NO APPLAUSE, NO JEERS

Article by

KAYSOON KHOO

The next time you wish to pass the hat round for a deserving cause, try this method. It makes everyone feel good about giving. It also ensures that no donor will suffer any embarrassment, however small the amount he can afford, or is willing, to give. And if any decide not to give at all, no one will be the wiser for it.

This is how it's done. Have a sealed donation box placed in an adjoining room. Let all who are requested to donate step inside that room, one at a time. Each person who goes into the room may drop any amount she likes, or can afford, into the box with the certain knowledge that no one will be aware of how much she is giving. If she opts to put in nothing, that too is her personal choice.

This is a most effective way of putting into practice what that great teacher once taught us about not letting the left hand know what the right hand does.

The large donor will receive no recognition and will have no cause for pride. When the donation box is opened, there'll be no way to ascertain the size of any single donation. The only reward that awaits the generous giver is the experience of the joy of giving.

At this juncture we should also remind ourselves that it is not the amount of a donation that counts. It is the percentage of the donor's resources that he gives away which marks his generosity.

There are some who are capable of "giving until it hurts", to coin a popular phrase. If you are one of those who possess such bigness of heart, then you truly understand the spirit of giving.