Azim Jamal - The Power of Giving

Simple and easy to use, The Power of Giving provides a wealth of down-to-earth ideas, exercises, and real-life stories that reveal to each reader the unique gifts he or she has to give, including kindness, ideas, advice, attention, hope, and more, and the many ways you can benefit from giving them, from better health to better job prospects.

Azim Jamal & Harvey McKinnon

ePub r1.0

Titivillus 04.02.15

Original title: The Power of Giving

Azim Jamal & Harvey McKinnon, 2008

Digital editor: Titivillus

ePub base r1.2

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To write any book involves the generosity of many people: our friends who make helpful comments, our heroes who inspire us, those who support us in many ways. Over the twenty one months it took us to complete The Power of Giving, many people contributed to making this book a reality. We fear we may miss thanking someone who helped, so we first want to thank everyone who helped make The Power of Giving possible.

Our first edition editor, Audrey McClellan, made the book cleaner and leaner. Thanks also to Johanna Vondeling, Sharon Boglari, Nancy Painter, Roy Bendor, Lynne Boardman, Nicky Brinkhoff, Kim Buschert, Michele Davidson, Renee Eaton, Shannon Johnston, Allan McDonald, Tracy Vaughan, Franois Trahan, and Rachel Zant for their wisdom.

A prime example of the power of giving is the generosity of the people who helped put the first edition of the book and Web site together. Our special thanks to Merle Kamin, Melanie Bitner, Rolf Maurer, Carellin Brooks, Paul Culling, and especially Doug Forster and Radiant Communications, who made a special contribution by donating the Web site design and hosting.

We will give away a portion of our authors profits from book sales to charities through the highly respected Tides Foundation (U.S.) and Tides Canada Foundation. So our sincere thanks to Tim Draimin and all the folks at Tides for their great work. Two other friends whose lifelong commitment to philanthropy deserves special recognition are Carol Newell and Joel Solomon. Many thanks for all that you do. You are an inspiration.

The reason you hold this edition in your hands is thanks to our agent, Donna de Guitus at the McBride Agency. She is an angel. Her support over the years has been both generous and amazing. Our editor at Penguin, Gabrielle Moss, has also been a delight to work with. Her enthusiasm for this book has been wonderful. To the other staff at Penguin who have worked on this book (and therefore are promoting giving) we greatly appreciate the work you do. To the generous souls who will spread the work about this book, and the ideas contained therein, thank you in advance.

To the many great nonprofit staff we have worked with over the years, thanks for the work you do, the passion you bring to your work, and the positive chance you have brought to our communities.

Our deep appreciation goes to Paul Brainerd, Maria Luisa Chea, Carlie, Lynette and Russ Lewis, Mr. and Mrs. Raj Naidu, Craig OBrien, Jenny Oad, Salim Premji, Eleanor Ryrie, Severn Suzuki, Peggy Taylor, Hussain Tejany, Joy Trek, Caroline Van Nostrand, David Van Seters, and Michael Nicoll Yahgulana as for your inspiring stories.

To our wonderful families, who have helped teach us that when you give from the heart it all comes back with interest. From Harvey, thanks to Marcia, James, Ian, Carole, Jan, Greg, Brenda, Claire, Brian, Moira, Yuichi, Cindy, Bob, Kristen, Hussain, Todd and to his parents, James and Evelyn. And from Azim, thanks to Farzana, Sahar, Tawfiq, Mehboob, Shaffin, and to his parents, Abdul and Shirin.

Thank you all

In late December 2004, a natural disaster precipitated the largest humanitarian aid operation in history.

The South Asian tsunami killed hundreds of thousands of people and left more than a million others homeless. The disaster ripped families apart. Children lost their parents, parents lost their children. In some families, only one person survived.

The shocking power of nature and the devastation of the tsunami caused another incredible reaction: a worldwide desire to help the survivors.

Hundreds of thousands of people living in the affected countries fed their neighbors, gave them shelter, and comforted them in their grief.

Foreign visitors ended their beach holidays as volunteers, picking up corpses and trying to help identify the dead.

Across the world, tens of millions of individuals responded to the tragedy by sending immediate donations to aid agencies. Governments responded to their citizens and contributed massive aid for reconstruction. The world pledged $8.5 billion.

You may have made a donation yourself. More than half the citizens of many countries sent a gift. This generous global response made a positive, life changing difference for many people.

The generosity in response to the tsunami shows how easy it is to give from the heart.

In the world today there are many disasters that will kill many more people than the tsunami they just arent as graphic, immediate, or as easy to present on TV. Often there isnt the local angle to drive media coverage, and the locations are more remote and often dangerous for foreign media. Ethnic cleansing in Darfur, Sudan; the HIV/AIDS crisis; and preventable infant mortality are all disasters in which countless people will die. And yet each of these tragedies has inspired dedicated, courageous people to try and save lives. Like those in the tsunami affected areas, the unknown victims of war and disease need and deserve our compassion. And we urge you to continue to expand your generosity to include them if at all possible.

Youll see in this book that we focus on a persons individual motivations and actions. So in effect, this book was actually written for you.

We hope it reads a bit like a conversation. That it feels like we were in a room with you, perhaps drinking tea (strong coffee for Harvey), having a chat about life, about your contribution, and your future. Together we will have some laughs, share ideas, feel inspired by each other, each of us learning something from one another, like good friends do. And all three of us will come out of the room feeling better about ourselves and our world. Inspired to give more. Thats because each of us has the power and opportunity to change our own lives. And in the process, we will contribute to improving our own and other lives as well. Theres one chapter in our book that you may feel has a slightly different focus than the others. Its Chapter Five, and its about your workplace. At the last minute, we decided to add this chapter on corporate giving. Why? Well, most of us spend a significant portion of our lives working, perhaps, one third of our waking hours. The majority of people work at corporations. And we believe a person can have an enormous impact in their workplace, when they apply the ideas and principles outlined in this book. In effect, when you bring these principles to work, you will promote a healthier culture, balance and make a greater contribution to your community.