Day 2: Giving Presents Itself

On the first day of the experiment, an e-mail popped into my inbox with the message: "Giving opportunity for Handscoring employee" (Handscoring is one of the departments in our company, where they score assessment tests). Naturally, given the experiment, this caught my eye.

The message goes on to describe a situation where a truck hit a utility pole, which yanked the power line and the power meter off the house, resulting in a shortage which in turn sparked a fire. The fire ravaged the house, which has to be gutted and largely rebuilt, and destroyed the possessions of the inhabitants - the employee in question, as well as her mother.

Insurance is taking care of the reconstruction and most of the possessions, but now these two people were stuck in a rental unit near the home, while the insurance company and the truck's liability company hammered out the details of who was responsible for what, including extra rounds of damage assessments. So the call was for some household supplies - towels, blankets, various sorts of kitchenware, cleaning supplies, grooming supplies, and so on.

Amber went through the house and found several items of use, mostly blankets (and we got some towels from Amber's mother, as well!). She also offered up an inspirational book which she felt hopefully at least one of the women would enjoy.

This wasn't exactly what I had planned for Day 2, of course, but I did anticipate that these sort of opportunities would spring up as I got into the project. I recall a sermon from our local pastor, while the idea for this project was percolating, about how to know when to offer help to someone in need, and the sign was a simple one:

Notice the need

In essence, the argument was that if you notice that someone has a need, then you should step in to see how you can help that person fill that need. End of story. There is no debating over whether or not the person is worthy of this help, or anything else. Just offer help.

While the pastor framed this in a Christian perspective, such doctrines are nearly universally present across many different spiritual teachings the world over. Nor is this confined to spiritual individuals. Vocal atheists such as Richard Dawkins strenuously support the importance of personal morality, even while completely rejecting a spiritual basis for this morality. The central tenet of this morality, in both the spiritual and atheistic contexts, is based around the recognition and alleviation of suffering and hardship. Something within us - built into us by whatever mechanism does such things - recognizes that this activity is moral. Though we can (and should) discuss and debate the source of that morality, there is no denying that it's moral. (Unless, of course, you're Ayn Rand ... but more on that another day.)

Part of the purpose of the project is to cultivate my own ability to notice need and alleviate it. And I like that the opportunity arose so early, and hope it will continue to do so. There's a lot of need out there, so I don't expect it to be a rare event.

Day 1: Give Andrew's Hair Away!

Okay, so the giving begins, and it starts at home ... and maybe that's where it will end, too. This piece of giving isn't just up to me, but is up to my friends, family, fans ... and even people I don't even know yet!

My plan is to complete the 40 Days of Giving by cutting my hair for Locks of Love, which uses the hair to create wigs for disadvantaged children suffering from medical hair loss. For those who don't know me personally, it may not be clear what a significant thing this is. I've been growing my hair, with only minor trims to remove split ends, for over a decade. Consider the following pictures, which clearly show the hair in question:

My wedding day - May 16, 2008

Honeymoon in Daytona Beach, May 2008

And no, I am not wearing a flaming fez. That's a torch on the pier behind us.

Summer 2009 - Florida again, this time at Sanibel Island

But not so fast ... this bit of giving has a catch, and you can help! I will sacrifice my treasured hair to Locks of Love ... if I successfully raise $10,000 for Heifer International by midnight on March 28!

So give generously, and pass the word along to your friends ... or even your enemies, for that matter! Heifer International is a worthwhile charity which not only provides the means for impoverished families around the world to sustain themselves (you even get to choose which animals you're donating), but also has a great program where your acts of philanthropy pay it forward into the future by passing on the gift.

In fact, I don't just want you to give (although I want you to do that, too!). You can also join my 40 Days of Giving team, which means that you can begin soliciting your own donations that will count toward the $10,000 team goal. I will give a gift of some kind (to be determined) to everyone who is able to raise at least $500!


So let me know, either by commenting here or on Facebook, what you think of this plan!  Can you help join the crusade? Will you offer up your hair, as well?


I'm also taking suggestions on giving without any money. I've got a great plan for Day 2, but after that I've still got to fill the time until February 26 (when I get my next paycheck, which I will then proceed to give away) ... that's 7 days of giving in which I'll have no income to give!

IHOP Gives Free Pancakes

It's amazing how you tune into all kind of giving opportunities when you're actually looking for them. This one is from the fine people at IHOP - National Pancake Day. Next Tuesday, February 23, IHOPs across the country are offering a free short stack (3 pancakes) ... So what's the ulterior motive, you may be asking?

Well, you're right, there is an ulterior motive. They'd like you to consider donating to a local charity. What a deal!

