With Purpose Success, part 81

You don't have to soullessly give on command at the office, or only support your place of worship. The nonprofit world teems with organizations that can use your donations of time or money for specific purposes that you care about. We're way past the days of large charitable organizations with mostly soup-kitchen roles to offer. Such volunteers are still needed, of course, and quite valuable. But you might get a lot more out of dreaming up a charity's new slogan or rescuing injured wildlife in the mountains-or using your business skills to make an organization run more efficiently. 

In the Dychtwald house we give in various ways, and much of it is so enjoyable that we don't think about what we're doing as a service to others. My wife, Maddy, contributes untold hours at school. She coordinates team dinners, supervises training sessions, and has driven a lot of other parents' kids along with our son to distant water polo matches. 

Maddy and I also mentor students learning to speak in public, and we judge school speaking tournaments. Some folks might call such gratis efforts a chore. The hours certainly can stack up. But we love watching all the kids interact and grow, and making new friends. We do it mainly for the joy it brings to us. 

The afterglow from helping a person or an organization that benefits from our contribution is a wonderful payoff. Although psychology and gerontology have been my fields of study, public speaking about these topics has been a big part of my livelihood. It's terrific and satisfying work. But it's not easy. There's a lot of preparation that goes into my presentations that no one but me sees. Still there are some groups that I just want to help at no charge because I'm interested in contributing to their mission or their future. For example, some years ago, I volunteered to help the Alzheimer's Association devise a new marketing strategy. That was work. But it gave me a great chance to make use of something I know a bit about for a cause that had captured my attention. I always keep some of my personal bandwidth in reserve for that kind of thing. Volunteering shakes me out of my rut and lets me express myself in ways that don't happen at the office. Everyone has skills and causes that speak to them. 

What are yours?