“No man becomes rich unless he enriches others.” — Andrew Carnegie, at one time the riches man in the world.
In order to get, you must first give.
It is one of the universal laws of success and that law has never changed. In order to succeed , you must first give value to others.
One of the statistics from my Rich Habits Study caught me by surprise – 79% of the self-made millionaires in my study devoted five hours or more a month to some charity.
When I continued to peel that onion, I learned that many of the individuals who run non-profits or charities happen to be wealthy, successful people.
Coincidence?
I think, not.
It just so happens that wealthy, successful people become wealthy and successful, in large part, because they make a habit of giving. This desire to help others was a common thread among 79% of the self-made millionaires in my Rich Habits Study.
So, naturally, local, community-based charities and non-profits are awash in wealthy, successful people.
Birds of a feather, it seems, really do like to flock together.
Wealthy people have many relationships with other wealthy, powerful people. With one phone they can open up doors that are closed to ordinary people.
If you are not rich but want to become rich, one Rich Habit is to find out where the rich people are and start building relationships with them.
And you’ll find many of them sitting on boards of local charities, because birds of a feather, flock together.
About Thomas C. Corley
I’d like to share my personal experience with non-profits and fundraising groups. We asked for assistance from United Way, American Heart Association, St. Charles Medical Center. We were told that they only give to non-profit organizations, not individuals. So they did not assist us. Sparrow clubs required a medical release from a doctor which we could not get because we had an unpaid bill at the clinic and the doctor would not see us until it was paid. Sparrow clubs didn’t offer an alternative form of verification such as proof of hospitalizations. So they disqualified us.
My experience is the money is not paid to individuals but rather an occasional recipients bill or a planned donation to an organization (probably their friend), so I can understand why the board members would be wealthy. The money raised to help people in need is kept in the organization and they earn interest on it and are paid by it. I don’t believe its about generosity.
I am President of the Ashley Lauren Foundation and we have to work very hard to raise $ every year in order to help families struggling with Pediatric cancer survive financially. So, the money we raise is not “kept in the organization” to earn interest. Our board is made up of very successful people, who are generous with their time and their money. What you have is a bad personal experience with some non-profits that has obviously tainted your view of ALL non-profits.