Regardless of income level, once I have steady employment, I will donate 10% of my annual earnings to a charitable organization. I also pledge to donate my time to local organizations to help people less privileged than myself. Ideally, my career will be service-centric, and will allow me to use all of my time to help make the world a better place, whether through advocacy, charity, or by other means. I strongly believe that as a person of privilege, it should be my primary goal in life to reshape the system that gave me this privilege so it serves all people equally. Giving 10% of my income doesn’t fix this problem, but it’s a start.

Regardless of income level, I pledge to give 5% of my total salary to the cause of my choose on December 31st in addition to 50 volunteer hours throughout the year.

One of my greatest fears about growing up is losing my idealism. I believe strongly in the power of individuals and teams to effect meaningful change in the world. I pledge to search for ways to make the world a better place, and in Granddad’s words, to “dedicate myself to helping poor people eat better and laugh more.” Every month, I will donate time, skills and/or money to causes that support this goal. At this point, I do not know what my life will be like and which types of donation will be most effective and meaningful. In any case, I pledge to whole-heartedly search for ways to help others on a regular basis.

My donation goal is to pick up to two charities that I will donate to on a monthly basis; my donation will be a mixture of money and time donations ( measured at an arbitrary rate of $12 per hour of volunteering) that are equivalent to 10% of my salary (during the remainder of college I will pretend my salary is $20,000 and give mostly in volunteering time). Each year I will reevaluate my chosen charities and check to see if there are other charities that I feel are more deserving of my donation. If my salary exceeds $100,000 my donation rate will be increased to 15% with potential reevaluation if I feel I can give more. As for a daily impact, I pledge to act out of kindness and attempt to engage in conversation with at least one person each day who might previously have felt overlooked or unthanked.

I strive to volunteer atleast 150 hours per year with a Boston-area nonprofit that is focused on education. I plan to contribute money at a later time, perhaps in 10 years, when I will be able to make a sizable donation that will have a larger impact than my volunteer-work can:”; however, during the next 5 years, my time may be the most valuable asset that I can offer a philanthropic organization.

I pledge to either give my skills to good causes by working in the nonprofit sector or, if I choose not to pursue nonprofits as a career option, to donate a sizeable (5-10%) of my income to effective charities once I am making enough to live on comfortably.