Episode 1050: The One Way Money Can Make You Happy

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1050 of the inspired stewardship podcast.

[00:00:06] Jenny Toh: I'm Jenny toe. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact in the world by using your time, your talent and your treasures to live out your colleagues, having the ability to find alignment between your true values and your life is key. And one way to be inspired to do.

[00:00:28] Is to listen to this, that inspired stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott.

[00:00:34] Scott Maderer: Even if you're just giving for practical reasons and you're giving for a tax benefit or for other social benefits like that, oftentimes if you reflect on it, it begins to make you feel better about yourself and it begins to make you feel. I am making a difference. Welcome. And thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcasts.[00:01:00]

[00:01:00] If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time. And your treasures for your true calling in the inspired stewardship podcast. We'll learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:21] And today's episode about developing your influence through stewarding your treasures. I talk with you about why we can give money to charity. I talk about why this giving does affect your mood and your mindset. And I also share why giving for practical reasons can often lead to emotional payoff. If you will.

[00:01:42] As we talk about stewarding your treasures. Wouldn't it be great. If you could support this podcast and do it without costing yourself an extra dime, it turns out you can. All you have to do is use inspired stewardship.com/amazon. When you're ready to make a [00:02:00] purchase via Amazon and a small commission, we'll come back to support the show.

[00:02:05] If you enjoy the show, when you're ready to buy from Amazon, just use inspired stewardship.com/. Let's think about giving money to charity. I've talked a lot about generosity and giving on the show. And I wanted to reflect a little bit on why do different people give to charity and some extent why do people not give to charity?

[00:02:30] I was having a discussion with a friend the other night about a couple of charities, one of which I give to, and one of which I have now chosen to no longer give to. And one of the reasons why was because the organization that I don't give to whenever. Worked with them and did some research. I found out that if I gave a dollar about 70 cents of it went to administrative overhead, and I felt like that was way too expensive.

[00:02:58] Not because I didn't want [00:03:00] people in the charity getting paid. And I didn't understand that there was work and there were people that needed to be paid, but because. That percentage was way too high. When in fact there was a, another charity that I could give to and because they paid for their administrative costs, a different way, a hundred percent of what I gave to that charity went to actually go to the people on the ground who needed it.

[00:03:23] So I choose to give my money to that charity instead. And the truth is there are a lot of reasons why people can give to. One of them. And we'll circle back to this one in a minute is giving to charity can often make you feel good. It's a major mood boost booster because you feel like, and you become knowledge that Hey, I'm helping others.

[00:03:48] And this helps me feel empowered. And in fact, that's why I'm choosing now to give to the one charity instead of the other. And I'm not going to call these charities out by name because I don't feel [00:04:00] comfortable doing that. You can do your own research, but because this area of our brain that registers pleasure is triggered by giving to.

[00:04:10] And so the truth is most people give in part because deep down it makes them feel good. If we also give to charity, if it aligns with our personal values, I feel like I have a personal duty to give some of what has been given to me as a blessing and pass it on to other people because of that, because I have that belief that comes in my case, through my faith.

[00:04:36] I give because it supports my personal values. The third people give to actually have an impact, again, reflect on why am I choosing to give to the one that has a hundred percent pass through? Because it helps make an impact on other people. I also use it as a teaching tool. My son has been giving to charity since a very young [00:05:00] age, and it's a habit that I wanted to instill in him from a young age.

[00:05:06] Of course, there's also some practical reasons why people. Sometimes they do it because of the social payoff. Being able to say, I give this much of my income to charity. Sometimes they do it because it gives them a tax break and those are good practical benefits to doing it as well. And some people don't give to charity because of financial constraints or other worries about not being able to provide for themselves.

[00:05:35] And out of that fear, they aren't able to bring themselves to get. And I would argue that the truth is finding ways to give to charity, even if you're giving of your time instead of your money, because you feel like you can't afford it will lead to those mood and mindset payoffs. That's why I started with that.

[00:05:55] The idea that it makes you feel good. Don't get me wrong. I'm not [00:06:00] saying give to charity because it's good for you and makes you feel. But I am saying that will end up affecting your emotional payoff, even if you're just giving for practical reasons and you're giving for a tax benefit or for other social benefits like that.

[00:06:18] Oftentimes, if you reflect on it, it begins to make you feel better about yourself and it begins to make you feel like I am making a difference, especially if you do the research and really make sure that you're giving to charities that are in alignment with your values, that support the things that you support that actually give.

[00:06:44] The dollars to the organizations and to the people and to the benefit of the groups that you want to see benefiting. It's one of the reasons why at the end of the day, giving to charity is one of those [00:07:00] things that really helps people achieve and feel. Better about giving. And the interesting thing is that leads to more giving, begets giving.

[00:07:12] Once you start doing it, you'll very quickly realize that it begins to change your heart and your mind and your viewpoint on giving so that you become more inclined to give even more. That's why at the end of the day, giving to charity is such a powerful way to change your mindset. Thanks for listening.

[00:07:35] Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship podcast as a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you like this episode on the stewardship of treasury. You can sign up for our treasures tips [00:08:00] by going to inspired stewardship.com/treasures or text in the U S 4 4 2 2 2 treasures tips.

[00:08:13] And we'll send you five weeks of our best tips on stewarding your treasures until next time investor. Your talent and your treasures develop your influence and impact the world.