Hello and Happy Valentine’s Day!

So, let’s cut to the chase. Those of you who read yesterday’s post may be curious about the status of my savings account. You also may be wondering, “Who is this girl making such lofty…and potentially risky…promises?!”

When I told Marc my plan, he played devils advocate for a while challenging me to consider what might happen if the donations climbed higher than I could manage to match. I didn’t even mention the idea to my parents, as they would have certainly urged me to think twice, and after reading the post, my sister quickly tweeted, “The problem with working for a nonprofit…you finally start making a salary & you’re giving it all back to your employer.”

All of this made me smile, but nothing made me reconsider, and now that the day is done, and I know the total I need to match, I’m more energized than anything else.

Hear me out:

I believe strongly that I need to practice what I preach. A large part of my job involves sharing TFFT’s story in hopes of inspiring others to share their blessings in support of our work. I would not be able to have these conversations if I weren’t committed to doing the same.

Furthermore, there are many ways to fulfill a gift pledge. My favorite giving strategy is through monthly gifts. These automatic donations actually enable you to be a much larger donor that you initially believe possible. You, for example, may not think of yourself as someone able to write a $100, $500, $1,000, or $10,000 check, BUT you may be able to stomach a monthly gift of $8.33, $41.66, $83.33, or $833.33!!

This type of planning giving accomplishes a few very important things:

1. It makes philanthropy an intentional part of your budget and not an after-thought

2. It deepens your connection to an organization you believe in

3. It helps the organization immensely because these monthly donations are something we can count on

I have been planning to set up monthly donations for a while now. I’ve been debating the amount, and your generosity yesterday made the decision for me. We received $490 of SHARE the LOVE donations yesterday. That breaks down to $40 a month between now and next Valentine’s Day. I can handle that. That will be $40 of my monthly budget that I know is well spent. It’s less than what we pay for cable each month, and I don’t even watch TV.

If you’re inspired to join me with monthly donations, email me Kaitlin@TheFoundationForTomorrow.org, and I’ll get you all set up! We can  talk through the amount that makes sense for you. There is also still time to support the team leaders in their SHARE the LOVE Challenge. Today is the last day to help them reach their goals.

Thank you for helping make TFFT’s Valentine’s Day a little sweeter. We’ll be back with pictures of our kiddos with all the homemade Valentine’s from the SHARE the LOVE crafters in the coming weeks. Now go tell someone you love them! Those three words are important to hear this day and every day!

xo,

Kaitlin