This book adds volume (depth x breadth x height) to an important component of charitable work, and in fact human life - Giving. I am 100% sold about this book, not because its author is a brilliant politician, and a VIP among his peers, but because the book does address a real problem in a creative and implementable way. The problem is that we all know that there are people out there who are far worse off than we are for whatever reason(s) - real or imagined. We also know that we can, and often are willing to, help. However, some of us may not know how we can help, and most of us think we do not have the means to make a significant impact. This book dispels that self-depreciation - I like it! Even more I love the reason why Clinton wrote the book, as well as its potential impact on the non-profit
sector worldwide. While it sounds reasonable, even trivial to understand, that those who were blessed with the gift of receiving should in turn spread the
message of giving, only infrequently does one hear from the people who actually do give.
Giving tells the collective story of those people. Following the introductory chapter, the first four
chapters provide an excellent guide to different kinds of giving: giving money, time, stuff, and skills. The four chapters describe what
gifts can do and what some gifts have become. Gifts can facilitate peace and reconciliation, and investment in "social entrepreneurship". Some gifts become self-propagating, and still others become replicable. In these cases, the size of a gift truly does not matter. Qualitatively (relatively) the last dollar spent from the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation has the same marginal impacts on a starving orphan in Mozambique as a similar dollar from a six-year-old''s lemonade stand. The last chapter summarizes how much we all can give, but elsewhere the book provides ample and actionable evidence in that regard. My family and I have been donating to Heifer International every Christmas time for many years. We are excited to learn about Kiva.org, eBayGivingWorks, GlobalGiving.com, and a few other charities we can contribute to with what we already have. Positively impressed. The last three chapters deal with voluntary actions that have and can still more raise the efficiency and effectiveness of the not-for-profit sector. These include what individuals and organizations can do to make private markets more responsive to the production and delivery of public goods, what the nonprofit sector can do to foster for-profit activities for mutual benefits, and the role of government in this entire thing. The message of this book is loud and clear. I recommend this book as a supplementary textbook for ANY high school and college course. The stories Clinton tells involve people of all races, genders, backgrounds, and professions.
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