In addition, of course, IHOP no doubt hopes that you'll order some coffee or other drinks, and maybe a side of bacon or sausage, but there's nothing wrong with that. Giving things away for free is actually, if done right, a phenomenal business model. The various ways that this model can be adapted are discussed at length in Chris Anderson's great book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price. Anyone who makes decisions about how a business runs, or is involved in any sort of marketing, should read this book.

Logistical Considerations

Just two more days until Ash Wednesday, and the commencement of the 40 Days of Giving project. This isn't for any particular religious reason. It's just that when you're doing something for 40 days, it made sense to run it concurrently with Lent.

Or so I thought, because as I began the preparations I learned the disturbing fact that Lent does not, in fact, last 40 days. Rather, the period from Ash Wednesday through to the end of Lent on Good Friday actually involves 46 days - 40 days + 6 Sundays. So, though I'm starting with Ash Wednesday, I'm not actually going the full period of Lent, because I don't want to name the book 46 Days of Giving. This means the experiment will end on March 28.

This decision turned out to be convenient, because had I gone the full Lent period I'd have had to pay two mortgage payments without access to my income, which would have (to say the least) taxed my resources and made this even more of a challenge than it already will be. So that ended up working out well.

Giving Net or Gross

Some further logistical consideration was whether to give away my net salary or my gross salary. My initial thinking was that I should give away my full, gross salary, including the over 20% of every paycheck which vanishes for benefits before I ever see it. This meant, of course, that I'd have to take money out of savings and give it away to make up the difference ... and when I initially thought up the idea, this aspect didn't occur to me at all.

This left me with a problem, because my plan was to live exclusively off of my savings account for the month ... and cashing out investments or living on credit certainly didn't seem in line with what I was trying to do, and it certainly wasn't something I wanted to do. After all, part of my goal is to show that you can give intensely, but not actually suffer much from it. Even during these tough economic times, we live in a sea of abundance in America.

After some discussion with my wife, we decided that it would be sufficient to take the net payment of our W-2 salary. It fits with the spirit of the experiment to just give away the money that we normally get and live off of. I did increase the allotments on my W-4, so that there should be no federal tax withholding and less state tax withholding from my paychecks during this period ... but then, the money we give away is all a business expense (I am writing a book about this experience, after all), so we won't have tax expenses on the income anyway. It seems reasonable to eliminate the withholding as much as possible.

In addition, I will get one About.com paycheck during this period, as well, and I'll give the gross amount of that away, since none of that is withheld for benefits. And any other money that comes our way will also be given, with one last exception ...

Raiding the Piggy Bank

One other source of income which raised questions in my mind was child support money, which we receive from my oldest son's biological father. Part of me thought this should be given away as well, but the more I thought about this, the more it didn't seem justified. This isn't really our money, it's given to us for the care of our son, and so giving it away to others, while noble, just didn't seem right. So that money will not be given, and will help with the living expenses during the tight period over the next 40 days.

The Hard Part

With those situations all resolved, the experiment is now ready to begin in earnest, with the hard part being how to best give the money (and other stuff) away. Some of the giving I have planned out already, but most of it has yet to be determined. I look forward to seeing what happens, and whether the whole experience proves to be worthwhile.

I am confident that it will.

We Are The World 25th Anniversary

For those who missed it, the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics on NBC featured a new video for the 25th anniversary of the Michael Jackson song "We Are the World." The video is available for free online through YouTube, and you can buy the song through iTunes, with proceeds going to charities. The first charity is, of course, Haitian relief efforts ... and as I've discussed before, Haiti still needs a lot more aid. If you like the song, this is a great way to give a little bit extra while getting something nice for yourself, as well.

Overall, though, I wouldn't use this as my primary charity to give to Haiti. There are a lot of other great organizations in place to offer Haitian relief. You can use Charity Navigator to view the ratings on these organizations, so that you can make a better decision on your own giving.

Interview Who?

One of the numerous influences on me last year, which helped inspire the 40 Days of Giving project, was Oprah's The Big Give. This reality show was a contest where 10 contestants travel the country trying to help people, both in personal ways and by performing fundraisers. The show got me started thinking about different ways that I could dramatically give ... and here we are, with me giving away my income to others for 40 days.

Yowza! It's amazing what a difference someone can make, isn't it?

Anyway, as part of the project, I have always intended to interview philanthropists, but I freely admit that between being a new father and trying to manage the logistics of the project (more on the logistics coming soon, but needless to say I'd like to be able to make my mortgage payment and buy food even when not having access to my income), I hadn't really put much thought into this aspect of things.

