How to be a Generous Professional

As someone who has worked in fundraising and philanthropy for more than 20 years, “giving” has always been at the forefront of my profession. Whether inspiring generosity in donors, or helping individuals and groups to determine how, what, and how much to give to great causes, generosity has been a constant theme.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about what it means to live a generous life. Of course, giving to charity and volunteering time are major parts of the equation. I’ve always believed that it’s not about how much you give (time and/or money) – it’s about giving in a way that is meaningful to you. Five hours or $50 to one person is as meaningful as 50 hours or $5,000 to someone else.

Beyond time and money, what does it mean to live generously? To have a generosity of spirit? To do things big or small that ease the burdens of others? To be generous with your words?

What does it mean to be a generous professional?

Be generous with your ideas: Sometimes, we don’t share our ideas because we don’t want anyone else to take them. Or, we may not share new ideas because we’re just not sure if they are good enough (or if we are good enough). Be generous with your ideas. If it’s a great idea, or even a good one, it will move your organization forward. If not, it may spur another great idea in someone else, to the benefit of everyone.

Be generous with your acknowledgments: Give credit where credit is due. Say “thank you” or “great job.” Notice when someone is working hard, shifting habits, or growing as a professional.

Be generous with your time: You’re busy. I’m busy. Everyone’s busy. OK, are we done with that excuse now? Being generous with your time could mean taking 10 minutes to listen to a colleague’s question or problem, helping a client even if it’s “off the clock,” or pitching in on a project that’s not necessarily your direct responsibility.

Be generous with yourself: Have you met Burnout? Exhaustion? Lack of Inspiration? They are often at the party, but they are not your friends. Cut yourself some slack. Walk away from your desk and take a walk. Get an extra half hour of sleep. Take an extra few minutes for lunch. Stop beating yourself up because you messed up that project or said the wrong thing to a client or hit “send” on that email before you should have.

Generosity leads to better professionals and stronger organizations. If it becomes a regular professional practice, it might even spill over into your personal life. So open up. Consider generosity as an aspect of your professional life, and see what blossoms.

What does GENEROSITY mean?

I've been doing some thinking about the idea of GENEROSITY. What does it mean?

In the context of fundraising, we often think of a generous donation as a large donation. But is generosity in the eye of the beholder? In other words, if a donation is meaningful to me (is in an amount that I can feel proud of, or an amount that is a bit of a "stretch"), does that make it generous?

The Jewish Federations of North America have a slogan that I really like: Live Generously. I don't know if it's been successful for them (if it's raised additional funds), but I think it's provocative and interesting.

What does it mean to "live generously"?

What do we mean when we talk about "generosity of spirit"?

If we donate money, but we are not sharing our other gifts with the world - our talents, our humor, our insights, our quirky world views - are we living generously?

Wikipedia - my favorite source for, well, just about everything - says the following about the word GENEROSITY:

The modern English word "generosity" derives from the Latin word generōsus, which means "of noble birth," which itself was passed down to English through the Old French word generous. The Latin stem gener– is the declensional stem of genus, meaning "kin," "clan," "race," or "stock," with the root Indo–European meaning of gen being "to beget." The same root gives us the words genesis, gentry, gender, genital, gentile, genealogy, and genius, among others.

Brilliant! "Kin, clan, race, or stock"... and "to beget." GENEROSITY is related to a sense of interconnectedness, with being part of a clan. And GENEROSITY also is related to "beget" - creating, or birthing something. When you are generous, you are actualizing the notion of being a part of a clan, and you are creating, or begetting, something. You can feel connected AND leave your mark/legacy through generosity!

What does GENEROSITY mean to you?