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.

Happy New Year, folks! Today's issue is about goals.

I've been warming up my intentions for 2024. They aren't quite fully cooked, but I'm getting there. Honestly, 2023 was so all over the place for me, and I've had some emotional whiplash I'm working through as I figure out what's next.

That being said, one saving grace for the past year was how I set my goals and motto. I knew I'd be moving from where I'd lived almost my entire life, on top of trying to build a new business. I also had some health issues, including a foot problem that was really slowing me down. So from the get go, I decided that keep it moving would be my words to live by for the year. Through all the hard parts of the year, no matter if they were in my physical, professional, or emotional domains, those words did exactly what I needed and kept me putting one foot in front of the other.

The other goal I set for myself was truly wild, and will probably be surprising if you haven't already heard me talk about it. My husband and I decided to watch the 2022 Baz Luhrmann film Elvis every single week in 2023. Yep, 52 times in a row. Well, 53 if you count the watch that started it all, on December 30, 2022. It's a bit of a story to explain WHY we decided to set up this truly demented goal, suffice it to say, we wanted to explore what I call the Elvis multiverse together. Throughout the year and it's up and downs, we watched this movie together over and over while learning so much about Elvis, music, and more. I apologize in advance for the absurd amount of Elvis trivia I have now collected and will let loose at any moment. But I loved our quality Elvis time together and having a fun goal that I (mostly) looked forward to meeting.

So if you are still thinking about goals for the year, I hope you find something that energizes you and stays interesting and relevant. Feel free to share if you'd like!

- Perry Radford, Founder and Principal, Rad Philanthropy.

Learn The Giving Pledge Isn't Working

You may be familiar with The Giving Pledge, the initiative from the likes of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet, for billionaires to give away most of their fortunes?  Well, almost everyone who signed on is now richer than when they pledged. So much for all that generosity trickling down...

Read about the issues with the pledge and billionaire philanthropy, including when the giving happens, how much is given, where it's given to, and more.

Rad Reflections Your 2024 Giving Goals

If you like setting goals in a new year, or you want to work towards giving more this year, there are a number of ways to set your 2024 giving goals. Consider what you have to spend, from money to time, and what will help you gather more giving experience to learn the "best" ways for you to give. Here are some ideas:

• Set a monthly or annual giving goal. What if you gave a set amount every month? Or donated a percentage of your income by the end of the year?

• Volunteer your time regularly. Can you volunteer 3 hours a month? Or do you have a slow time of year where you can use a few weekends to help?

• Decide what you want to learn. Do you want to maximize the tax deductibility of your gifts? Could you spend time learning about different cultural or religious giving concepts to find what resonates the most with you?

• Grow your giving circle. Can you talk with friends and family more openly about giving? You may find causes you didn't know about or folks you can join in your giving plans.

Playtime with Perry

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.

NEW! Interested in working with me? Book a session with my brand new Calendly link.

You can also find past issues here.