With spring unfolding, right now is the perfect time to share something new. Today, The Gift of Giving is available to my friends, followers, and readers.

I wrote The Gift of Giving with each of you in mind. After years of listening to your stories about the challenges of giving in a way that is unique to you, I realized it was time to share what I’ve learned from all your stories.

You’ve probably done the exercise where you write your obituary – what others will think of you ten, twenty, or thirty years from now. It often leads to setting goals for your future to get to your best self.

This is not another book to help you set goals and action steps for a better, happier life but to help you start a journey to understand your legacy of giving and become intentional about the legacy you wish to leave.

The Gift of Giving explores your unique giving style and the legacy you are creating right now. You will find the roots of your legacy and the actions that matter.

Over the years, I have heard many stories about giving. Yet, despite differences I find a common thread throughout the stories. Young or old, that thread always starts in childhood and runs straight through today. The thread weaves through our lives, influencing how and when we give.

From one giving story to the next, I am drawn to hear whom you learned from and how their example influenced your thoughts, questions, and actions.

Of course, we all have such stories.

In The Gift of Giving, you will unpack your stories and create the future legacy you want others to see.

When I reflected on my giving stories, I remembered a simple act by my aunt, who knew my mother had stretched our family resources as far as they could go to send me five hundred miles away to college. During that first year, I made a weekend trip to visit my aunt. She surprised me with a shopping trip that included several pairs of new shoes.

From the looks of my closet today, two more pairs of shoes would hardly seem significant, but it was an incredible gift then. Raised in a family where the custom was one pair of shoes for church, one for school, and maybe two for play, my closet seldom had more than four pairs at a time.

My aunt and uncle, both schoolteachers, were known for taking family members in and helping even when the need was barely obvious. They had a gift and were truly generous. They taught me to look for ways to serve. My aunt modeled the gift of giving.

Years ago, I worked with a major donor who loved horses. She knew that time with her horses would dramatically impact the residents at a boys’ ranch about forty miles away. But they lacked the funding for transportation to get the boys to her horse farm, where they could experience the wonder of friending a large four-legged animal and the experience of horseback riding. After discussions with the boys’ ranch and donations to improve their mode of transportation, the boys arrived nervous and excited about being around such large animals. Kate had the gift of giving.

Your style of giving is born out of legacy. We each learn to give from stories, observations, and life-long examples.

If you read my first book, Giving Fingerprints: Maximize Your Impact on the Causes Closest to Your Heart, you know that I believe we each have a giving style that is all our own.

In this new book, The Gift of Giving, you will learn how you got that unique giving style. You’ll find direction and learn the questions to ask to discover the roots of your giving legacy.

And the best part is you will discover how to plan the legacy you want to leave. So, spend time with The Gift of Giving today, so your giving can make a difference for many years. Start today.

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