Any culture requires its leaders to embody said culture. So, you may want to communicate that your money is where your mouth is. Don’t flaunt your gifts like the Pharisees, but try to take the first step when you can. Go visit the communities you claim to serve. Tell the personal story of why you founded the company. When donations cut into company profits, make sure to take a cut from your own salary before asking employees to bear the costs of your philanthropy.
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Go Beyond Finances. Foster Talents
It’s no secret that corporate culture, especially in America, idolizes money. It equates a person’s value with their bank account, but this is wholly incompatible with God’s vision of humanity. Each of us has been given personal talents that we can use to serve in God’s kingdom.
As you seek to create a culture of philanthropy, think of ways you can use people’s talents. Too many philanthropists think that if they throw enough money at a problem, they can overcome any obstacle. But as we’ve seen, people need more than money. They need love, meaning, and community, too.
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Embrace an Abundance Mindset
It’s hard to be generous if we believe in a zero-sum, dog-eat-dog world. Unfortunately many businesses are run from that perspective. But faith driven entrepreneurs believe in an abundant God who bestows good gifts upon his children.
The following has been excerpted from the unifying principles of the Faith Driven Investor:
An abundance mentality allows us to be open handed as we look to share investors and deal flow. Further, while many that subscribe to an economy of scarcity might believe that the addition of a bottom line to financial return will come at the expense of the other, we believe that great financial returns are possible not at the expense of Biblical values, but because of them.
In order to create a culture of philanthropy at your company, instill an abundance mindset throughout the organization.
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Love Others Through Agency and Respect
Philanthropy rarely works on a one way street. The givers cannot hold all the decision-making power. Wealthy donors who have no knowledge of a situation cannot expect to make lasting change by basing decisions off flawed assumptions.
One of the best ways we can love others is to invite them into their own solutions. It seems obvious when you say it out loud, but many philanthropists have done more harm than good by “helping” in the wrong ways. Instead, let’s have open and honest conversations with others and find out how we might truly serve through education, resources, and equipping.
What about Tithing?
Tithing should be a central component of the faith driven entrepreneur’s life. In scripture, we see God asking his people to give 10% of their income back to the temple and priests. This could include grains, livestock, or other possessions.
But while tithing is important, it shouldn’t be conflated with a culture of philanthropy. Tithing is often considered a personal attitude and gesture toward God. In some contexts, tithing refers to the money we give to our local church. A philanthropic culture, on the other hand, involves a community. Our generosity shouldn’t begin and end with us. Instead, we should think about how we can collaborate with our boards, employees, and customers to advance philanthropic missions.
Avoid Common Pitfalls When it Comes to a Culture of Philanthropy
Loving others is difficult. So often, entrepreneurs can be blinded by greed, worry, and ego. We must be careful not to let our focus slip, and the best way to stay vigilant is to pay attention to common pitfalls. After speaking with dozens of entrepreneurs who have tried to create cultures of philanthropy, here are some situations to avoid.
Ego Disguised as Philanthropy
Entrepreneurs have large egos. We want to prove ourselves to the world and our competitive natures can sometimes get out of hand. As we see in the gospels, this ego can spill into philanthropy as well. We want to give large monetary gifts to show everyone how great we are, how successful we’ve become. But these actions aren’t done out of love. Instead, they’re done out of ego.
We’ve created a Bible Reading Plan on the Entrepreneur Ego. If you struggle with pride, we invite you to take a look.
Disillusionment
Some might say that a business with a philanthropic bent is idealistic. To survive in this world, you need to make compromises and focus on the bottom line. Often, this perspective is rooted in disillusionment.
Peter Greer, author of The Gift of Disillusionment, defines disillusionment well: “The moment of disillusionment is when our expectations and reality collide, expectations of what it was going to be like, of the success that we were going to have, and reality that this is far more complicated, far more difficult than we initially thought.”
It takes great faith to continue forward through disillusionment. But we see this modeled so many times in the Bible. Joseph was unjustly thrown in prison. Jeremiah watched the invasion of his homeland. David cried out in the Psalms. Many great people have had to grapple with expectations versus reality. So, just because things are difficult, don’t give up on creating a culture of philanthropy.
Unintentionally Destructive Philanthropy
Loving others well often means providing others with agency and respect. It means checking in and asking whether the help being provided is showing results. We see destructive philanthropy occur when Americans ship leftover clothing items to African countries. Some clothing CEOs might think they’re helping meet a need by shipping tons of clothes overseas (or they simply want a cheap way to dispose of excess inventory). But this system not only moves wasteful excess from point A to point B, it also guts the local clothing industry and puts people out of potentially meaningful employment.
Unsustainable Philanthropy
Money is a tool. Money is not evil. While Jesus condemned the love of money, he did not point his finger at wealthy individuals simply because they had money. If you have been blessed with some wealth, use it responsibly. If you have a business, don’t run it into the ground out of some unhealthy belief that self destruction leads to holiness. You don’t have to gut a thriving enterprise in order to donate to your local dog pound. This might be an exaggerated example, but we see this happen in the nonprofit world too often. Idealistic individuals start a foundation only to run out of money or lose all their top talent because they won’t make the necessary business decisions required to sustain their philanthropy.