Giving and Money

Giving is choosing to use some of what you have to help others or support a cause you care about. It can be money, but it does not have to be. Many people give time and skills too.

Giving is a personal choice, not a duty, and there is no required amount. The point of learning about it is so that when you do choose to give, you can do it in a way that is safe and effective.

Giving takes many forms, and money is only one of them. Each form helps in a different way.

• Money: a donation to a charity, which is an organization set up to help a cause.
• Time: volunteering, where you give hours of help instead of cash.
• Skills: using something you are good at, like tutoring or fixing things, to help others.

Sadly, some scams pretend to be charities, especially after disasters when people most want to help. A few simple checks let you give with confidence.

Giving is one of the ways money connects to the people around you. A small gift, joined with many others, can fund things no single person could pay for alone, much like the risk pooling that makes insurance work.

This idea sits at the center of the Wealth Equity Initiative, the nonprofit behind this site. Its mission is to widen access to financial education, and its programs have reached more than 5,000 students across more than 40 schools. Learning how money works, and choosing to share what you can, are two parts of the same goal: a community where more people get a fair start.