Hey Tim,

The more you give, the more you receive.

Giving back is an investment where the ROI isn’t monetary. Instead, it’s human, psychological, happiness.

Like with any investment, if you only have enough money to survive, you pay yourself first. But once your finances are taken care of to where you can invest in a savings account, Roth IRA, lifecycle fund, etc… then you can give back.

And the earlier the greater the ROI will be. You’ll be setting a standard for yourself, and you’ll be getting regular super-charged doses of fulfillment.

Nice one, Tim. Inspired me to start giving back earlier,
Oleg

A group of about 20 of my friends and I are going to Kenya in December to build a school. We’ve been planning it for months with MeToWe.com, an arm of FreeTheChildren.org (four time Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, World Children’s Prize Winners, all round good guys, producers of We Day, etc).

I’d really like to make maximum impact with this trip. The people who are going are all motivated, entrepreneurial young people. Most of us are a few years out of university.

Do you have any ideas on how to extend our reach? I’ve blogged a bit in the past, and will start blogging for this project soon. I am fairly adept with video editing and have produced and posted during my travels in the past. But this is something I’d like to build up.

Please send me your thoughts.

As a side note, everyone should look into Me To We. They have a fascinating mandate and business model. They are a social enterprise whose profits go directly into Free The Children. For most aid organizations only about 17 cents on the dollar goes to aid, the rest is admin and marketing. With FTC, because of their internal funding from Me To We, 93 cents on the dollar goes to aid. They are partners with Oprah and she donates through them all the time.

Me to We has a book line, clothing line, music label, does these trips (where you go abroad, build a school, and interact with the community), and produces We Day.

We Day is a day where they bring about 10,000 high school students into an arena and have high energy, high profile performers spread the message of social activism. This year they have a stellar line up: The Dalai Lama, Jane Goodall, Mia Farrow, Jason Mraz, Jeff Skoll, Robert Kennedy Jr, and more.

Tickets are free for students but they have to commit to three acts of social change: one local, one national, one global. These kids are learning to give back at a very young age!

I just wanted to share this with everyone. Tim, please send me any insights you have in extending the impact of my trip. Thanks sir.

-Jeff

Great post. I would personally rather use my time to help others than just donate money (although I understand charities need funding as well). There is just something more rewarding I find in living a life of giving back, rather than just writing a check. Keep up the great thought provoking posts!

The 4HWW is a mindblowing book, but at first I wasn’t sure whether I bought the same goals or if there wasn’t a touch of lets get ahead of the rest about it. Along with a few other pointers to values, this initiative and passionate activism has convinced me- You’re not just a damn clever and insightful guy, you’re a damn sorted one!

Good luck with the next book, Neil
PS. On the subject of sustainable development and genius-EVERYBODY should read Jeffrey Sachs-The End of Poverty! He blows every western excuse away and still leaves you full of Hope and answers!