“Money Talks” or rather, “it is important to talk money”

Participated in an interesting webinar on Family Philanthropy this week, hosted by the US Council on Foundations.  Guest speaker Nathan Dungan, Founder and President ofShare Save Spend opened the discussion with the startling statistic that the average person is confronted over 5,000 times daily – in some form or another – with a message about spending.  His message, therefore, was that as a society we need to pay much more attention to actively and deliberately helping our children learn and think about the importance and skills of balancing sharing, saving and spending.  In fact, he challenged that we should all ascribe to the aspiration that the choices we make with our money can change the world.  Nathan then went on to emphasize that this discussion must include much more than “transactional” type topics such as bank accounts, investments and such.  In addition, families need to devote more time and energy to helping their children understand the “interactive side” – values, culture, and family stories that reflect their approach to share, spend, save.

This message certainly aligns with what we hear from families involved with HCF, particularly those that are striving to actively teach their children about philanthropy and both the why and the how they can make a difference in their community.  Community foundations are good places to have those discussions.  There couldn’t be a better time in Hamilton to grow and celebrate family philanthropy.