When I find myself in a stable financial situation upon my completion of college and law school, I pledge to start out by giving 5% of my income to local nonprofits each year. In addition to the financial side of giving, I pledge to use my abilities as a lawyer to give my time in doing pro-bono work, outside of my everyday job, in my community for those individuals who need an attorney and cannot afford one. As I progress in my career, I plan to raise my annual financial giving to 10% of my salary while continuing to give both time and money to organizations making a meaningful impact in my community.
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!
Anonymous
- Spring
- 2023
I value fighting issues related to childrens health, poverty, & domestic violence. For this reason, I pledge to donate 5% of my earnings upon graduation, with the intent of increasing this to 10% as I advance in my career, to local nonprofits supporting these causes. Additionally, I pledge to donate 15 hours of my time each year towards these causes to supplement what I might not be able to give financially. I ultimately hope to support those who struggle to support themselves with basic necessities.
Anonymous
- Spring
- 2023
I value fighting issues related to children, poverty, & individuals with disabilities. For this reason, I pledge to donate 5% of my earnings upon graduation, with the intent of increasing this to 10% as I advance in my career, to local nonprofits supporting these causes. Additionally, I pledge to donate a certain amount of my time each year towards these causes to supplement what I might not be able to give financially. I ultimately hope to support those who are in conditions that make it difficult to support themselves with basic necessities.
Anonymous
- Spring
- 2023
I pledge to pool 10% of post-tax income into a separate bank account to be evaluated every 4-6 months with the goal of making larger donations with a greater purpose to varying organizations. I plan to distribute my gifts to different organizations until I find a cause that I am most passionate about. With regard to giving time, I also pledge to volunteer twice per month. I will also look to engage my family, friends, and community in similar goals and practices to compound my impact. Every 3 years, I will re-evaluate my giving goal, percentage donated, time volunteered, and overall contributions.
Anonymous
- Spring
- 2023
I pledge to joyously give both financially and physically in ways that cultivate habit and intentional giving. Therefore, I will give the first 10% of my income to organizations that foster my passion for arts education in order to generate longevity in the industry in which I work. Additionally, I will volunteer 5 hours a month within my community to promote involvement and foster relationships in areas of greatest need. I will conduct due diligence in choosing where my gifts end up to ensure my actions generate measurable impact for those within my community.
Anonymous
- Spring
- 2023
I pledge to joyously donate 10 hours each month and 5% of my annual income to local nonprofits. This will be reevaluated every 3 years with the variation for major life changes. I will research and educate myself on nonprofits dealing with children, mentorship, and domestic violence to solidify that I am giving in the most impactful and personal ways. I will work to gain personal relationships with organizations I am passion about to grow my network within the philanthropic community.