In 2011, I started a two-year project with Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors writing a series of 19 guides for individuals and families interested in thoughtful and effective philanthropy. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided funding.
In my “Thinking Philanthropy” blog for Noozhawk, you will find excerpts from the guides and from other sources.
I hope the posts inspire you to consider how you can make giving part of your life.
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The Story of Oseola McCarty
The road to effective philanthropy begins with motivation.
Most of us can say what we care about. But can we explain clearly what we want to achieve with our giving?
Such knowledge can help define a philanthropic plan of action and maximize its impact.
The story of Oseola McCarty shows just how powerful focused motivation can be.
McCarty dropped out of school in the sixth grade to care for her ailing aunt. She never went back. Instead, she spent more than 75 years as a washerwoman, doing the laundry and ironing the clothes of families in the town of Hattiesburg, Miss.
Taught frugality by her grandmother, she never owned a car nor even subscribed to a newspaper. She did, however, save. When she finally quit doing laundry at age 86, she had saved more than $200,000. She decided to give $150,000 to the local university, the University of Southern Mississippi, to fund scholarships for financially needy African-American students.
“I know it won’t be too many years before I pass on,” she said in 1994. “And I just figured the money would do them a lot more good than it would me. I’m too old to get an education, but they can.”
When word spread about her generosity, other donors stepped forward to match her gift and create an endowed fund. McCarty received the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Bill Clinton, became the subject of a children’s book, and even became an inspiration for Ted Turner’s $1 billion pledge to the United Nations.
“I can’t do everything,” McCarty said. “But I can do something to help somebody. And what I can do I will do. I wish I could do more.”
Inspired to give others what she herself had not received, Oseola McCarty’s philanthropy was made more potent by the clarity of her motivation.
Her story of giving success suggests an important question for any philanthropist to consider:
How well do you know your own motivations for giving?
Click here for more information on “The Giving Commitment: Knowing Your Motivation.”
— Steven Crandell is an author and writer who helps integrate story and strategy for organizations. Nonprofit foundations are a particular focus. This article was cross-posted on Tumblr. Steven can be contacted at stevencrandell@noozhawk.com, or follow him on Twitter: @stevencrandell. Click here for additional columns. The opinions expressed are his own.