Proactive vs Reactive Giving: Sustainable Support for Stomping Ground
Below you will find an incredibly thoughtful and insightful look into our monthly giving option, the Flying Squirrel Club. Molly Dennig is a long time friend of Stomping Ground. She worked for camp in the summer of 2018, and has since been an avid mentor, donor, and friend. Molly offered us invaluable feedback in building this initiative, and we are grateful to have her support in making camp possible. - Ray
Molly (top right) leading her village in a cheer and being, as always, so amazing
I’m obsessed with Stomping Ground, as I’m sure most of you reading this are. It’s an organization that I honestly believe could save the world. The more kids exposed to camp’s philosophy of radical empathy, the better! Plain and simple! You have my vote! Laura for president!
Because I am so obsessed with this organization (and its leaders), I want to support it any way I can. And there are plenty of ways to support Stomping Ground! You can share their posts on social media, send your kids to camp, pass along the word to other families, volunteer your time or talents, and if you have the means, you can donate monetarily.
Molly worked at camp in 2018 as a cabin counselor.
I’m a full time web designer on the other side of the country, I don’t have kids, and most of my network is pretty far removed from the camp world. So when it comes to how I choose to support camp, I donate! In the past, I’ve sent some money on Day of Giving, or at the beginning of summer (That makes sense right? They only need money for summer, right?) but I came to realize something recently. If I want Stomping Ground to keep doing what they’re doing, and create amazing programming all year round (hello, Hometown Stomping Ground!) that means I should contribute to them on a regular basis.
I think of this as being proactive with my giving, rather than reactive.
Reactive giving happens when Stomping Ground asks for donations. When they get to a point where they are actively seeking money, it means that in some way or another, they don’t have what they need, and it’s up to their donors to react to that need.
Proactive giving ideally makes it so that they don’t have to ask, because they are being supported already. Having regular donations means they can plan ahead, and make more strategic decisions about their spending.
Molly also took time to volunteer for our virtual camp this past summer!
In super relatable terms, this is like when your best friend or partner does something really nice for you, without you having to ask. And let’s be real, isn’t it annoying when you DO have to ask?! Shouldn’t they just know?! I want to be Stomping Ground’s BFF who buys them gifts for no good reason, other than I love them.
So this could look like dividing up your regular, yearly donation into smaller recurring chunks, to keep them supported all year round. Or it could look like making a mini financial giving plan for yourself. For transparency’s sake, here’s mine:
Last year, I made a one time donation in the amount it costs to send one kid to camp, roughly $700. For me, that was a lot for one payment…it felt like I paid rent twice that month. But I LOVED the fact that I could make such a meaningful, direct impact. One whole kid! So this year, I thought it would be really cool to be able to donate a thousand dollars to SG. But I know that a large, one time donation isn’t realistic for me. So I thought, could I swing $100 a month? Meaning by the end of the year, I could give over $1000! After looking at how I spend my money, and how I’d like to be spending it, I determined $100 a month is doable for me. Next time I went to donate, I selected the ‘recurring’ option. Done!
Hot tip: If there are multiple organizations you want to support-- make a separate savings account just for donations. Then you can set up automatic transfers from your normal checking account, and have the recurring donations come from your new account. Fancy!
I urge you to find what is doable for you. Is it $10 a month? $50? Giving $50 monthly means $600 over the course of a year, and that is AWESOME (Jack was a Math Minor, he’ll fact check me on this). Small gifts make a huge difference. And trust me, Stomping Ground makes it worth it. Honestly, the best part is that I get thank you notes from Klee and Ray in the mail every now and then, and it brightens my day <3
