20 Creative Ideas for Giving as Family

Ideas for Giving with Young Kids (11 and under)

When your family has young children, this can be a critical phase to begin introducing the concepts of generosity and its purpose. Look for opportunities that bring consistency to how and why you give, so they can make those mental connections. Consider how you can introduce opportunities for them to lead in areas so they feel involved.

Here are ideas for kindness acts and ideas for giving as a young family:

• Have your kids think of someone who is often unseen or forgotten about and that could use some kindness. (ie. Garbage man, nursing home, etc.) Write a note or draw a picture as a kindness act and give it to the person.
• Make a weekly challenge for your kids to give away hugs to their siblings or friends, and have them report back on it. Use this as an opportunity to teach how kindness acts can be a way to look for needs and give.
• Encourage your kids to set aside part of their allowance to give, and you can match what they give. Give them options of places to give and listen to their ideas to start modeling generosity conversations.
• Set a date and have a shopping trip to buy something together to give away. Hold a family meeting to identify who you want to shop for and why in advance.
• Make blessing bags or care kits as a family to keep in your car to give to people in need. Use this time to talk to your kids about why this matters and open their eyes to needs in the community.
• Go to the grocery store and buy supplies for your food pantry or other nonprofit in need of food supplies. Make a scavenger hunt with the list. Pray for the people receiving the food before you drop it off.
• Have a family night to make kindness coupons to get your children thinking about the opportunities they have to be kind and generous.

Ideas for Giving with Teens 12-19

As your children move to stages of exploring independence further, you can help build their interdependence and connection with the family through generosity. When they feel invited into meaningful conversations and are able to begin to lead and influence, they will be engaged. Through conversations on generosity, it also allows you the opportunity to illustrate your family values more naturally.

• Hold a family meeting to talk about a set amount of money you want to give away as a family. Ask your teens to come back with their proposals of who it should be given to and why. Use this time to talk about what you value as a family and how that should influence this process.
• Be a secret giver. Encourage them to look for a way to bless someone without them knowing. (Leave a note, take care of need anonymously, etc.)
• Do a “no-spend” challenge as a family for two weeks and give from what is saved. Have each person identify how they will participate during this time, and then hold your meeting to talk about how to give away the money.
• Encourage your teens to set personal goals to look for someone who needs the gift of time or support each week and to take one action or act of kindness. 
• Set a monthly challenge to look for the small, everyday acts of kindness and act on them. Choose a theme for the month (words of encouragement, acts of service, loving our neighbors, etc.) and set a date to come back and report on the stories.
• Create an “emergency giving fund” that any of the family can make a proposal on how to use for urgent needs that arise.
• Identify a cause, not just a nonprofit, that your family wants to invest in for a year (or amount of time you choose). Invite your teens to be part of the planning and identifying the different ways you all could make a difference for this cause.

The family meeting will be a key place for these conversations and planning, so you can find more instruction on how to craft your meeting plans here!

Ideas for Giving with Adult Children (20+)

Giving as a family can be a primary way to rebuild or reinforce connection with your adult children. Especially as life takes you in different directions, generosity provides a consistent way for you all to have regular conversations as a family and be united in a particular area. Use these family giving ideas to spur on creative ways to instill values and connection.

• Do the Benjamin challenge. Give everyone a $100 bill before the Christmas season, and ask them to give it away by the end of the year. Have everyone come back with their stories of how they gave.
• Set matched giving where one person gets to pick a cause or nonprofit, and everyone helps match their donation. Use this as a time to talk about the causes on your minds as a family. Consider having a shared family giving fund to simplify this.
• Pick a kindness act you can all participate in, even if you are geographically apart, like packing care kits or writing letters together on a Zoom call. Give everyone the opportunity to bring their ideas and test them out.
• Choose a core value as a family and identify a specific way you all want to practice this through kindness and generosity, whether one-time activity or ongoing effort. This can be a great way to initiate conversations around values and what you all want to be invested in. (Here’s a guide on building a giving plan tied to values!)
• Make celebrating life events for your family members a big deal. Go all in with what aligns best to their love languages. Practicing kindness acts towards your family first is a helpful way to begin this behavior. (Read more about family celebration types you need here!)
• Create an annual “Kindness Project” as a family, and set planning time to map what this looks like– a cause you all invest in both financially and with your time and abilities? An annual time to find a person to serve?

At this stage with your adult children, if you are just beginning to introduce these ideas of generosity, it’s important to start simple. Pick an idea, invite them into the process, and listen to their input. 

Kindness Acts Ideas Yield a Lasting Reward

While the ideas for giving as family here may feel simple, they represent significant investments towards your family’s culture. Strong families practice their values and hold regular conversations. Generosity is your easy win to get there, so carve out time to take next steps with these ideas. Test out some of these ideas for giving, find what works for you, and keep exploring new possibilities.

The true measure of success here is getting your family engaged and excited about the opportunities. There isn’t a “perfect” strategy to implement, but rather just showing up, engaging together, and growing will get you much further than waiting for the exact right thing.

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Need help finding clarity as a family when it comes to your values and finding a vision that can actually bring unity? You can build a specific, intentional foundation for your family’s success through our 7 Generation Family Legacy Study. Through 7 sessions, you will learn:

• Strategies to build understanding as a family
• How to craft your own values, vision, and mission as a family
• The plan to keep implementing and improving these ideas- for generations to come.

Learn more here: legacystone.com/families/family-legacy-study