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WHY YOU HAVE TO LEARN TO RECEIVE A MUCH AS TO GIVE

By | GORDON CURTIS

We are taught from an early age about the importance of giving. But receiving has equal importance. Without receiving, there is no giving.

Without receiving there is no giving – and vice versa

Author, coach and philanthropist Tony Robbins said that you should “Give more than you expect to receive.” Both are part of a flow of energy that creates a cycle driven by its own momentum – the more you give, the more you receive. The more you receive, the more you have to give.

Philanthropy on an industrial scale

There is a reason why so many wealthy and successful business people concentrate so heavily on philanthropy. The great industrialists of the Industrial Revolution such as Sir Titus Salt created entire communities around their factories, providing housing, amenities, a complete way of life for those who worked in his textile mills.

Salt built his village of Saltaire in 1851, and made it an attractive place to live, with good quality housing, wash houses with clean, running water, a hospital, school, park and recreational facilities. By giving back to his workers, he created vast wealth. Today, Saltaire is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Charity and business

Charity and business continue to be constant companions in the commercial world. While there is plenty of evidence that highlights the genuine desire for many successful entrepreneurs to give back to those who are disadvantaged – often in areas that may have affected themselves in earlier years – there are also tax advantages to incorporating a charitable policy in your annual planning.

Making a donation as a limited company gives you the opportunity to get tax breaks on your corporation tax. It can also provide some solid opportunities for publicity, placing your organisation at the forefront of generosity, and fulfils a significant part of your corporate social responsibility, where you are seeking to make the world a better place over and above your own organisation’s remit.

While the motivation to give to charity as a business is philanthropic, there is also a financial incentive, both in terms of increasing sales and reducing the tax burden. Which brings us onto another area in which giving and receiving are intricately entwined, but in a way that is slightly more esoteric.

Charity and religion

Giving as part of a religion is likely to be considered a one way act of generosity. Caring for others in all religions is enshrined in doctrines that have been taught down the generations. Doing good works with no expectation of receiving any kind of financial reward (or indeed reward of any kind) in fundamental to the act of a pure soul.

And that is exactly why giving as part of a charitable act is actually no different to giving in any other way. Because the reward that you get is one that you can expect in the after life – it helps you cleanse yourself of wrongdoings, reset any evil acts.

In Islam, for example, the act of giving to charity, known as Zakat, is one of its five pillars. Giving to the needy and poor is considered a vital part of being a true Muslim, and as a result it is built into the religion as a whole. Every year Muslims use a Zakat calculator to work out what they need to donate based on their personal wealth, or nisab – officially 2.5 per cent. By giving, they are fulfilling the doctrine that wealth is nothing in the eyes of God, and that by giving back they are sharing that gift of wealth.

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