With So Many Options Available, Why is Giving at the Workplace Important?
By Gina Rude
Originally published on Charities@Work blog
When I was growing up, my dad kept a pen and paper ledger of all of my “income” and spending. He was basically being my bank and teaching me how to track income vs. expenditures. He not only wanted me to know the value of the dollar, but wanted me to understand the trap of indebtedness. I am grateful for his teachings; I believe because of them, I have been successful in managing my finances through each stage of my adult life. As I reflect on my personal finances, I identify one component of our family budget not learned through my parents’ teaching: Charitable Giving. My parents were not ones to discuss how much they made, how they spent their money, or how they used their money to help others. It was taboo in our family to have such a discussion. Therefore, I never learned if or how much they gave or what organizations they supported. Likewise, I never knew if charitable giving was even important to them. Though I heard talks at church, without knowing how my parents gave and without being encouraged to do it with my own savings, I thought of donating as something that was simply nice to do or something that older people did when they earned a lot of money!
