A few years ago, a few friends of mine had a vision. Not the kind with hallucinogenic drugs involved. The kind with social good involved. The Martin Luther King Jr. kind.
As the story goes, Lionel and Misha Thompson have, for years, loved giving money to people anonymously. They’d often slip it under their doors or put wads of cash in mailboxes. The trouble was that they could never be sure that the person received the gift; nor could they ever have any feedback whether it was meaningful or not.
At one point, a close friend went through a serious financial crisis.
Misha and I gave as much money as we could to them. They lived in another country at the time, so it was impossible to send it anonymously.
Much to our dismay, our gifts seemed to change the dynamics of our relationship. The warmth and camaraderie we had always shared with them dissipated.
Out of that came the idea of Giving Anonymously. It provides the feedback loop we longed to have when we were slipping cash under others’ doors. It also creates a way to give to friends in need while protecting our relationships.
Giving Anonymously was created as a method to facilitate pure generosity. There’s nothing to gain, not even a tax deduction. It’s pure giving.
We hope this inspires a new wave of giving that passes through, into, and from all kinds of communities.
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