves. When I feel stuck (not a great feeling as an action-oriented person!), I've learned my first move should be music - it can help me lean into what I'm feeling and unfreeze or take a moment to compartmentalize and escape as I process my experiences. As I thought more about that, I realized in a way that this could still feel right to me to share. I've interwoven quite a few music moment it today's issue, I hope at least one resonates with whatever you're feeling right now. I'll kick it off with a recommendation - if you're feeling stuck too, my "get moving" song lately has been "Twenty Five Miles" by Edwin Starr. Thank you for reading.

 

- Perry Radford, Founder and Principal, Rad Philanthropy.

 

Learn: Gratitude is Good For You 

 

"Two decades ago, a landmark study led by the psychologist Robert A. Emmons sought to understand how people benefit from gratitude... Dr. Emmons’s findings — which suggested that gratitude may improve psychological well-being — inspired a spate of additional research. To date, numerous studies have found that having a grateful outlook, “counting one’s blessings” and expressing gratitude to others can have positive effects on our emotional health as well as on interpersonal and romantic relationships."

 

This article gives a broad overview in the ways which having and expressing gratitude can improve the quality of your life. Gratitude is of course a driver for why many us engage in philanthropy - and a key part of what we "get" in return for making gifts to to others.

 
Learn more about the power of gratitude
 

Rad Reflections

 

The gratitude article shows that journaling has similar positive effects to expressing gratitude.

 

Need some help getting started journaling and showing your gratitude? Find 100 questions like these below:

 

What are some simple, potentially mundane things that contribute to my well-

being?

 

What do I enjoy about the music I listen to?

 

Who has had the most positive influence on my life?

 

What aspects of my culture has made me a better or stronger person?

 
Find your flavor of gratitude

Hot Topic: AI is Coming to Fundraising...Now What?

 

As generative AI like ChatGPT has entered the market and public consciousness, companies are racing to bring AI into their processes and strategies. Non-profit organizations, enterprising fundraisers, and sector-specific vendors are also using and experimenting with AI around fundraising and marketing strategies.

 

What does that mean for you as a donor?

  • Over 70% of marketers are already using generative AI in their work, so you may begin to receive more "individualized" messaging from non-profits or their fundraisers as they use AI to help with segmented marketing and personalization at scale.

  • Non-profits may be using the data they've collected from you in new ways. As with everything, their protection of your privacy, clarity of their policies, and ability to detect equity issues around data usage will vary.

  • As with the adoption of any new technology, there will be successes and failures. If you love or hate something a non-profit does with AI, share your constructive feedback.

 

In the fundraising sector, a large group of practitioners has convened to propose a framework for how the industry uses AI as well as planned a large summit to determine responsible use for AI. Lots of people I respect are involved in this initiative and I'm excited to see where it goes. You can learn more about this work at Fundraising.AI.

 

And if you're curious to know how I'm using these tools, I'll just stay on theme and share that I started off by testing how well ChatGPT can mimic the rhyming sensation and lyrical fancy of hip-hop's ultimate group, Wu-Tang Clan.

Playtime with Perry

The Amplifier is a cool weekly newsletter from the New York times that features a curated playlist around a theme. "9 Songs That Will Make You Say 'Yeah'" is too good not to share. And don't worry if you aren't a NY Times subscriber - I've saved a PDF for you to check out.

 
Yeahhhhhhhh!

Did this newsletter leave you with any burning questions about your giving? Drop me a line at perry@radphilanthropy.com and I'll help you out.

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