Volunteering and donating money provide a myriad of benefits, both to the people doing the giving as well as the recipients. Of course, we all know of the common ways to give a hand. These include donating money to worthy causes such as the Wounded Warrior Project and the American Red Cross and donating time to places like homeless shelters and children’s hospitals. It is great to spend your time and some of the benefits of your wealth building on these sorts of things. However, consider not limiting yourself to the commonly known options. Also branch out to other types of activities.
Benefits of volunteering time and money
Regardless of how you decide to volunteer your time or money, it is important to note the benefits that you and others will experience.
A benefit to consider is doing activities such as these as a family. One of the best ways to get your children into the habit of using any generational wealth that they are fortunate enough to have received on others is to have them engaged in volunteering activities from an early age. Doing so will help them see the world from a different perspective.
It is also important to teach that the difference between those who have wealth and those who struggle is often much smaller of a margin than many young people and even adults realize. The more time that is spent volunteering helps make this point clear to those taking part in these activities.
Donate a used or scrap car to charity
One of the most significant ways that you can use the benefits of your passive investing to help others is by donating your used or scrap car to charity. If it is still running, this vehicle can be such a welcome surprise to someone who needs it to get to and from work or school. If it is not, the money that is earned from the value of its metal and parts can help an individual or charity organization.
Also consider donating bicycles. Many people rely on them for transportation but cannot afford them.
Donate your time to an elderly person
Although the monetary benefits of investing are significant and it is great to pass on what you have earned to those in need, donating your time can often be more meaningful to those involved. In many cases, elderly people do not speak to others on a regular basis and could really use these types of interactions to keep from feeling so isolated from others and to live richer lives.
Deliver food
A great way to combine donating items of financial value with donating time can be done by surprising those in need with personally delivered food. This can be food that you purchased or dishes that you cooked yourself. Regardless, having a bright face at the door delivering it and willing to stay a while exponentially increases the surprise factor and the overall value of this type of donation.
Host dinner, sell tickets
Hosting a dinner is a great activity in and of itself as spending time with the ones you care for is a fun way to spend your time. Consider combining doing this with providing a helping hand to those in need by selling tickets to your dinner. You could create an evening that is focused on providing information on real estate with all of its proceeds going to a charity. You could also utilize a raffle-type scenario with half or more of the proceeds being sent to those in need. Consider also incorporating a theme to help your guests more fully get into the festivities.
You could also inform your guests in advance that donations in any amount will be accepted in lieu of selling tickets with those attending donating whatever figure is right for them.
Participate in a pie-in-the-face challenge
This may be a common way to secure donations from others – offering your face to be splattered with a pie if a certain donation amount has been met – but it can also be completely unexpected, depending on your personality. In other words, if you are the type of person who others could not imagine ever taking a pie to their face, this would be a great way for you to shock them and, as a result, greatly help your cause.
You could even offer to do this as a family. However, ensure that every member of your family is 100% comfortable with this as pressuring someone to do it who is not comfortable with the idea should be avoided.
Share your pet
Do you have one or more beloved pets scurrying around your own real estate property? Consider sharing your furry friends with others. Some organizations focus on providing means for critters such as yours to brighten the lives of others. You can also check with local community service organizations to see if they or anybody they know organize these types of activities.
Foster a pet
What foster parents do is commonly known, but not nearly as common is the act of fostering a pet. If you would like to own a pet but just for a limited time, this is a great option. You could give a dog who is recovering from heartworm treatment a safe place to do so until it is healthy and ready to be adopted. You could also provide a temporary home for kittens or puppies.
Fulfill wish lists provided by hospitalized children
A touching way to use your wealth to surprise people is learning what hospitalized children have on their wish lists and fulfilling one or more of those wishes. If you are able to learn what specific children have on their own wish lists, it is great to take care of one or more of those items. However, this may not always be possible for privacy and other reasons. In lieu of that, see if a local hospital has a general wish list, and offer to secure some of those items for that facility’s children.
Volunteer at poetry events
A unique way to donate your time is by volunteering at poetry events. If you spend some of your time away from investing and researching investing opportunities on creating poetry, consider sharing that passion with others. In many communities, numerous poetry-related volunteering opportunities exist, and you may be able to help children and adults cultivate that same love of poetry.
Also consider that, if you spend much of your time with other types of artistic activities, similar opportunities are available for musicians, sculptures, photographers and non-poetic writers.
Share your knowledge with at-risk youth
Subjects such as wealth building and passive investing may be second nature to you. If so, consider sharing that knowledge with others, including at-risk youth. Show how the future can include activities such as these and how a more positive life can be had than what they may have experienced so far.
Donate greenery
An interesting way that many unexpectedly give a hand is by using their generational wealth to donate greenery. This can include providing wreaths, plants and small trees, and it can also include substantial donations of swaths of beautiful grass or even acres of tree-adorned land. These unexpected gifts could be given to places such as museums or to individuals who will appreciate the beautifying of their homes.
Paying it forward
Although paying it forward is a well known method of donating money, it is generally completely unexpected by recipients. Consider selecting a day and doing this multiple times in multiple locations on that day. Offer to pay for the person in front of or behind you in line at a coffee shop, fast-food restaurant, grocery store, sports facility and other venues. Another common way to pay it forward that is known to especially surprise beneficiaries is to take care of people’s layaway items.
An additional option would be to leave especially large tips for those in the service industry.
Carry and give thank you bags
Keep one or more small bags with touching items inside them with you, and give them to those who have done something particularly nice, whether that was to you or to someone else. Few things are more unexpected than a gift from a stranger after doing something of a giving nature. This is a great way to provide a positive feeling to others and to spread positivity to those you do not know.
Brainstorm
Of course, the best way to unexpectedly give a hand is to do something that has not been done before or at least something that would most likely shock those on the other end of this positive deed. So, make sure to also brainstorm yourself, and see what volunteering ideas you can come up with that are not amongst the common ones that most have heard of.