I hope to give 5 to 10%, comparable with my income, in the future. If I make over $80k, I would increase that to 15%. Additionally, I never want to stop giving in other ways that I prefer, such as volunteering.
What is a Giving Goal?
Often, the idealism of youth is lost as one achieves success and acquires material possessions later in life. What was originally considered to be “enough” or even “beyond my wildest dreams” can become just another milestone on one’s quest…
Capturing your current vision of how you wish to give of yourself and your resources in the future could help you plan to give more meaningfully. Revisiting this vision in ten or twenty years could provide a reminder of the ideals of your youth that may shape or re-shape your future actions.
If you have already posted your Giving Goal and would like to update your email for future reminders, please contact [email protected]
Step 1
Have a healthy and vigorous dialogue in your class on the general idea of having a personal Giving Goal as a college student.
Step 2
Set a Giving Goal concerning your future giving plans.
Step 3
Share a brief statement of your Giving Goals on The Philanthropy Lab’s portal as a way to inspire others to do the same. You may post anonymously to the public if you wish.
Step 4
Share your permanent email address and phone number with The Philanthropy Lab, for the sole purpose of the reminder mechanism, so we can remind you of your goal in 5 year increments for 20 years into the future.
Alumni Reflections
Search for Giving Goals
Over 4,200+ course participants have written giving goals in a demonstration of leadership!
Alex Rosenberg
- Spring
- 2024
My goal is to commit my career to helping others who are the most vulnerable find unconditional love, meaning, and support. I particularly look to help people in the mental health sphere and intend to further ethical endeavors in ensuring common human dignity is promoted meaningfully in public discourse.
Alex Pelossof
- Spring
- 2024
To have a positive impact on the world that is driven not only by my own personal values but also by extensive analysis and research.
Aiden Ly
- Spring
- 2024
In 10 years, my giving goal is to give away 15% of my excess wealth to support education for needy and low-income students and to fight Parkinson’s disease.
Agha Haider
- Spring
- 2024
My long-term goal is to develop one of the largest art-based non-profit organizations across the country with a focus on helping those from underrepresented backgrounds make their mark in the industry. Currently, we are bringing actors together to teach students from underrepresented backgrounds, however, I want to be able to acquire enough funding to provide support in other areas such as waiving fees for casting websites (i.e. Actors Access, Backstage, etc.), providing compensation for transportation to auditions, and more. Being in the industry takes a lot of effort and money, thus it can be hard for people in lower-income backgrounds to juggle the industry while making a living for themselves. Along with that, I hope to stay involved with the Riley’s Way Foundation as a part of the board to help envision the future of the organization. I strongly stand by being a part of organizations for a long-term period, rather than supporting a handful of different non-profits at different times. Being with one non-profit long-term will allow me to see the growth over time and support financially once I am a full-time professional. For my giving goal, I plan to split my contributions between my non-profit organization and the Riley’s Way Foundation to ensure that I’m contributing a fair amount between the organizations.
Adam Sonntag
- Spring
- 2024
I currently give randoms amounts here and there to causes that are important to me. In the future, I hope that I can give up to 10% of my income and then some to causes that I value.