Random Acts of Generosity - How Would You Donate Somebody Else's Money?

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What would you do if somebody gave you a chunk of money and asked you to help him or her contribute the money and contribute it fast?

This is the situation that a team of men that I meet with on a Tuesday night were faced with last night.

After returning from a weekend training seminar about a month ago, I decided that I was going to do random acts of generosity as much as I can for the next six months. My favorite expression is to give money randomly.

Here are some of the things that I have enjoyed doing over the
last six months -

1. Give $20 bills to street performers.
2. Tip 100% of my bill in a restaurant.
3. Pay for people's groceries who are behind me int he supermarket.

It is fun to do and I get so much more benefit than what I give.

However, what I did not know is what these random acts of kindness were going to lead to.

Last night a friend of mine told us about a conversation that he had with a friend of his.

He told the story of a man who spent the week that New York City was impacted by Hurricane Sandy in the hospital with pneumonia. When he called my friend a few days ago, my friend notices that he did no sound good.

My friend said to Mark - "Are you OK?" Mark told the story of how he came down with pneumonia. What he said next was amazing.

He told my friend, who is a caterer that the reason that he was calling is that he wanted to do something immediate for Hurricane Sandy relief. He was willing to donate $5,000 and thought that he could get matching contributions that totaled $25,000.

However, he needed help figuring out the best way to donate the money so that it would have the greatest impact.

That is the problem and the honor that the team of men that I met with last night got to deal with.

If you are reading this message, I urge you to give generously today and for the rest of your life. Be selfless (like Marc) and the benefits will come back to you tenfold.

Make it a great day!!

Justin

PS I am sharing Marc's story (note: with his reluctant permission because he did not want any credit - Most selfless people don't!) in an effort to cause a million dollars worth of additional donations that would not otherwise exist if this story was not told.
#acts #donate #generosity #money #random
  • Profile picture of the author redfiredsoul
    Although I have great respect for selfless and generous people, and I praise you for promoting this..

    There is also a other side that I think people need to be aware of.

    There are also plenty of people who can't always appreciate nice or generous people.

    For example, I once paid for the groceries for a lady in the supermarket that simply couldn't afford it. Instead of getting a thank you the person treated me like crap and was very ungrateful. Not to mention that the person even ignored my offer twice before eventually accepting it.

    I don't see how I got anything back from that tenfold. It doesn't always go that way. When you are being nice or generous to people they may also often think that there is a catch. Either that or their just ungrateful by nature.

    My point with this post is don't give away your money to people who can't even appreciate it or who simple come back for more and take advantage of you.

    I want to promote random acts of generosity. However, I also want to say be careful.

    What sticks to me the most is watching Top gear one night where they actually gave away the cars they used in the show for free to people who were struck with by disaster in their town.

    One of the guys of Top gear was threatened by one of the people who he gave away his car to with a law suit because he, by mistake, said it was a Mercedes C instead of a Mercedes E over the phone (something along those lines).

    The guy that threatened him told him that if he gave him $20.000 dollars that he would drop the law suit. Can you believe this? He was giving away his $5000 dollars car for free to him and he tryed to sue him instead of being grateful.

    This really happened... I don't want to depress anybody but I don't want anybody to get screwed over like this either.

    It's good to be positive and generous. It's also good to be realistic about what kind of world we live in.
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    • Profile picture of the author MrFume
      Alas! you are right about there being some real awkward folks about, we expect people to react in the way we want them to if we are generous and kind (as we see it) but you never know what kind of crap the people have been through-they also have their pride and self-esteem, and if you just offer them money, they feel like charity cases, so they can feel hostile towards you-because you are demonstrating your superiority to them; of course you don't intend this-so they may need your help, but do not want to admit they are poor. So I would say think carefully about How you help someone, allow them to feel pride, save face-strange to think being kind can be seen as an act of disdain is it not?
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  • Profile picture of the author redfiredsoul
    Originally Posted by Ken_Caudill View Post

    Appreciation has nothing to do with. You don't ask someone to pay for their groceries, you just do it. If you want appreciation, join the fire department.

    Offering to pay for someone's groceries because you believe she "simply couldn't afford it" is pretty damned demeaning. If you charity comes at the price of the recipient's dignity, keep your money. The price is too high.
    And you should learn not to judge so quickly. You have no idea do you.

    I actually love helping people and I simply wanted to warn people that there are people out there who can take advantage of that and who don't always appreciate your help. There is no reason to flame me for that.

    As far as paying for the lady in the supermarket goes.. I didn't do anything demeaning and she really couldn't afford her groceries. Why don't you consider that before you start labeling me as a negative person. I think she was negative because it had to with pride. Which I can totally understand because people don't like being poor. I only mentioned this as an example to show that not everybody wants your help.

    Honestly, if you would treat me this way in real life.. I gladly keep my money though. Don't expect me to do any sort of charity if you treat me like that.
    What do you expect to gain from being so hostile against me? Do you think I will forget how you made me feel if you would ever need my help?

    I think mutual respect is very important.

    If people take you for granted then don't waste your time on them. That's just my opinion.
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