5 thoughts on how to pick a meaningful cause (charity) and get behind it ?

I have been doing more thinking on which cause and charity I want to more fully support and how then to better allocate my resources (time & $). I recognize I am early on my journey and my thinking will continue to evolve. But in the interim, I compiled 5 thoughts that may help others in their own journey. Several parts of the recent annual Gates Foundation Letter (https://www.gatesfoundation.org/who-we-are/resources-and-media/annual-letters-list) resonated well with me - hence, several aspects they discuss are intermingled below:

1) Need to support a charity that has a meaningful cause in a high impact way. We all come from a business mindset and like to think in concepts of priorities, outcomes, scale, making a difference etc.

2) There are many causes to support - from health to education to religion to several other categories of causes. The concept of helping the poorest "as every person deserves a chance to live a healthy & productive life" (Gates Foundation Core Principal) has always resonated the most with me.

I have chosen to focus on education - "education is a driver of equality." I channel my support through the charity, Child Action - (https://www.child-action.org/)- they are 10+ years old organization that support the education and personal development of underprivileged slum and street children in India.

I know they are making a difference and it is well run - that is important to me and I suspect to many of you in picking which charity to support.

3) There are different intervention points in the cumulative process of a child's development, Child Action is focused on the early stages of child development (~ages 5-15) as that helps to build a core base early on. It also provides mental well being, provides hope and allows kids to dream - key as a foundation for a child's development.

Child Action's motto is a Frederick Douglas phrase: " It is easier to build strong children that it is to repair broken men"

4) Charities have freedom to test out ideas that may not get tried by governments and corporations. It is key for the charity to be effective and efficient in supporting the innovations being delivered by the front-line workers - helping the teachers in challenging situations and circumstances - they are the ones interacting daily with the children and making the personal sacrifices. We can help provide the resources ($ & time) and advice, if acting in an Advisory or Board Member capacity.

5) The need to be transparent on success and failures. Clearly not all efforts will be successful. But as long as the organization learns from them and course corrects, that is fine. Continuing to share what has been learned is also key. Below are a few things I learned in visiting Doorstep and Toy Bank (2 of the 3 NGOs that Child Action partners with) earlier this year:

• Getting smarter on which curriculum works
• How to keep kids engaged and not drop out (otherwise the kids are pushed to work for a wage instead)
• How to make better teachers (what is working and what is not)
• How to build gender respect and equality (creating mutual respect early on)
• How to keep girls longer in school (reduce bias against girls and give them the chance they need)

In closing, Melinda Gates notes that when she got married to Bill Gates, Bill's mother noted “Your life together will in the end be a verdict of your recognition of the obligations which accompany your success and resources ". While we all are not the Gates Foundation or have their resources, we can clearly resonate with this message - we should recognize the obligations we have that accompany our individual level of personal success and resources. Good luck in finding your cause and charity to support!

(If Child Action resonates with you, and you would like to support our cause, please do reach out to me directly!)