You’re Already a Philanthropist
Does it feel a little strange to be called a philanthropist? For a lot of people it does.
We tend to brush the label off, assuming it belongs to someone else, someone with more money, more foundations, more everything.
But that assumption leaves out so much of how people have always cared for one another and invested in their communities.
In a conversation with Kyle S. King on the Contagious Culture Podcast, I shared one of my favorite ways to broaden the idea of philanthropy: the Five Ts. The framework reminds us that money matters, but it is not the only resource we have to offer. Our time, skills, relationships, and voices can be just as meaningful.
And most of us have more than one of these resources to give.
The Five Ts of Philanthropy
Time
Time can include volunteering, mentoring, serving on a board, helping at an event, attending community meetings, or simply showing up consistently.
Giving time often creates something money alone cannot: relationships, trust, and a closer understanding of what people and organizations actually need.
For more than eight years, I have been volunteering with my daughter’s parent-school association because building community is one of my core values, and with others, we want to help students and families to feel welcomed, included, and connected at school.
2.Talent
Talent is what we know how to do and what we have learned through our work, lives, and experiences.
An attorney might help a nonprofit think through a legal question. A communications professional might help an organization tell its story. Someone with financial expertise might serve on a finance committee. A retired business owner might bring years of leadership, technology, or operational knowledge to an organization that could never afford that expertise on its own.
I recently spoke with someone who had sold his IT company and was thinking about how to use his time while considering what might come next. He realized that the experience and skills he had built over his career could be valuable to organizations that may not otherwise have access to that expertise. Giving his time became a meaningful way to contribute while also exploring his own next chapter.
Nonprofits are often asked to do more with less, especially in areas such as technology, communications, strategy, and operations. Sharing talent can help strengthen the organization itself, not only the programs it delivers.
3. Treasure
Treasure is the financial resource most often associated with philanthropy, and it is essential. Nonprofits need reliable funding to pay staff, deliver programs, respond to changing needs, and plan beyond the next grant cycle.
Treasure can take many forms: a direct gift, a grant from a donor advised fund or private foundation, a contribution to a giving circle, a planned gift, a recoverable grant, or another form of charitable or impact capital.
The amount matters less than whether the gift is thoughtful, useful, and aligned with both the donor’s values and the organization’s needs. Sometimes that means unrestricted support. Sometimes it means a multi-year commitment. Sometimes it means giving sooner rather than waiting for a perfect plan.
4. Ties
Ties are the relationships and connections we can open on behalf of an organization or community.
This might mean introducing a nonprofit leader to a potential funder, board member, advisor, partner, or media contact. It could mean inviting someone to an event, sharing an organization’s work with a colleague, or helping a leader reach a room they could not easily access on their own.
Ties are one of the most valuable and underused forms of donor support. A thoughtful introduction can sometimes be as transformational as a financial contribution, particularly when it leads to a long-term relationship or creates access that did not exist before.
5. Testimony
Testimony is how we use our voices.
We can speak about an issue, advocate for change, share what we are learning, amplify community leaders, and encourage others to pay attention or become involved.
Using our voice does not mean positioning ourselves as the expert. Often, the most useful thing we can do is direct attention toward the people closest to an issue and help their knowledge reach a wider audience.
A Sixth T: Truth
Many advisors and practitioners in the sector have started adding a sixth T: Truth.
Truth asks us to listen, be honest about what we do not know, understand the history surrounding an issue, and consider whether our everyday choices align with the social impact values we say we hold.
For me, this is what keeps philanthropy from becoming only an act of giving. It asks us to think about how we show up, whose knowledge we value, and whether we are willing to change our assumptions when communities tell us something different.
Truth requires humility. It reminds us that meaningful impact usually starts with listening.
Black Philanthropy Has Always Reflected All of the Ts
Black Philanthropy Month, which we celebrate this August, is a timely reminder that philanthropy has never been limited to wealthy individuals making large, public gifts.
Black communities have long practiced philanthropy through tithing, mutual aid, collective giving, caregiving, advocacy, volunteerism, and simply making sure neighbors and family members had what they needed. These traditions were not always labeled philanthropy, but they were acts of generosity, responsibility, and community care all the same.
That history matters because it expands who we recognize as a philanthropist. It also reminds us that some of the most meaningful giving happens quietly, through relationships and shared responsibility, without formal institutions or public recognition.
Most of Us Have More to Offer Than We Realize
Most people have more than one of the Six Ts available to them.
Someone may not be able to make a large donation, but they may have deep professional knowledge, trusted community relationships, or time to contribute. Someone who gives financially may also be able to make an introduction, advocate for an issue, mentor a nonprofit leader, or invite family members into the work.
This broader definition does not make financial giving less important because we know it matters. It helps us see that meaningful change often happens when several kinds of resources come together.
I also appreciate how Philanthropy Together has taken the Five Ts beyond a framework and helped people actually use them through giving circles and collective giving. Their work shows what becomes possible when people bring different resources to the table and act together.
At COR Philanthropic Strategies, we believe philanthropy is about using what we have, including our time, talent, treasure, ties, testimony, and truth, in ways that are thoughtful, values-aligned, and genuinely useful to the communities we care about.
That means nearly all of us have the capacity to be philanthropists.
The more meaningful question may be: How will we use what we have?
Listen to the Conversation
In Episode 193 of the Contagious Culture Podcast, Kyle S. King and I talk about the Five Ts, trust-based giving, community-centered philanthropy, and why meaningful impact begins with listening.
Listen to “Beyond Giving: Building Philanthropy That Actually Moves Resources.”
https://contagiousculturepodcast.podbean.com/e/jaimi-cortes/