Cutting out charity in tough times
by JEANNE FLEMING, PH.D. and LEONARD SCHWARZ
Question: Dennis and I were hoping to retire this summer, but with the stock market slide, we now have to continue working. Until we replenish our nest egg, we’d like to cut back on giving to the local food bank, but we fear it will fold if we don’t make our annual, substantial gift. What should we do?
Answer: Tough times mean tough decisions. But this one, though unpleasant, is easy: Your first obligation is to put your own financial house in order. As deserving as the food bank is, you are no longer in a position to give them a large donation if your savings have shrunk to the point that you need to postpone your retirement. Charitable giving is an important part of the social contract, but – to paraphrase Justice Goldberg — the social contract is not a suicide pact.
What you should do, though, is tell the folks who run the food bank that they won’t be able to count on you for an anchor donation this year, and tell them now. They need as much time as possible to find replacement funds and/or to figure out how best to cut back their services.
You may find that the food bank staff isn’t that surprised to learn you’re downsizing this year’s check. The world of worthy causes has not failed to take note of what’s happening in the economy, and we assure you that belt-tightening is as much a theme of their conferences, journals and board meetings as it is a topic of your – and many other families’ – kitchen table conversations.
Questions? Email Money Magazine’s ethicists – authors of “Isn’t It Their Turn to Pick Up the Check?” (Free Press) – at FlemingandSchwarz@right-thing.net.
Unless there is a law or judgment that requires it, no one has a right to or is entitled to your money. Not a charity, not your family, not your kids or neighbors. It is yours to do with as you please. I think it's extremely laudable that you supported this charity with substantial donations for many years. However, if you can't afford it or just simply decide that you don't want to do it anymore, then that is your decision alone. No one else has the right to tell you that you are wrong for deciding where you want your money to go.
If the charity has come to rely on your donation, you should inform them as soon as possible of your decision to scale back or cease your donation. And perhaps you can donate some of your time instead of the money? That, too, is up to you.
But your first obligation is to take care of yourselves because the rule applies both ways. Just as no one should expect that you will share your money with them, neither should you expect someone else to share theirs with you either. To the extent that you can share, bravo.
Tom–'playing the charitable game'? Strange statement. Absolutely, be charitable, but if they give beyond where it hurts, they may be visiting that food kitchen out of need. They need to have a balanced approach that isn't based on the wishful thinking that you advocate and just being 'thankful' that they're able to give.
It's really a question of values – and the real test is times like these. If your cash cushion is more important to you, then you shouldn't have played the charitable game to begin with.
On the other hand, if giving is one of your core values, consider yourself lucky that you CAN keep working (and giving) when so many others can't.
Why not just scale back?
Or turn your annual investment into a monthly one that you could turn off.
This isn't all or nothing
Johanna, are you serious? Of course this generous couple is not the only family facing financial hardships. That is not the point. They are affected to the point where it is hurting their standard of living. They had planned on retiring, and now they cannot do that. They want to replenish their nest egg so that they can one day retire. Should they continue to work longer just so that they can fund this worthy charity? Should they take the chance that nothing will happen to them health-wise or job-wise that would force a retirement whether the nest egg is replenished or not? Charity is important. But to ask someone to risk their future to fund a charity is ridiculous.
But Dobie, those same setbacks could put other people in a situation where they have to not eat. If this were a financial setback that affected this couple only – some large unexpected medical bills, for example – then I would agree with you. But it's not. It's affecting pretty much everybody. For this couple to assume that they alone are entitled to maintain their standard of living during these hard times is extremely selfish.
This couple has been giving generously for years and are now in a situation where they have to delay their own retirement because of financial setbacks. Of course they should eliminate or at least reduce their charitible contributions. Your first obligation is to take care of yourself. Obviously charity is important – but only to the extend that it fits within your budget.
Are you sure that you can not cut back, not out, something else to obtain some more charitable funds?
This includes vacation plans, concert tickets, using the town library.
Are there not-so-close others on your lists for Xmas, anniversaries, or birthdays that could be cut?
Can you make donations in the name of others?
Charity is not a luxury. Giving is what makes us all better people. This will be a year of tough choices, but I'm trying to keep my charitable giving off the chopping block, in the hope that, someday, if I need it, someone else will feel the same.
Wow! First let me thank you for giving as much as you have been over the years. I haven't had the need to ever use a food bank, but to know that people like you and your spouse are around does my heart good. Again, thank you for what you have done and what you do now.
With that said, please take care of your needs before allowing your kindness to put you into a bad situation. Ensuring that your own well being is th emost important thing. Sleep well tonight knowing that when you could you did, but now may be the time to enure your own well being.
Xavier