Let’s redefine generosity. 

As it stands, we tend to think of generosity in isolated acts, as fleeting moments of altruism. Donations, volunteering, fundraisers. This makes generosity a box we tick off every now and then. A few months later, an alarm goes off in our heads telling us we haven’t been generous in a while, so we do something and tick the box off again.

We’re essentially hitting snooze on generosity.

And it’s not like we’re being ungenerous in the interim, we just aren’t constantly practicing generosity.

Lately, I’ve started imagining the world that could be possible if we reframe generosity as a practice built into our daily lives rather than as one-off moments. Instead of asking ourselves how we can be generous today, we could be asking ourselves how we can live generously. Isolated acts are nothing to look down upon. In fact, we should see them as the jumping-off point for building generous lives.

As a member of the Philanthropy team at Karam, I think daily about what it means to be generous. We, as a society, often associate one’s ability to be generous with the amount of money one can give. But it’s about so much more than that. This understanding of philanthropy is inaccessible and excludes the majority of individuals who aren’t “wealthy” enough to be philanthropists.

We at Karam want to change that. We want philanthropy to include donations of any size, volunteer opportunities, being part of a mutual aid group, protesting, signing petitions, picking up trash on your daily walk. We want philanthropy to be seen as a collection of every single moment one decides to make the world a better place.

Thus philanthropists, to us, are those who live generously. They’re the ones who give themselves to their communities, who work to better humanity, who ask how we could be doing better. Philanthropists refuse to settle for inequity and inaccessibility. They have conversations with friends, speak up against injustice, and dare to hold hope for a brighter future.

If we narrow generosity down to a moment, if we stick a dollar amount on the identity of a philanthropist, we exclude the people who are truly changing the world. Those who are at the forefront of change are there because they continue to show up. Of course, these individuals rest. They need it in order to fight these injustices. But it doesn’t keep them from continuing to fight, from living generously.

When we think about ways you can live generously, we remind you that it can be as simple as making a meal for a neighbor, doing a grocery run, or contacting a government official about an issue in your community. You don’t have to change the world on your own to be considered a philanthropist, to be considered living generously. You just have to show up. 

We invite you to reframe the concepts of generosity and philanthropy with us. We invite you to commit to the long-term fight for justice. None of us have to do it on our own. If we keep showing up for one another, there’s nothing that can’t be achieved.

If you’re looking for a way to show up monthly for Syrian refugee youth and families, we invite you to join our monthly giving community, The Journey. Any level of support unlocks opportunity and reaffirms your commitment to a bright future for us all.

Join The Journey