How to Keep Your Pledge (8)
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How to Keep Your Pledge (8)


You’ve taken the pledge. You’re going to give a percentage of your income to effective charities working to save and improve the lives of those living in extreme poverty. Nicely done! 

But now what?

Three and a half years ago, I took the same public pledge. Keeping it has been easier than I thought it would be, thanks to some tips and tricks I picked up along the way. Every week, I’ll be sharing a strategy that worked for me or another fellow pledger.  

 

Today’s tip comes from Kat Warboys of Sydney, Australia.

If you have a giving strategy that you’d like to share on this blog, email it to info@thelifeyoucansave.org.

 

Strategy 8:  Donate on pay day

It’s pretty tough to make a donation when there’s no money in the bank. Match your pledge to your cash flow by making your donation on pay day. Kat writes “Literally, the day that monthly pay comes into your bank account, send a percentage of it straight back out to your chosen charity. I know that if I leave it until say half way through the month, I will be asking myself where my money went and then I am tempted to cut back on my pledge…”

Making your donation on pay day is a simple, practical way to make good on your pledge. You may also discover it has symbolic value for you. Donating before paying the rest of your bills is a reminder that you have made the well-being of others a priority in your life. Every pay day becomes an opportunity to live your values.

 

We all handle money differently, and our relationship with money changes overtime. You know best what strategy will work for you. Mix and match the strategies on this blog, or come up with your own. Just keep giving!

Have you found a great way to keep your pledge? Share it with us!

  Claire Knowlton is President of the Board for The Life You Can Save. She lives in Los Angeles and works as an accountant and auditor of nonprofit organizations.


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Claire Knowlton

Claire Knowlton, President of the Board for The Life You Can Save, is an independent auditor of not-for-profit organizations in the United States. She shares her Los Angeles apartment with a physicist, a fluffy cat, and a window garden.

The views expressed in blog posts are those of the author, and not necessarily those of Peter Singer or The Life You Can Save.