The richest people in the world of business have one thing in common, – they all realize that charity is an essential activity they need to regularly partake in. That’s why philanthropy and riches always seem to go hand-in-hand. The interesting part about this is that there’s more than just a few reasons that this happens.
Charity creates everything from positive publicity to a more personalized touch, which tends to give back in just as many ways as the person giving a helping hand does. To better understand how philanthropy benefits both the receiving party and the person giving, it’s imperative that you understand why the wealthy give back in the first place.
Why Do the Wealthy Give?
Wealthy individuals tend to have a variety of reasons that they give back. From remembering their roots to investing in causes that they believe in, their reasons are innumerable.
For example, consider Bob Parsons who founded the large domain registrar and web host GoDaddy. He recently announced that he wants to give away all his riches before he and his wife pass away. His reason for this concerns the fact that his beginnings were humble, and that he has more money than he will ever likely need.
While it was likely an insurmountable task amassing his large fortune, Parsons admits that it will be even harder to give away all his money. He reasons that investing it into causes that he believes are true and noble will be much harder and riskier than even the over-the-top ads that GoDaddy employed during numerous Super Bowls.
There are other reasons that wealth individuals give money back to communities and causes. Some may simply want to be recognized as giving, which in turn makes them more popular among groups whom highly value charitable individuals.
Others may benefit by raising awareness for certain diseases by donating to groups dedicated to researching cures for common ailments. Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, and his wife gave donated millions of dollars to AIDS research and Stanford hospitals before Jobs passed away from pancreatic cancer.
These contributions helped to raise awareness of both several diseases and the conditions that certain patients were stuck in while undergoing treatment. This awareness that these donations raised worked to raise awareness when Jobs was afflicted by pancreatic cancer, which in turn made it possible for countless charities to raise even more money for cancer research.
How Leaders Lead by Giving
Giving back to charities and other groups creates a loop that raises more awareness for even the rarest of conditions. The wealthy whom practice philanthropy regularly raise awareness and help groups progress towards finding solutions for society’s biggest problems simply by giving.
The money, time and publicity that these individuals raise for the various organizations they donate to eventually comes back to the people donating in one way or another. People in high-profile positions. CEOs can donate to increase their business, to spread recognition for their brand, and to become more recognized as having some concern for the human condition.
Giving changes charity from an event where someone simply gives away large amounts of money into something that elevates someone into a position of leadership with an equal measure of publicity to go along with it. This makes giving back is something that every leader should do to inspire, to attract, to facilitate more business and wealth, and to teach other individuals how to become leaders themselves.