Giving Goes Flat

Why did the chicken cross the road,” the child asks? And the adult looks serious and answers, “I don’t know. Why did the chicken cross the road?” And the child says, “To get to the other side,” and they both laugh hysterically.

The great thing about those old childhood riddles is that there’s an answer that makes absolute sense. Too bad we can’t say the same about the riddles we as adults are asked to deal with, particularly in these difficult economic times.

As a result of not being smart enough or quick enough to say no when asked, I am currently involved in a major fundraising campaign for one of our great community nonprofits—an organization of national renown, great purpose, and widely approved mission, with a long record of accomplishment and an excellent professional staff and volunteer board of directors.

Whew! With all that going for it, you’re probably thinking it must be a piece of cake to raise demonstrably needed funds in this philanthropically generous community. But if that’s what you’re thinking, you’re wrong, because you’re leaving out the greatest excuse for not giving in our lifetime: the Big Recession.

Of course, I’m not talking about Madoff victims, and I’m not talking about people whose entire life savings were invested in General Motors shares. I am talking about people whose assets—stocks and bonds and real estate and antique automobiles and the countless other line items that might comprise what we used to refer to as a well-diversified portfolio—are down, even substantially, but not exactly on life support. I am one of those people. My own investments have taken a substantial hit as a result of the recession, and because of that, my wife and I are having to reassess our charitable giving and review our priorities. It’s painful, and I hate it, but it has to be done because we’re at an age where we can’t assume everything will bounce back in time. Time may not be there.

What astounds and saddens me are the folks who are using the recession as an almost automatic excuse for not giving, even though they still have an enormous capacity to give. They say, “It’s the recession, you know,” and think they’re getting away with it, when what they’re really saying is, “This recession is the best thing that ever happened to me in terms of getting off the hook with these never-ending solicitations.”

There are people who will no longer be able to give at their previous levels. There are some who will no longer be able to give at all. But there are many who think they need to cut back, but who might instead be challenged to rethink, re-evaluate, re-examine their own feelings about affluence.