Money is a taboo subject, perhaps because in many ways it equates to opportunity. People have different amounts of it, and make diverse decisions about what to do with it.
In the context of the protests against racism and police brutality, I’ve seen news articles reporting high profile celebrity donations to organisations that seek to bring about change, and celebrities themselves posting screenshots of ‘donation received’ notices that show the organisation to which they have donated funds, and the amount they have donated.
Equally, I’ve seen friends post links to organisations that seek to promote justice for people of colour, encouraging others to take an interest and to donate.
At the heart of both is a desire to persuade people to do something tangible and costly in order to advance the cause, rather than only taking easier steps like making sympathetic statements on social media.
It’s an invitation and a challenge: “put your money where your mouth is.”
While there’s some hope that the current moment will precipitate lasting structural change, I’m not optimistic. Just as very few of the people who spoke out against plastic straws became serious and regular advocates for protecting the environment, I expect that the vast majority of people speaking out about racism will not become regular advocates or regularly donate their time and money to the cause.
Consequently, I see huge value in donations that could serve to stretch out the benefits of the current attention on these issues over a long period of time, funding movements to campaign for changes to legislation or to address social injustices in practical ways for years after the news cycle moves on.
I grew up in church with the concept of tithing: giving away a tenth of one’s income to the church. You can influence what it is used for in two ways: 1) choosing which church to attend, and 2) seeking to influence the way your church allocates its financial resources.
Of course, Christianity is by no means the only religion that encourages giving away a proportion of one’s income. Indeed, without attempting to give an exhaustive list: the roots of Christian tithing are found in Judaism, and giving alms (zakat) is the fourth pillar of Islam.
So, there’s agreement that giving away money is good.
But how much, and who to?
I believe that answering these questions is extremely personal, so I will share some of my own considerations without suggesting that they should apply to you also.
While I was a student, I focused on giving time, as I was more time-rich than cash-rich. I gave a lot of time to serving at Christian Union events, Street Project (meeting up and sharing food with folk on York’s streets who were facing a range of issues including homelessness, addiction, violence, poor mental health, and unemployment), or at our church “City Tots” group (welcoming parents and young children to spend a couple of hours playing, chatting, and drinking tea or coffee). I really enjoyed all of these things, so giving time to them did not feel like a sacrifice.
Since leaving university, sadly I haven’t regularly attended a church whose leadership I trust to use funds well, so I have not committed to donating regularly. My financial giving has been limited to one-off donations: mostly to individuals, and once to the church I attended while at university. The sum total of my gifts is nowhere close to 10% of my income.
In recent weeks, I’ve become increasingly convinced that my approach to this needs to change.
My thoughts on this are somewhat embryonic, but here they are so far:
- Give regularly. I would commit to making monthly donations, because these are more helpful to organisations for their own financial planning.
- Give sacrificially. I would give at a level that costs something. A considered investment, not spare change.
- Give intelligently. I would investigate the people or organisations I donate to, ensuring that I’m confident about the way that they will spend the money I give. Crucially, this doesn’t mean insisting that my money is spent on meeting direct needs (for example: on the medicines themselves, within a health care project). Organisations need money for the boring things, like paying for the CEO’s hotel and train ticket when she travels for a speaking engagement or investing in computer software so that they can manage their finances more efficiently. It’s absolutely fine if my money is spent on those things …if the overall impact and spending choices of the organisation are good.
- Give locally. At the moment, this would mean investing in people and organisations working in eastern DR Congo. More on that, tomorrow.