June 28, 2001 | Read Time: 2 minutes
The Giving Family: Raising Our Children to Help Others
by Susan Crites Price
Two high-school girls raise more than $16,000 to assist Kosovo refugees. A father teaches a group of seventh-grade students how to raise money and responsibly donate it to charities. A family of seven spends a day refurbishing an elderly woman’s apartment in a public-housing complex, and the children enjoy the experience so much that they inspire their school-aged friends to volunteer as well.
Susan Crites Price, an author and freelance writer, presents these stories and others in The Giving Family.The book contains practical ideas for adults who want to encourage children and youths to donate money or time to charitable causes.
Children are born with natural empathy, but parents must nurture young peoples’ desire to do good, Ms. Price writes. To be a “philanthropic mentor” to children, adults should follow eight key steps, Ms. Price says: act as a role model; talk about experiences volunteering and take children with you; make giving a year-round project; teach giving habits early in life; expect children to serve and give; let children make decisions about how to give; teach them how to manage money; and praise them for their actions.
In addition to these points, chapters also discuss how children can learn philanthropy in and out of the home, how young people can become involved with nonprofit groups as advisers or even as board members, and how parents can learn from the experiences of family foundations. Tips and activities interspersed throughout the chapters explain how to teach children to manage money and choose volunteer projects. The book also contains a resource chapter with lists of children’s books with philanthropy themes and of volunteer opportunities.
Ms. Price based the book on interviews with youths and families nationwide, including parents, teachers, and religious leaders. The book was commissioned by the Council on Foundations.
Publisher: Council on Foundations, 1828 L Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-5168; (888) 239-5221; fax (202) 785-3926; http://www.cof.org; 119 pages; $19.95; I.S.B.N. 0-913892-99-8.
