Joanna Krotz, in collaboration with Town&Country, has just published The Guide to Intelligent Giving. This is a book that needed to be written ─ a definitive guide covering everything from discovering where and how you personally should give to practical considerations about taxes and picking advisors.

While we have written here before about the power of giving, Joanna’s book is full of inspirational stories about those who have “decided to wield the power of one” by making the decision to give their time or their money to change the things in the world that they want to change.  A superb writer, Joanna does a terrific job of balancing their stories  with important information anyone considering should know.

I was delighted to learn that women are giving more than ever before. And, they are giving more that men do. Krotz reports that according to the latest IRS reports, women gave $22 billion dollars in 2005 compared to the $15 billion they gave in 1997, when the last gender analysis was done.

Source: The Intelligent Guide to Giving

So if you haven’t found your philanthropic passion yet, you need to get started.

Other reasons this book a “must read”:

• Giving smart requires more than just writing a check; you should make sure that the money you give works as hard for your charity as you worked to earn it.

• While money matters, your time, skills and attention matter too. A lot.

• Be smart about to whom you give. Check out the charities carefully.

Something else that will please you – the publisher will donate $1.00 to unicef for every book sold.

TAGS: charity. philanthropy, living a rich life, living your values