15. Contribute to good causes.
Be active in organizations, political or not, that express your own view of life. Pick a charity or two and set up autopay. Then you will have made a free choice that supports civil society and helps others do good.
-Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny
On Giving
In his eloquent essay on the work we must do to protect our democracy into the future, Snyder offers, as one key mandate, “Contribute to good causes.”
Amen. And I venture to say, from long experience, that most of you reading this essay worry about when and where to give. You think you don’t know enough to make the best charitable choices. You think that maybe since you pay a lot in taxes, you don’t need to give to charities or to candidates as well. Or you believe that there is no way to learn more about those asking for money and that charitable endeavors should be supported by “wealthy philanthropists.”
I seek to disabuse you of all these ideas which, too often, become excuses for not giving which only weakens our already fragile democracy. And with some hutzpah, I dare to say that most of you are not giving enough!
What is enough? Obviously, that is an individual decision, but I remind you that our texts and our sages are quite explicit. Give at least 10 percent of what you have to charitable purposes and, in most instances, not more than 20 percent. And, the rabbis add, this obligation/mitzvah is incumbent on even the poorest among us; everyone has at least a half shekel to donate to the welfare of her or his society.
Snyder is explicit: Be active with organizations, political or not; give regularly and support the civil society that makes government stronger. I think it is wonderful that he includes political giving and that he recognizes implicitly that one can be active with an organization as a board member or a volunteer as well as donating money.
All true. I urge you to do all of these, and so let me say a word about why and how.
Give to candidates and/or political parties. They are essential to the future of our democracy, and at this moment in history, we must realize that that future is not assured.
There are many ways to learn about candidates and what they stand for, and each of you is in a position to volunteer and to make donations. Candidates and campaigns thrive on small gifts from many donors; it is always one of their selling points to the electorate. No gift is too small. (And I will add, as someone who held elected office for 20 years, every donation makes you think you are doing something that matters to the people you serve.) One more plea here: Engage with and/or give to candidates at every level; our state and local representatives make a huge contribution both to the delivery of services and to the infrastructure of the government we are charged to protect.
The more common causes are charities, not-for-profit organizations usually focused on a particular public or civic concern — the environment, foster children, immigration, domestic violence, tax justice, what have you. These groups are essential in our democracy; they pursue their issues, providing help when government aid is too little or non-existent; and the best of them organize to advocate for government change. Long ago, Alexis de Tocqueville recognized these civil society organizations as essential to American democracy.
And there are many, many ways to investigate any charity, checking out its bona fides with Charity Navigator, a branch of the American Institute of Philanthropy, or Guide Star — each of which rates charitable endeavors.
This allows donors to pick a charity (or two or three), as Snyder directs, pick thoughtfully, after some research, and then, indeed, put them on auto pay, creating a mechanism that reminds the donor — that’s you — to give regularly, to help build the civil society groups that are a force against arbitrary power, as Snyder says, and can be a force for greater democracy.
It is the obligation of a citizen, then, not to leave these endeavors to others, not to assume that they are the exclusive province of the rich, but to support the society — government and not-for-profit work — with our own time and money, with our own best efforts to create a society strong enough to resist authoritarianism or fascism.
Get to it!