So I ask you, my modest handful of fans and friends, for some help. Who would you like to see interviewed as an example of charitable giving? While of course there are a lot of big names you can throw out, I'm actually looking for some more modest proposals ... perhaps even people that you know personally and can help facilitate introductions to.

At the top of my list is Oprah, who is probably the biggest name in philanthropy that I can think of. I, along with Denis Leary, am a convert to her ... though probably for different reasons (although I, too, am a fan of penis health). So today I went onto Oprah.com and tried to track down some information on how to get in touch with Oprah. I was hoping to send a hardcopy letter, because I feel like those are more likely to actually catch someone's attention, but couldn't find a physical address for Harpo, just a webform that could be sent in. So, here's the letter I sent to Oprah's people today, with crossed fingers:

Hello. I am an author working on a project called 40 Days of Giving: An Experiment in Charity, where I will be giving my entire income away for a period of 40 days. I am documenting the experience on:


http://40daysofgiving.blogspot.com/


The project begins on February 17, at which point I will be blogging daily about my giving experiences and research. I'll also be announcing some surprises which, I hope, will motivate others to give.


As part of the book, I am hoping to interview high profile philanthropists ... and they don't come much higher profile than Oprah. In fact, this project was inspired in part by Oprah's Big Give television series. I certainly know that it's a long shot, but it would greatly honor me if I could arrange an interview with Oprah to include in the book and on the website.


Regardless of Oprah's decision, thank you for your time and consideration. 


Sincerely,
Andrew Zimmerman Jones

In retrospect, I probably should have been a bit heavier on my credentials, so they knew I wasn't just some random blogger ... but I'm also not sure that Oprah's people would be particularly impressed by my science writing credentials, anyway. My thinking is that either the basic concept - a man gives away all his income for 40 days - will be of interest to her or not. If the concept earns a reply, then more details can be provided at that point ... but filling the original mail with a bunch of details won't do much to make the person reading it more likely to pass it along to Oprah.

Of course, part of the joy of this project is the opportunity to write on topics other than science ... but to do so from something of a scientific perspective, gathering and analyzing data, all the while helping make some other lives - and hopefully my own as well - a little bit better.

If you do have a suggestion for who to interview, just leave a comment on this blog post. If you actually have contact information for the person (or organization) involved, and don't want it posted for everyone to see, feel free to e-mail me at azjauthor@gmail.com.

I look forward to seeing the suggestions!

Solidarity with Economically Suffering Americans

While I have been preparing for the experiment, I've realized a secondary aspect of the experiment which wasn't particularly clear to me when I came up with the idea, and one which is perhaps just as important: 


I am putting myself in a position similar to so many Americans who are suffering from the massive job loss striking our country.


In retrospect, this seems like a no-brainer. Cutting out my income for a month is functionally similar to losing my job. Suddenly, no money is coming in. (Of course, I get to keep my benefits, and I know that the salary will resume at the end of March, so I don't claim that psychologically it will have the same impact.)


This became clear to me a few days ago, when I got paid and paid my bills, only to find that there was very little money left. For a moment, I was confused. Actually, for a couple of days. We'd increased our giving a bit, even before the experiment, in an effort to tithe to our church. (I'll get to the potential significance of tithing in another posting.)


Then it hit me. I'd increased my car payment - doubled it, in fact - a couple of paychecks ago, so that it would be paid ahead enough that I'd not have to pay it during the 40 Days of Giving experiment. So even now, we're giving roughly 10% of my W-2 income (the day job) in a charitable auto-deduction that is matched by my company, giving 10% of all income to our local church, plus doubling a nearly-$200 car payment. That's a substantial bite out of the paycheck, and it's being felt, because we can't really yet dip into savings to make up the difference.


When I proposed the experiment, I honestly hadn't really anticipated how much of a sacrifice it would be sure. Sure, I figured that I'd come out of it without much in the savings account, but I had a decent amount in savings and didn't really expect that I'd lose out on that much. However, part of the savings will have to be dipped into in order to pay back, and thus give, the portion of my income that normally goes to benefits. The full impact of this hadn't really occurred to me when I originally proposed the experiment.


So, in addition to examining the potential benefits of giving, I'll also be looking at what happens when an income goes away ... which given the current unemployment rate (and predictions for the future) is something that more and more Americans will be facing until we get our economic house in order.


This might sound like I'm discouraged about this, but quite the opposite: I see it as a worthwhile new dimension to the whole project. I think this experience will make me more appreciative and aware of the abundance in my own personal economy.


And, after all, maybe I'll be able to give to someone in need who hasn't had the foresight to save up a bit of a buffer.