Determine your WiserGiving Style

The Big Issues of Our Times And How I Would Solve Them!

Directions: For each topic area, pick the type of action that you think would be most valuable and effective. Pick up to 2 answers per question.

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1. The Environment

Promote family/household conservation and recycling

Increase environmental regulations so that businesses and communities are more environmentally responsible

Monitor and report water quality in streams, rivers and lakes

Organize more people to get involved in protecting our environment

Increase research to improve the efficiency of solar collectors and storage technology

Create a professional fellowship for environmental leaders to learn, network and exchange ideas

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2. K-12 Education

Fight potential de-funding of elective and advanced programs in school

Upgrade a school's information systems and computerize student records

Provide early childhood education and school-readiness programs so that more children have solid academic foundations and are armed for success in school

Promote legislation that enriches school programs

Engage parents to advocate for higher quality schools

Analyze which programs have had the most success in improving academic performance and why

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3. Low Wages/Working Poor

Increase government support for programs that help the working poor to build assets

Provide skills enhancement and entrepreneurial training programs that enable participants to earn a 'living wage'

Strengthen grassroots organizations working on poverty/low wage issues

Educate the public about the importance of living wages and rally support for skills training to promote job (and income) advancement

Quantify what a living wage is and identify ways to close the gap for various populations.

Protect benefits like worker compensation, unemployment insurance and social security

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4. Affordable Healthcare

Develop a white paper that builds the case that affordable, quality healthcare is a basic right, not a privilege

Protect the availability of lower cost generic drugs

Expand the free clinic to give more people access to preventative healthcare services

Organize people to speak out for healthcare reform

Enable a healthcare organization to develop a strategic plan to prepare for the new Affordable Care Act

Pressure politicians to develop programs for systemic improvements to healthcare access and cost

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5. Women's Inequality

Provide more school and community education that strengthen skills and empower women and girls

Organize more women who support equality to run for public office

Analyze data from all 50 states to determine what is really at the heart of persistent inequality

Help women's organizations to form stronger networks and mentoring systems that increase their power

Enforce existing laws against discrimination

Advocate for women to have a constitutional right to equality

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6. Community Economic Development

Extend government subsidies, like free land or tax relief, to stimulate economic growth

Create a vision for developing sustainable communities that are good places to live, do business, go to school and raise families.

Support entrepreneurial initiatives of young people in the community

Create a wave of interest in your community by promoting investment opportunities and increasing local pride

Support organizations that build partnerships between government, non-profit, businesses, and community groups to solve problems that affect the whole community

Monitor local tax and zoning policies for their implications on neighborhoods, employment, housing, and transportation in the community

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7. Civic Participation

Help effective civic organizations to grow their membership and improve their technology to better serve their members

Help increase the rate of voting through voter education, issues analysis, and transportation services

Change policies to extend voting hours and allow online options for voting so that more people can participate

Fight efforts to increase requirements to get voter id cards

Participate individually or as a family in service days and volunteer events

Calculate a dollar value of the volunteerism in communities in order to shift the perception that volunteering is not high impact

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8. Globalization

Achieve compliance of global standards and regulations in environmental and human rights issues

Promote cross-cultural understanding and collaborations to increase an organization's effectiveness in international arenas

Pressure local officials to pass ordinances prohibiting city investment in companies that are complicit in human right abuses

Build public support for global partnerships and alliances

Participate in and support foreign exchange programs to increase cultural understanding

Conduct a local/global economic analysis to frame a healthy dialog of how local businesses can become connected to global markets