New social impact initiative aims to encourage more people to assess their giving habits
Melanie May | 29 February 2024 | News
A social impact initiative has launched that aims to increase ‘thoughtful’ giving.
Giving 1 Percent seeks to encourage more individuals – and not just the well off – to donate at least 1% of their net monthly income to charitable causes.
Founded by US entrepreneur Mindy Gibbins-Klein, it invites people to find their ‘giving number’, which represents a percentage of their net income. Visiting the Giving 1 Percent website, individuals can anonymously input their income and donation figures to calculate their giving number, and consider how they can contribute to charitable causes. They can also add it to the total on the site – so far donors have recorded giving over $75k (just over £59k) in existing monthly donations.
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People are not asked to donate through the site, nor does it recommend how they should give or to what charities.
The inspiration for Giving 1 Percent came from Gibbins-Klein’s personal experiences of growing two businesses but losing sight of her regular charitable giving. Realising this sparked her journey to both increase her own charitable donations but also to inspire others to be more mindful of their giving.
She commented:
“During the pandemic, I had time to reflect on a lot of things. I realised I was very fortunate to have had an exceptional few years in business. At that point though, I realised that my income had gone up but my giving hadn’t kept up.”
Talking about Giving 1 Percent, she added:
“Why 1%? I’m not saying people should stop there, but it’s a start. The process is simple: calculate your giving number, add it to the total, and spread the word. By amplifying the message of Giving 1 Percent, we can collectively make a significant impact on many of the most pressing societal challenges faced today.”
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.