Giving back to society can be as easy as clicking the “Donate Now” button on a website or rounding up a total when paying a bill. However, for those who have significant resources to give, identifying and articulating a reason for giving is the first step to defining a philanthropic plan of action that will have maximum impact.

Many donors come to philanthropy already knowing the issue or issues they care about. This might include addressing climate change, funding education reform, or helping combat type 2 diabetes. Even with this clarity, though, your first step in creating a solid strategy is defining your focus even further.

Understanding a problem informs how you address it. This means clarifying motivations, framing the big issues that relate to those motivations, narrowing the focus and listing the outcomes you want to see.

For those striving to make a meaningful impact, examining the basis of your desire to become a philanthropist is a good idea. Whatever your motivations, the ideas you generate will be useful touchstones to return to when making decisions about your philanthropy. Those decisions can be anything from organizational structure, focus areas and how you approach collaboration, to strategy, governance models and the selection of grantee partners.

This chapter will examine why it’s important to understand the motivations behind your philanthropy, explore some popular motivations, and highlight some of the decisions that stem from these motivations.

Exploring and understanding your motivations can impact your focus, your priorities and your commitment. This may seem an unnecessary delay, particularly if you are eager to get started on your philanthropy, but those who understand why they are engaging in philanthropy tend to feel more satisfied and confident with the decisions they make.

  • Focus: the more self-aware you are, the more focused you will be in your philanthropy. When you understand your motivations, you can assess whether your choices and decisions are aligned with them.
  • Priorities: successful philanthropy takes time, energy and commitment. If you know why you are engaging in philanthropy, you can figure out how to best integrate it into your life so that it feels satisfying, meaningful and rewarding.

Some motivations may be inconsistent or even seem mutually exclusive, so clearly articulating them can help you balance various priorities within your philanthropic programs. For instance, if one of your motivations is responding to funding requests from friends and family, you may intentionally set aside some of your giving for causes that may not further your vision.

In such instances, exploring your motivation can help you set parameters on which requests you will consider and how much you will allocate to these requests. Being intentional about how you handle those requests can bring more joy through that generosity, or at least give you a method to navigating such requests.

  • Dedication: clarity of vision and the clear understanding of your motivations can also help you to choose a strategy, as well as issues and grantees that will hold your attention. Real, lasting impact often takes a long time, and one must be aware that disruptive forces can create unforeseen conditions that need to be addressed and supported.

Read the full PDF from Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.