On the topic of kids’ allowances, I wish I had a stronger opinion about its purpose and value. Should it be associated with their contributions to the household workload? Should it be correlated to academic achievement? Should it be provided irrespective of a child’s actions entirely, an exercise in and of itself to promote financial education and responsibility?

There’s benefit in any number of scenarios, but in our home, we ultimately opted for the 3rd value proposition of financial savviness facilitated by a weekly allowance starting when the boys are young. The weekly amount is split equally into 3 parts: money to spend, money to save (college funds), and money to give. We therefore close the year by offering them 3 nonprofit options for which they may donate their “give” funds.

Before they’re old enough to start making their own suggestions, here’s what we had on this year’s menu:

1. Clean Air Task Force: this US-based NGO has a strong track record of success in campaigns reducing pollution, limiting CO2 emissions, and establishing regulations for the long-term benefit of the climate. More than that, it conducts high quality research, targets emission or decarbonization efforts often neglected by other organizations, and has been expanding to operate in global markets. Importantly: about 35% of climate philanthropy goes to the US and 10% to Europe, which together represent only ~15% of future emissions. China gets <6% of global climate philanthropy, despite being the world’s largest emitter.
   
   We voiced over to the boys as “this is a really effective organization that works to protect the planet and ensure there’s a healthy climate for all of us for years to come.”
   
   
2. Everytown for Gun Safety: what started as a grassroots movement has grown into 10 million supporters. The goal is simple: save lives by ending gun violence in America through research, policy, litigation, and advocacy. I hesitated to include this one. My desire is to shield my sons for as long as possible from this topic. But our local high schools – like many others by now – recently resigned themselves to changing student bathroom policies (reduced access, increased surveillance) after several consecutive weeks of shut-downs and event cancellations following school shooter threats found in the restrooms. Dave and I ultimately decided this gun safety is an issue that will (does) affect their lives in a very direct way, and it seems fair to give them an option to advocate for change.
   
   We voiced over as “this group aims to create and promote more common sense gun policies that keep people safe.”
   
   
3. C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital: the #1 children’s hospital in Michigan, among the nation’s best overall, top 10 in the country for pediatric cardiology and heart surgery, and a teaching hospital promoting increasing expertise supporting children for years to come through learning and research. When we thought about causes that would speak to our sons, children’s medicine ranked high — and “Mott’s” is the perfect combination of causes, efficacy, and “in your own backyard.”
   
   We voiced this over as “Do you guys remember when O went to the hospital last year? Well, that hospital is among the best in the country taking care of kids who are sick or hurt, and also conducts really valuable research about medicine and ways to prevent sicknesses for kids.”

Not surprisingly, all causes were so compelling that the boys opted to split their funds and contribute to all 3. It may still be a bit beyond them to conceptualize what it means to “donate” to these organizations, but it certainly does my mother’s heart good to know my kids have contributed – however generally – to causes that protect their futures.