If money is the hardest thing to talk about in  families, like me, you may jump for joy when you hear of resources that take the sting out of that tough topic. Why not start with how generosity could look in your family? 

Generational Generosity 

Generosity is a natural gift in all humans, according to expert, Dawn Franks. If so, the next question is how do we cultivate generosity in our family? Dawn, President and CEO of Your Philanthropyhad a lot to say about how generosity on a recent episode ofFireside Talk Radio. In fact, she says generosity can be passed down from one generation to the next.

Gifting Appaloosas

Dawn credits her grandfather for one of her earliest memories of what it means to be generous. He raised Appaloosa horses, when he wasn’t conducting trains for the Cotton Belt Railway. With a core group of young people who helped him, he modeled dedication. 

“Three of those individuals grew to be so close to my grandfather that he actually gifted them a horse. I watched him give these young adults their horses as they went off to college. They took (the horses) with them to college,” Dawn says. 

She adds it was an incredible act of generosity on her grandfather’s part because “we’re not talking about a family with a lot of resources.” It would be years before she fully appreciated all that it meant to those young people or to her grandparents. Even so, the lesson was not lost on the little granddaughter.

Giving Fingerprints: Maximize Your Impact on the Causes Closest to Your Heart

You know how I love free stuff. So, guess what? Dawn's new book, Giving Fingerprints, is now available at Your Philanthropy and yep, it's free!! One of my favorite things about Dawn: her ideas are always practical. Just like her new book, Giving Fingerprints. In it, Dawn mentions 6 ways a unique brand of giving can help you. Your giving brand can:

#1 Impact your career,

#2 Help position your business,

#3 Strengthen family relationships,

#4 Start new friendships,

#5 Deepen your understanding of community, and

#6 Help you become an expert in specific areas you care deeply about.

Getting Started is Easy

Do those reasons pique your curiosity about your own giving brand? If so, it’s easy to get started. In Dawn’s new book, she spells out a simple step-by-step process to identify the values you most treasure when giving. In 30 minutes or less, you can know the values that are your own personal giving fingerprints.

“We all have a place in our hearts where we know this gift is the one that shoots off the fireworks,” she laughs when asked about recognizing the values that matter most. She loves it when families do the worksheets in her book together, as my own family has done. “When you ask them to identify the values that matter to them, there are always words that are similar and words that are different.”

Conversational Adventure for the Whole Family

By getting the family talking in such a nonthreatening way, each person makes a significant contribution to the conversation. Differences can be explored and esteemed. Plus, helping folks know what they value when giving has a way of boosting confidence, according to Dawn. Of course, confidence and collaboration are values we all want in our families. 

Just like a small child who brings a dandelion in for mom, we can all get back in touch with our natural generosity, that way of giving that gives us joy. 

“Joy is almost impossible to describe,” says Dawn, yet the word has an innate meaning, Our heart recognizes when we give in the way that makes our heart happy.

May I pray for you?

Heavenly Father, You are so different from any earthly father that we must recognize Your generosity is beyond our comprehension. For those whose earthly families enjoyed generous hearts growing up, we thank You. Others may wish to do something different from what they experienced growing up, so we ask for Your guidance now. How does it look to give joyfully, the way You give? Sacrifice is not our favorite word. We need Your help, O Lord. Open our eyes today to the ways You bless us. We want to be grateful, responsive people. Let us be people who pass along blessings as we go about our day. In Jesus name. Amen.

We love hearing from YOU!!

Who inspired your generous heart? What story do you treasure about generosity? In your family, which things seem to be working to pass generosity on to another generation?

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Cathy Krafve, Columnist, Speaker, Blogger, Podcaster, and Christian Writer, invites your stories, ideas, and questions at CathyKrafve.com. Truth with a Texas Twang.