What Gives? Philanthropy
I’VE BEEN WRITING THIS COLUMN in my head for months. It’s been percolating since the Oscars. Although I didn’t get invited to the Vanity Fair party this year, I did get invited to the Millennia Scope Entertainment Foundation’s first Oscars after-party, the Annual Millennia Scope Gala. I didn’t know anything about the organization; I just knew it was an LGBTQ nonprofit that celebrates the efforts of our community in the entertainment industry. Considering the contributions the queer community has clearly made in Hollywood, it seems extraordinary that this hadn’t happened sooner.
Shahid Manning, who founded MSEF, writes: “Images matter. They affect us all, shape who we are collectively as a culture, and help define our personal values. With so many LGBT people working every day in the entertainment industry, it’s time to celebrate our efforts.” The organization is “fostering the careers of a community of artists traditionally underserved and underrepresented in mainstream media … embodying diversity, innovation, [and] uniqueness of vision.” I love this. This is my favorite thing about the queer community: We’ll look for a way to celebrate one another, fill a need, create an opportunity for our community.
We are community organizers. What we now need are community philanthropists.
One of the best sessions I attended during the National LGBTQ Task Force’s Creating Change conference was of community engagement and board activation. The breakout session discussed finding ways of getting (and keeping) peoples’ participation in fundraising for organizations. My big takeaway was that you must find the way to engage your audience … make them care about your organization, hit them in the feels.
While I agree that hitting certain people in their emotional center works — cue Sarah McLaughlin and pictures of neglected animals — I resent feeling manipulated. However effective this kind of appeal is, there’s another way to get people to give — raise them that way.
Say what you will about the moneyed class, the one thing they really know how to do is make money, keep money, then give money away. One of my favorite issues of Town & Country Magazine has always been The Philanthropy Issue. This year was no exception. Happily, the faces of the people being celebrated are much more diverse than they used to be. Equally as happily, this issue is still dedicated to the people doing their best to be in service to others through gifts of money. While this magazine may be about a lifestyle very different from your own, the thing we can learn is how to create philanthropists.
It’s important for LGBTQ people to teach their children and youth about giving. Queer couples raise some incredible children. They’re often the most compassionate, well-adjusted, socially aware children. While we teach them how to give of their time and talent to organizations, it’s also important for them to observe you giving of your treasure. They need to understand that part of being a good steward of your blessings is by allowing them to bless others. If you want to help your children be great citizens, teach them about giving of their treasure as well as their heart to your organization of choice. If they’re old enough to get an allowance, teach them about setting aside a small percentage for giving.
Much is required for those to whom much is given, for their responsibility is greater. Luke 12:48
MSEFoundation.org
What's Your Reaction?
