With so many worthy causes and organizations, how do you choose where to invest your time, talent and treasure? This was the topic of a LEAD San Diego EMBARK workshop whereby Patricia S. Sinay, principal at Community Investment Strategies, spoke about connecting passion with action. To do this, individuals need to understand the issues and causes that most resonate with them. For many, connections with causes stem from personal life experiences – and that’s a great place to start. It’s that real, live, deep-within passion where your service or charitable giving/actions should be rooted.

Sinay started the day by asking us to fill in the blank. I am a __________________. EMBARK participants weren’t given much direction other than that, prompting some soul searching. Answers ranged from “mom” to “adventurer.” We were then asked to select our top three answers that were most relevant to each of us. The exercise was designed to help us more clearly identify the communities in which we belong. From this identification, we started the process of further thinking through how we can turn our passion into actions that help our communities. It was a worthwhile exercise. But perhaps the most valuable tool offered that day was a simple survey from The Legacy Group, Inc. By filling in the blanks of the survey, you end up with your personal giving mission statement – it doesn’t get any easier than that. The group offers the tool online, so I thought I’d share it here. Check it out to help uncover your personal giving mission statement (PDF).

EMBARK San Diego helps participants develop and hone skill sets in the areas of leadership development. Participants engage in a personalized leadership assessment diagnostic, dynamic team-building experiences and learn the art of building a professional network, among other skills. For more on EMBARK and other LEAD programs, visit leadsandiego.org.