# How We Give Now: A Philanthropic Guide for the Rest of Us

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/books/how-we-give-now-a-philanthropic-guide-for-the-rest-of-us/
- Published: 2022-01-10T18:21:51+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**From Go Fund Me to philanthropy: the everyday ways that we can give our money,
our time, and even our data to help our communities and seek justice.**

In _How We Give Now_, Lucy Bernholz shows that philanthropy is more than writing
a check and claiming a tax deduction. For most of us—the non-wealthy givers—philanthropy
can be a way of living our values and fully participating in society. We give in
all kinds of ways—shopping at certain businesses, canvassing for candidates, donating
money, and making conscious choices with our retirement funds. We give our cash,
our time, and even our data to make the world a better place. Bernholz takes readers
on a tour of the often-overlooked worlds of participatory philanthropy, learning
from a diverse group of forty resourceful givers.

Donating our digitized personal data is an emerging form of philanthropy, and Bernholz
describes safe, equitable, and effective ways of doing so—giving genetic data for
medical research through a nonprofit genetics organisation rather than a commercial
one, for example, or contributing photographs to an online archive like the Densho
Digital Repository, which documents America’s internment of 120,000 Americans of
Japanese descent. Bernholz tells us to “follow the money,” however, when we’re asked
to “add a dollar” to our total at the cash register, or when we buy a charity-branded
product; it’s more effective to give directly than to give while shopping.

Giving is a form of participation. Philanthropy by the rest of us—across geographies
and cultural traditions—begins with and builds on active commitment to our communities.

## Reviews

“_How We Give Now_ offers anyone interested in a fuller understanding of how we 
participate in society, whether it be with our time, money, or data, a lot to consider—
about what our shared futures can look like, if we were to pause to think more deeply
about how we do things.”
**Philanthropy News Digest**

## Interviews with Lucy Bernholz

> Lucy Bernholz's – [@p2173](https://twitter.com/p2173?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) – new
> book, “How We Give Now: A Philanthropic Guide for the Rest of Us,” is a deep dive
> into ways average people give in the digital age. [@InsidePhilanthr](https://twitter.com/InsidePhilanthr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> sat down with her to discuss the book and what she calls "the givingscape." [https://t.co/HXYm6Yx6fl](https://t.co/HXYm6Yx6fl)
> [pic.twitter.com/CXjmuTYAMz](https://t.co/CXjmuTYAMz)
> — David Callahan (@DavidCallahanIP) [January 7, 2022](https://twitter.com/DavidCallahanIP/status/1479532553694498837?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 * Read an [interview with Lucy Bernholz](https://apnews.com/article/business-philanthropy-mackenzie-scott-fc0a5d64e25544a6dcb43eced8076441)
   on AP News on the research findings from her book.

## WATCH: How we give now, a conversation with Lucy Bernholz and Vu Le

Marguerite Casey Foundation, in partnership with Seattle Arts and Lectures, hosted
a discussion between MCF President and CEO Dr. Carmen Rojas, author Lucy Bernholz,
PhD, and NonprofitAF blog writer Vu Le.

Bernholz is also author of [Creating Philanthropic Capital Markets](https://amzn.to/3qcp0r3)(
2004).