Kids and Cash

How Money Can Be A Tool for Teaching Charity
By Deborah Spaide, founder of Kids Care Clubs

Most parents hope their children grow up with a healthy attitude towards money. Too much emphasis on money can lead to materialism and greed, while too little can lead to poverty. Money is only a tool of exchange. We place a certain value on cash which we exchange for items or experiences that are of an equal or greater value. One of the things we value is helping others.

Millions of dollars are donated to charities each year with motives as lofty as citizenship and compassion and as practical as tax breaks and advertising. Giving money to charity is not always a fulfilling experience, especially for children. How can parents teach their children to be giving and caring with their time and their money? Here are a few ways parents are turning cash into caring.

Model Giving Acts
"Do as I SAY and not as I DO," does not hold true when encouraging children to be giving. Kids are emulating adults for clues about how they should interact with their world. They notice how we respond to elderly people in our communities and families. They watch how we react to persons with mental or physical handicaps. Each reaction is a statement of the value we place on compassion.

It is good to let your children witness you volunteer and help others. Take them along when you work at the soup kitchen or nursing home. Ask their opinion about items you purchase for others. Choosing birthday gifts for family members will help kids consider how someone else feels and what they like. This is how empathy develops.

Experts recommend that parents talk to their children about kindness and compassion. Tell them how it feels to help others and why it is important for people to be caring and giving. Share stories and memories with your children. They will learn from your experiences

The Family Fund
Do you contribute to charity every year? Let your children decide how that money is to be used by starting a Family Fund. Decide on the amount of money that you can afford to give monthly and hold family meetings to determine where the money will be sent. Let your children nominate charities or causes they believe in.

Discuss the charities, how they will use the money, and how many people you might help with your donation. This will teach children how to make wise charitable choices. They may ask questions about the causes you consider. Children can understand homelessness, hunger, illness and other social concerns. You might want to be armed with information about issues that would make it easier to respond. Compassion Education, at www.familycares.org is a good resource.

Choose different charities every month so that you can reach as many people as possible and learn about different social issues.

Allowances
If your child receives an allowance, you might suggest that he/she donate a percentage towards charity. The donation can go towards your Family Fund or be given to a charity or cause your child wants to help.

Make The Experience Real
Children need to understand how money turns into services. For example, a child could save 10% of his allowance each week until he has enough to buy supplies for sandwiches he could make and deliver to the local soup kitchen. A four-year-old boy in California decided to save all his allowance to buy toys for homeless children. He saved the money, went shopping for the toys and delivered them to the children himself. Turning the cash into a caring product is more meaningful to children than mailing it to a large organization.

Entrepreneurs Who Care
Kids love to make money because they like to spend it and it makes them feel like an adult. Children often ask to have a fundraiser to support a charity or a special cause. They can hold dog washes, car washes, weed pulling services, gift wrapping stands, marathons, holiday parties, children’s art sales, or recyclable collection services etc. One boy worked with his friends to gather and wash rocks. They painted faces on each one and sold them to neighbors for a dollar. They used the money to buy materials and make placemats for elderly residents in their community.

Sometimes children want to start their own little business enterprise and keep the profit. Kids have been making lemonade stands and mowing lawns for many generations. Don’t be discouraged if your child’s interests are in the profit-making industry rather than charity. Entrepreneurial adventures can give them a chance to develop math skills, learn about business, and make a social contribution. Encourage your child to sponsor a charity and donate a percentage of the profits to their charitable cause. They will learn that sponsorships are good business because customers are more likely to support a business that cares about the community.

Hidden In Plain Sight
Watch for signs of a caring nature, i.e., when your child helps you carry things from the car, when he hugs his sister without warning, or when she tries to help an injured child on the playground. Reinforce their little acts of kindness by telling them how proud you are of their behavior. Resist giving them gifts or any material objects in exchange for their good deeds. A hug and your spoken approval is better. A child likes to hear you tell another adult (dad or grandma) about his/her good deeds. This encourages them to continue to be compassionate.