We’ve always had big hearts, but not necessarily big wallets, so we gave back with our time and our talents. Then life got busy, as it always does, and all of a sudden we found ourselves with less time to dedicate to our most passionate causes. Maybe that sounds familiar? Career, family, health, friends — it’s hard to balance everything most days and still find time for the extras. Because that’s what giving back is, right? Our extra energy and time after the necessities? I wish it wasn’t an afterthought, but that’s how it feels sometimes.
Quite a few years ago we started selling photographs and other crafted items to benefit local animal shelters. It was a small project, but crafting takes up a lot of time. Five years in, while we were watching this project of ours slowly shrink to nothingness, we realized we missed the feeling of giving back with an unexpected fervor. And so we have been trying to figure out what’s next. How can we help change the world with only a small amount of time, but still plenty of passion?
One of the ah-ha moments came out of the blue. Through a nonprofit board we’re on, we hosted an event where guests made dog and cat toys to donate to local animal shelters. The response was so positive that over a year later the board still mentions its success. But, here’s the thing – anyone could have put together that event. We didn’t need a doctorate in economics or experience on the International Space Station — we just needed a little time and a passion for the cause. So this prompted us to think about having another event. Why not when we’ve done it once already? Then it dawned on us: What if we put together a guide on how to host the event so that other people could host their own function? In other words, instead of hosting just one event ourselves, let’s make it simple for a bunch of other people to each host their own and multiply the effect! And just like that, The Giving Back Society was born.
Join us as we explore all of the ways we can make a difference and expand our impact by enabling others to do the same.
