Money is Meant to Flow
Who is not familiar with the universal adage, “It is better to give than to receive?”
This life’s paradigm shift is widely realized and practiced in this present age, not only by the middle class but by the multimillionaires as well.
Let me tell you the original source of giving to receive. The universal Creator authored the principle of giving eons ago. The first fruits concept in the Old Testament meant that man should generously set aside the first good parts of his produce as an offering for the goodness of God. Good produce is defined as “unblemished” or “flawless”. The Scriptures command that man honors God with his wealth and the first of his produce so his barns will go aplenty and his vats will overflow. Presently, such is the principle behind tithing. Give and it will not just come back to you. It will expand and extend your resources.
This may very well be the very first precedent of the gift economy.
When a Philadelphia web designer named Adrian Hoppel gave up his corporate prestige and prominence to become
a gift economist, he surmised, “This idea is not a new one, but something very old. It is about offering what you love to do to the community and having the community respect and appreciate that. In return, they support you with the things they love to do.”
In his Huffington Post interview, Hoppel retold how he reinvented his career path in the field of gift economy. He stopped charging his clients and he had no regrets. He still got what he wanted and more. Hoppel explained on his blog his relationship with his clients: “…if we decided to work together, that I would build you a website as a gift, and after I was done, I would give it to you. Then you would consider what the finished project was worth to you and choose something fair to gift back to me. There would be no contracts, no negotiating, and no pressure.”
It is an economy patterned after giving that puts a premium on relationship more than personal profitable transactions. Thus, spanning social conscience is perceived to be the basis for advancing wealth throughout a gift economy. The giver benefits indirectly through social status and support extended by the co-givers in the group or community.
WHY DO WE NEED TO GIVE?
Entertainer Jeff Bridges pioneered the End Hunger Network. His heart was compelled to act over 25 years ago, knowing that 35 million people in the U.S. are hungry or don’t know where their next meal is coming from, and 13 million of them are children. He appealed to his co-celebrities and enlisted their help to convince the American public and the governments of the world that there’s an end to hunger if given priority.
When CEO Tim Cook headed Apple in 2011, he instituted a program to match employee donations. Since then, Apple has matched more than $25 million dollars of employee donations resulting to more than $50 million dollars for all sorts of charities around the globe.
Google has been known as an extraordinary company since then. That’s why their means of giving is extraordinary also. Their community programs include 5 varieties: Bay Area Giving, Code for America, Roberta, Programming Education Gathering, and Raspberry PI. Bay Area Giving supports local nonprofits that strengthen the community. Code for America provides technological support to governments that still need to catch up with today’s technological innovation. Roberta supports in developing app programs that will control robot through smartphones. Programming Education Gathering donates computers to more than 25,000 Japanese students. Lastly, Raspberry PI is a $1 million Google grant for Raspberry PI computers.
Since 2005, Microsoft has been offering a volunteer match program where nonprofits receive $25 per hour when employees volunteer for at least 4 hours. For regular matching gifts, employees have a choice to submit matching gift requests for donations up to $15,000 per year. With Microsoft’s regular giving, it has been consistently included in the listing of top matching gift programs.
What do these individuals and companies get in return for giving? They don’t get their money back, because it’s much more than that. Apple, Google, and Microsoft are some of the most successful companies in the world – a reputation that money can never buy. May this be an inspiration for every one of us to give and share whatever blessings we have in our baskets.
In the end, money can’t buy happiness, but happiness can buy many good memories for us and for everyone else around us.
Our very life is the inspiration and exhalation of breath; the contraction of and release of the heart … our life is a conduit and so it should be with our material resources. For only when we give can we expand to handle greater responsibility and offer more to society, friends, and family.