How to Keep Your Pledge (5)
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How to Keep Your Pledge (5)


You’ve taken the pledge. You’re going to give a percentage of your income to effective charities working to save and improve the lives of those living in extreme poverty. Nicely done! 

But now what?

Three and a half years ago, I took the same public pledge. Keeping it has been easier than I thought it would be, thanks to some tips and tricks I picked up along the way. Every week, I’ll be sharing a strategy that worked for me or another fellow pledger.  

If you have a giving strategy that you’d like to share on this blog, email it to info@thelifeyoucansave.org.

 

Strategy 5:  Advertise to yourself

Everyday we are surrounded by advertisements trying to influence how we spend our money, but only a tiny fraction of that messaging encourages us to give money to help others. Most charities can’t afford to reach you through advertising like for-profit businesses can. So help them out by putting charitable messages where you’ll see them. Post info about your favorite charity on your refrigerator. Hang a picture of the people you’re helping by your front door. Keep a charitable message in your wallet, right along-side your credit cards. Set your home page to The Life You Can Save, your chosen charity’s website, or a news feed about the area of the world benefiting from your pledge. Sign up for charity newsletters, follow Twitter feeds that inspire you to give, friend other pledgers on Facebook. However you do it, surround yourself with messages that will keep your pledge front-and-center throughout your day. These little reminders will keep you motivated and focused on your goal to alleviate extreme poverty. Your pledge truly matters to the people who are lucky enough to be on the receiving end. Sometimes, we just need a little reminder.

 

We all handle money differently, and our relationship with money changes overtime. You know best what strategy will work for you. Mix and match the strategies on this blog, or come up with your own. Just keep giving!

Have you found a great way to keep your pledge? Share it with us!

  Claire Knowlton is President of the Board for The Life You Can Save. She lives in Los Angeles and works as an accountant and auditor of nonprofit organizations.


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About the author:

Claire Knowlton

Claire Knowlton, President of the Board for The Life You Can Save, is an independent auditor of not-for-profit organizations in the United States. She shares her Los Angeles apartment with a physicist, a fluffy cat, and a window garden.

The views expressed in blog posts are those of the author, and not necessarily those of Peter Singer or The Life You Can Save.