Charity...go the distance

Worried that this might be another way to 'make you feel guilty' about your charitable giving?  Not.

I recently heard a TED talk about the potential for social change through charitable giving.  You can watch it here:     http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pallotta_the_way_we_think_about_charity_is_dead_wrong.  It's about 18 minutes long and worth the time, but here is what I took away from it:

People are weary of being asked to do the least

instead of being asked to measure the full distance of their potential 

for the issues and people they care deeply about.

There are two parts to this I would like to raise up.  

One, people want to be asked to do more.  To walk further, to work more hours, to recruit more team members, to give more money even.  They want to be pressed to the 'full distance of their potential'. They want to discover what the full measure of their potential is.  They want to be deeply involved.

Two, this only applies to issues and people they care deeply about.

Start at number two.  Find an issue or group of people that you can care deeply about.  Not half-heartedly ($10 here and there) but with your whole heart.   These are the people who, if you had all the money and power in the world, you would improve their lives.  You would fix it.  You might come up with 3 or 4 issues but choose one.

                        Then put every skill, talent and ounce of energy you have into that.  

Along the way you can give small measures of support to the many other issues and people for which you care.  (Really, what's $10 to many of us?)  But choose one and go all out for it.