All Philanthropy is personal

Charitable giving is a very personal activity. People have many different motives for engaging and expectations around recognition. This is why philanthropy planning should start with you and not with the cause that you want to support.

Philanthropy will be far more rewarding both for you and your causes when it shaped by your passions. You need to be clear about your own values as they will shape your behaviour and the way you evaluate projects. You will also want to engage with partners who share these values.

You should think broadly about what really matters to you. Some commentators have broken causes down into the following broad categories:- people; problems; places; pathways and philosophies. You need to decide what it is that you want to preserve, or change; what it is that you really care about. The reason for asking this question isn't to start defining a strategy but rather just to help you be more focused.

Good philanthropy isn’t defined by the size of the gift but by what it has achieved. Even when you know what you want to accomplish the breadth of opportunity to allow you to engage can mean that, without focus, your giving is spread so thinly that none of it ever amounts to much.

If it is change that you are interested in structural change requires input not only from the charity sector but also form business and government. For example improving education and employment opportunities for disadvantaged young people iwill need to involve business and educators if change is going to happen.

You need to decide where in the mix your own inputs can be most effective recognising that you will need to work in partnership with others to achieve results.

Being clear about what you want to contribute is also important. You might want to gift money and let others who share your values and concerns make the changes, or it may be that you want to get directly involved in the cause. You need to be clear about this. Too many substantial donors think that because they have made a gift to a charity they have a right to direct how it operates leading to dissatisfaction on everyones part. If you want to use your talents to help run an organisation say so at the start.

Clarity right at the beginning is the key to a successful personal philanthropy plan. Ambiguity can only lead to problems later.