What's the Best Way to Do Good?

Ronald White

Program officer
The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
Flint, Michigan

It's good to be nosy, to inquire, to be as critical as possible before you give your money or your time. But it's counterproductive when it leads to exerting control. In fact, you might find that giving money can actually isolate you. When you get involved in a charitable project, remember to keep your nose in and your fingers out.

How can you bridge the gap between you and the people you're trying to help? Develop the skill of "awaiting." Be attentive. Listen. There is a still point in each of us, a point where the human touches the divine, where it links to the universal. To arrive there requires understanding your own core values -- inside and out.

Wait until you understand how your values relate to the situation at hand. Wait for the moment when you truly hear what is being said to you. Only then can you respond in a meaningful way -- and bridge the gap instead of widening it.

Ronald White (rwhite@mott.org) is the former director of grant making for the antihunger organization Share Our Strength and a program officer with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, an antipoverty program. The mission of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation is to make grants in such areas as environment, antipoverty, and civil society, and "to support efforts that promote a just, equitable and sustainable society."

Peter Karoff

Founder and president
The Philanthropic Initiative Inc.
Boston, Massachusetts

How do you decide where to put your energy, your skills, or your money to help others? The first step is to establish what you care about. As with anything else, you'll be most successful in giving back when you let your values drive you.

For example, ask yourself these questions: What have been my three most formative life experiences? Who are the three people who have influenced me the most? Your answers will help define your top-five values. From there, you can determine your community values.

Then ask yourself, Do my values match up with how I'm now giving? Your answer may surprise you. You might find that for years, you've given to university scholarships when what you really care about most is homelessness. Or vice versa.

Once you've decided on your true interests, rather than taking immediate action, learn about those topics. "Illiteracy," "homelessness," "environment": These are huge words. Learn what the issues are and where you might best place your time and your resources. And then, when you begin, remember that it's not about you, your voice, or your brilliance.

I learned that lesson the hard way back in the 1960s, when I decided to help fix up a poor Boston neighborhood. With the hubris of youth and naiveté, I thought that I could fix the people too. Needless to say, that didn't go over too well. When it comes to giving, you have to guard against your own hubris. It's the really talented donor who can enter a situation and provide sensitive, wise advice and help -- without assuming the kind of arrogance that often comes with doing so.

Peter Karoff (pkaroff@tpi.org) worked in real estate and insurance before forming The Philanthropic Intiative Inc. in 1989. TPI helps clients such as the AOL Foundation and Citigroup Private Bank increase their impact by developing innovative, strategic approaches to philanthropy.

Lynn Ridenour

Vice president of marketing
GreaterGood.com Inc.
Seattle, Washington

Who today has the time to give back in a meaningful way? Everyone I know is overcommitted. And with each new technological development, the time problem just gets worse. We're all available for anything, 24-7.

Since high technology seems to be the culprit for making us all so harried, it's only fitting that it should provide a solution for giving back in a way that's integrated into our daily lives. And it has: At the Hunger Site and the Rainforest Site, you can "click and donate" every day. Through a corporate sponsor, you can donate food to a struggling country or help support rainforest conservation. It takes less than five seconds and costs you nothing. Or you can shop online through the GreaterGood.com portal, where a percentage of what you spend benefits your cause of choice from among 3,500 organizations.

Clicking a button to do something like donating 1.5 cups of staple food may seem like a small thing, but consider this: More than 77 million visitors have donated 11,000 metric tons of food on the Hunger Site, while the Rainforest Site has helped to preserve more than 2,000 acres of land. And so far this year, GreaterGood.com's shopping portal has generated more than $5 million for its partner nonprofits.