Day 51: A Season of Giving

 Danny Clinch

The holiday season is upon us, and with it is the flurry of shopping and buying gifts for family and friends.  And while we may be concerned with our own agenda, it is also a time to remember that there are many people who have needs, not just wants.  Needs for food, clothing, and shelter.  Needs for finding a cure to their disease.  Needs for clean water.  Needs for safety.  Needs for hope.

I'm sure everywhere you look this season, you will see people asking for money to support a cause.  Consider giving.  Open your wallet and share out of your abundance to help those without.  One such opportunity is in conjunction with a fabulous musical experience.  Dave Matthews is asking fans, when they buy a ticket to his shows on December 6 and 7, to pick a charity that the full price of their ticket will benefit.  Here is the Seattle Times article.

"Musician Dave Matthews is testing a new idea in Seattle that he hopes will inspire more giving across the country.

In unique partnership with the website JustGive, Matthews is letting fans direct the proceeds of two upcoming Seattle shows to the charities of their choice. Every ticket is matched with an equal donation to philanthropy.

"The point is the act of giving and making the process available," he said in an interview. "I think it may make people feel a certain amount of power to see the ease of how you can give."

For each ticket sold, the buyer will receive a credit back for the full $150 ticket and handling price to apply to any of the 1.5 million charities in JustGive's database.

Matthews, who has performed benefits for causes ranging from Hurricane Katrina and Haiti earthquake relief, family farmers and Tibet, estimates the events will raise a million dollars over two nights. He and Tim Reynolds will play at McCaw Hall on Dec. 6 and 7.

The event is an example of new ways philanthropy is being shaped by the Web and moving from a model of fewer, large donors to one that engages many more individuals.

Matthews, 43, said he and his manager, Coran Capshaw, were thinking about how to inspire giving a few months ago when they came up with the idea.

"If I was to do a concert for one organization or another, there are a few people who might have reasons, political or social, why they don't want to support that," Matthews said. "That might discourage them from going to the concert." 

Concert goers will have a few weeks after the show to decide where to donate, Capshaw said, and any money that isn't allocated will be distributed among the charities already chosen by other fans.

Asked whether too many choices might dilute the money's impact, Matthews said even small amounts could make a difference.

"If $1,000 goes to a small SPCA, that makes a big difference," he said. "If a small community garden gets $150, that's a lot."

He said the exercise also reflects his faith in human nature.

"I think inherent in all of us is a natural concern for one another, for our neighbors," he said. When organizations serving good causes need help more than ever, "it really falls on us."

After trying out the concept in Seattle and seeing how it works, Matthews and Capshaw are hoping to expand it nationally with a festival or tour and get other bands involved."

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