When I was a kid, my first foray into charitable giving was to participate in a walk for the local children’s hospital. I was in elementary school, maybe nine or ten years old.
In order to raise money, I walked door to door throughout my neighborhood, asking for donations and pledges. As I recall, it was in February.
I trudged through the snow and knocked on a ridiculous number of doors. I did this daily for two weeks.
At the end of two weeks, I was incredibly proud of all the money I had raised. A fine sum of about $50, if I remember correctly.
That children’s hospital still holds its annual walk. It’s a popular fundraising event. But nobody goes door to door soliciting pledges anymore.
A simple post on social media will raise more money in a few hours than I did in weeks of trudging through the snow.
It might sound clichéd, but the truth is, people who grew up with the internet really have no idea how easy they have it.
Honestly, It’s True
Technological advancements have made so many aspects of our lives effortless, including charitable giving. Thanks to mobile technology and social media, giving back to a charity or cause that is important to you is easier now than it has ever been.
Imagine yourself and your life five or ten years ago. Think about all of the ways that technology has changed the way we do things in that short time. For a little perspective, the first iPhone was released just ten years ago.
Today, we are able to work from almost any location on the globe. In many ways, we don’t work as hard as we used to, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Technology allows us to work and give smarter.
When It Comes Down to It, Money is A Tool
We use money to improve our lives, the lives of others, even the world as a whole. And yet, money is practically intangible these days.
For the most part, we don’t even see our money anymore. Carrying cash has become unnecessary and inconvenient. In fact, with the advent of smartphone wallets, credit and debit cards may become as obsolete as paper checks.
Thanks to direct deposit, automatic billing, subscription services for everything you could need, including food - you may not even have to think about money anymore.
The same holds true for charitable giving.
Many charities will let you schedule monthly donation withdrawals from your bank account and giving technologies, like WorkHERO, allow you to set up regularly donations directly from your paycheck.
Even If It’s A Tool, It Still Means A Lot
Money may be less of a tangible presence in our lives today, but that doesn’t mean its impact has lessened. We still recognize the value in our money and the impact our money can have when we give to charities and causes that matter.
It may be easier to give, but the feeling of giving, of knowing you are making a difference – will never go away. And neither will our fundamental need to feel that, to improve the world around us.
Technology can separate and distance us from our money to the point that we don’t even think about it. Yet, we stay very much aware of the potential impact of our money and how it feels to give back.
How is it that technology gives us the ultimate convenience, but not take that away?
How Technology Makes it Easier and Meaningful
While technology can separate us from the tangible aspect of our money, it can also foster more meaningful connections with others and the world.
The internet makes it easy for charities and causes are able to show the work they are doing.
Technology has changed the way we tell our stories. No longer do we sit around campfires or have a kingdom bard who will sing our histories and the stories of our lives to us.
Instead, our stories are told in online magazines, newspapers, blogs, and status updates. We can upload videos or live stream our experiences – making them real and immediate to others.
We are moved by the stories of others’ lives. We tear up a bit when we see videos of kids who are battling cancer dancing with the nurses at the children’s hospital. We cheer for the young people who form a human chain to rescue a stray dog from a canal. We laugh when a little boy in zombie makeup says, “I like turtles.”
Conclusion
Technology brings us together. It inspires connection. And it makes it so much easier to act on that inspiration.
No more trudging through snow to collect pledges.
With technology like WorkHero, you can give directly to causes that matter to you from your paycheck, without having to think much about it. You can use the time you would have spent trudging through snow to see the impact your gift has made by watching what the charities you support share online.
