The Greater Madison area is filled with generosity. We are fortunate to live in a region where so many individuals and organizations support a wide array of worthy causes — from health and education to housing, the arts and the environment.

And yet, as the population grows, so does the need. Unfortunately, current giving trends aren’t keeping pace. That’s a challenge we can’t afford to ignore.

At the Dan and Patti Rashke (TASC) Family Foundation, we strive to be strategic and innovative with our philanthropy. Successful giving should catalyze others to follow suit, amplifying and magnifying the donation in service to solving community challenges. Giving can be contagious.

We’re fortunate to be able to share our time, talents and resources with a range of nonprofits. But we want to do more. In addition to our own giving, we want to inspire others to give (or give more) whether that’s time, money or both. We want to create a community of everyday philanthropists who give what they can. Because philanthropy is not the size of the check. It literally means goodwill to fellow humans.

We’re hopeful that a recent commitment we’ve made to the United Way of Dane County will energize everyday philanthropists across the region.

A gift to amplify giving

We’ve made a 10-year commitment to cover United Way’s administrative and fundraising overhead costs associated with all individual, undesignated donations made to the organization. What does this mean? When you, or your employees, or your neighbors, contribute to address Dane County’s greatest needs through undesignated giving, 100% of that donation goes into service. We’re taking care of the administrative costs. Essentially, we’re adding fourteen cents to every dollar donated.

Why the workplace matters

We approach our partnerships with nonprofits in the same way we run a business. Any healthy organization — nonprofit or for-profit — needs top-line revenue. For nonprofits, that revenue comes from donations, grants and fundraising. Without it, they can’t do the critical work our communities rely on.

Taking that business analogy one step further, let’s talk about our target audience.

Of course we want to encourage everybody to give. But for long-term sustainability, we need to reach a younger audience of everyday philanthropists. And the ideal place to find them is in the workplace — in your workplace.

That’s why United Way’s workplace giving campaign is so important. It makes giving easy. Employees can give directly or through payroll deductions — no friction, no delay. That’s how everyday giving becomes a habit.

By setting an example, as a leader at your company, you can be a catalyst to giving as your team members see you stepping up to the plate.

Breaking down barriers

We could have just written a check to United Way. But that wasn’t our goal. Our goal is to inspire giving.

We want business leaders to increase their donations; we want existing donors to make sure their gifts serve the greatest good by making them undesignated. And, importantly, we want to break down some of the barriers that keep people from giving.

Anecdotally, we know some donors have an aversion to administrative costs or overhead, even though they may logically understand that nonprofits need to be well-run with a professional and able staff.

At United Way of Dane County, the administrative rate is just 14% — low by industry standards and a sign of smart, efficient operations. But we know that for some donors, even a small overhead can feel like a hurdle. So, we decided to remove it.

Our hope is that the nature and structure of our gift will address that barrier to giving, resulting in additional donors and creating more top-line revenue.

Beyond social responsibility

With roots in Dane County that go back nearly four decades, we feel strongly about doing all we can to make Dane County a great place to live for all. We’ve built a business and raised a family here and feel a responsibility to strengthen the community that has given so much to us.

But it goes beyond a simple sense of responsibility.

Over the years we’ve studied the impact of giving, and what the research shows is compelling: generosity makes people happier.

A Harvard Business School study calls it “pro-social giving.” We just think it’s smart.

Happiness leads to productivity which, in turn, strengthens communities and economies.

Leaning into trust-based philanthropy

Our gift is also aligned with the principles of trust-based philanthropy. By incenting unrestricted gifts, we’re putting dollars in the hands of people who know what they’re doing.

We’ve long admired the way United Way integrates efforts across sectors, bringing together nonprofits, businesses and public agencies. They don’t work in isolation; they build coalitions that solve big problems. By convening diverse stakeholders, we know that United Way is drawing on expertise that any one agency alone might not have.

We trust they are doing the hard work to understand the issues and serve the community, and they’ve proven their approach can drive outcomes that change lives.

A vision for the future

In talking to some area business leaders, we’ve been a little tongue-in-cheek telling them to “make the Rashkes pay.” It’s a bit of a challenge — if they donate more, we pay more. That’s the way this gift works.

But beyond writing a bigger check than we originally planned, we’re hoping three things come out of this gift:

1. Getting others to think more strategically and innovatively about giving:The challenge I have for my peer business leaders is to always ask, “How is this gift I am about to give going to catalyze additional giving?” or “Is there more I could do to inspire the generosity of others – to create more everyday philanthropists?”

2. Scalable innovation:There are nearly 1,000 United Way chapters across the United States doing the work and getting results. There is no reason a corporate, foundation or individual donor can’t pick up this mantle and replicate what we’ve done here. Madison could be the petri dish from which this concept scales. Likewise, right here in Dane County, there are important administrative costs at United Way or other agencies that could be covered by a donor, freeing more dollars up for service and breaking down a barrier to giving.

3. A culture of everyday philanthropy. We’re challenging leadership givers to increase their donation but at the same time, we’re creating space for new donors at any level — $10 to $100,000 — to participate with greater confidence and impact. By eliminating barriers, we want more people to experience the joy and satisfaction that comes from helping others. And when that happens, we believe it will fuel a flywheel of sustained, long-term generosity.

Strategic philanthropy is how we’ll move from meeting needs to solving complex problems, and we’re looking forward to partnering across public and private agencies and with other philanthropists to do that. And we’re just getting started.

Dan and Patti Rashke are owners of TASC, where Dan served until recently as CEO. They are the founders of the Dan and Patti Rashke (TASC) Family Foundation, where Patti serves as president.