Potential givers sometimes say to themselves, “Yes, we can give to this organization. But will it have true impact and will it be used wisely?”

The short answer to this question is: Go and see for yourself! Don’t just take others’ word for it. Get on-site and meet the people doing the actual work. See the children, or the recovering addicts, or whoever is being served. Touch and listen for yourself. Lower your “professional guard” and let your heart be affected by human need.

It is definitely worth a few days out of the office to make a trip and to convince yourself that your corporate giving is making a real difference in people’s lives. Any organization worth your trust will likely be more than happy to host you.

This means you’ll probably want to limit your giving to a reasonable number of recipients whom you can track over time. Read their reports, analyze their numbers, ask questions about what you don’t understand—and make the effort to see with your own eyes the programs in action. Then you’ll truly know what your gifts are accomplishing.

B4B is a mission-based concept and the bottom line refers more to the human element than the financial. As the sign on Albert Einstein’s office door used to say, “Not everything that counts can be counted. And not everything that can be counted counts.” Listen to your heart as well as your calculator to see if God is indeed at work in that setting.

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