Design Fundamentals for Meaningful Giving #7: Where

The question of geographic focus is fundamental to many people’s philanthropy.

Perhaps you already know for sure that you want to focus your giving in a specific place, like your home town or state, for example. Perhaps you’re considering an even tighter footprint, like the Harlem Children’s Zone, with its laser focus on just ninety-seven blocks in New York City. Even if the issues you are attracted to are global in nature, it’s rare that your giving will unfold without any geographic considerations whatsoever. The following questions will help you gain insight into how geography intersects with your philanthropy.

1. Does a Certain Place Play a Primary Role in Your Giving?

Do you have a clear geographic lens for your giving? At the tightest level of focus, this might be a specific property, such as a wilderness preserve or a particular neighborhood. Other defining geographies might be your home city or state or somewhere overseas to which you have a strong connection. If you do have this kind of defining geographic commitment in your giving, here are some important questions to consider:

• What makes this place so meaningful to you?
• If you were barred from giving away any of your resources to this place or area, what would you do instead?

2. Do Some Places Play a Role in Your Giving for Secondary Reasons?

Even if you don’t have an immediate geographic preference, does the what and the why of your giving have geographic implications nevertheless? Take for example Dustin Moskovitz and Cari Tuna: their commitment to effective altruism is grounded in the idea that people have equal intrinsic value regardless of their circumstances. At first blush, it might seem like this what and why is explicitly global in its scope. However, in practical terms, their giving philosophy leads this couple to focus on specific places with outsize opportunities to relieve human suffering at scale, such as by addressing neglected tropical diseases in places like sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.

• Are there any second-order considerations that inspire you to focus your giving in specific places?
• Are you led to these geographies simply as a logical conclusion in order to maximize the impact of your giving?
• Are there any other ways that focusing on these places contributes to your sense of fulfillment as a donor?

3. Who Has Proximity to the Places Where Your Giving Is Focused?

When it comes to giving that makes sense, proximity matters. This is especially true when addressing complex challenges where solutions are emergent rather than pre-established. Being close to the action as it unfolds allows you to spot patterns and new possibilities.

• How much time do you physically spend in the places where your giving is focused?
• Would spending more time there yourself lead to greater impact or personal fulfillment? Is that even an option for you?
• Are there others in your world whose proximity to these places you can constructively draw on?

One easy way to do a proximity audit on your giving is to look through your cell phone contacts and email address list.

• How many people do you see there with a presence in the places where your giving is focused? What roles do these people play in the decisions you make about how you do your giving in that place? Are these contacts stakeholders, entrepreneurs, accelerators, or advisors?

No matter where you land after your proximity audit, stay tuned. There’s more on how you include others in your decision-making under the 9th Design Fundamental for Meaningful Giving: Who

Download the worksheet

Check out the video, download the worksheet and check out the next segment in this series, where we'll look at how three different ways to reflect on the timing of your giving  with Design Fundamental #8: When.