GlobalGiving’s Chris Garrity reflects on a year of transformational giving, highlighting the power of giving around the world.
Looking back on this year, I’ve found myself reflecting on the moments that truly moved me—those times when I witnessed the power of giving to create real change. As a Senior Strategic Giving Associate at GlobalGiving, I’m fortunate to partner with donors and wealth advisors to help make this impact possible, connecting them with community-led organizations around the world.
This year, I’ve been especially inspired by the ways we’ve been able to guide donors toward giving that is both meaningful and transformative. From helping a donor make a life-changing contribution directly from their IRA, to quickly mobilizing funds in the wake of a disaster, or finding the perfect nonprofit for a donor’s specific passion—the connections we’ve helped facilitate have been deeply rewarding.
Each of these moments reminds me why I’m so passionate about what I do, and how giving truly has the power to change lives. I wanted to share a few of those and how they’ve influenced the way I approach my work:
One of the most rewarding parts of my job has been helping donors realize the impact they can make by giving directly from their IRA. I remember one donor in particular who was aware that IRA donations were possible but had no idea how to make them happen. As we walked through the process together, I explained that GlobalGiving could facilitate their qualified charitable distribution (QCD) to a GlobalGiving nonprofit partner that they had already been supporting for a number of years.
You see, facilitating gifts from IRAs is a game-changer for both nonprofits and donors. It’s one thing to make a donation through a credit card or check, but when donors can make a significant contribution from their retirement funds, the impact is truly transformative for both parties.
After donors learn about how easy the QCD process can be through GlobalGiving, they are able to make even more substantial, meaningful gifts to the nonprofits they care about. The partners receiving these donations can then put their transformative support funds to immediate use.
This year, I’ve been deeply involved in disaster response efforts, working closely with concerned donors determined to support communities in the wake of disasters. And the disasters have been many—from cities flooded by storms in the U.S. and Spain to new declarations of famine and escalating violence from conflicts both recent and more ongoing.
While these disasters didn’t always receive the media coverage or humanitarian support they needed, the donors I worked with understood the importance of responding quickly and effectively. It’s one of the most rewarding aspects of my role. Through GlobalGiving’s Disaster Response Funds, we quickly connected our network of nonprofit partners responding on the ground with people ready and willing to help.
These crises are ongoing, but the knowledge that donors’ contributions are making a real difference for families in immediate need, and communities on the long road to recovery, is the fuel that drives our continued efforts. Every donation is a lifeline, and seeing the impact of that support in real-time motivates us to keep responding with full commitment to the demands of our times.
As someone with a bachelor’s degree in ecology and a deep love of the natural world (cemented during my term in the Nevada Conservation Corps), working with a fellow environmentalist to support Rainforest Rescue was especially meaningful to me this year. Protecting rainforests is an issue close to my heart because of their crucial role in maintaining biodiversity (where would the world be without the southern cassowary), combating climate change, and sustaining Indigenous communities.
Rainforest Rescue’s work is vital to protecting some of the most biodiverse and oldest ecosystems on Earth. In fact, the Daintree Lowland Rainforest is widely acknowledged as the oldest tropical rainforest in the world—thriving for 185 million years. I was honored to help facilitate this impactful contribution.
What makes this experience so powerful is that it exemplifies the bridge I strive to build every day between passionate donors and our community of change-making leaders doing this work on the ground.
By connecting people to like-minded nonprofits working tirelessly on causes they care about, I’m able to channel that shared sense of responsibility into meaningful, practical action—and I’m not sure it gets much better than that!
Looking back on this year, the incredible power of connection is everywhere—it exists between donors and the causes they care about, between organizations like GlobalGiving and wealth advisors who can effectively bridge resources from individuals to the communities they care about, and between our shared responsibility to care for the world around us.
Whether it’s through disaster response, environmental preservation, or transformative gifts from retirement funds, every action matters. As I continue to guide donors toward impactful, meaningful giving, I’m continually inspired by the difference we can make when we come together with purpose and passion.
By building these bridges, we ensure that generosity is a lasting, transformative force for good. Let’s keep building together.
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