100. A recap of the last hundred episodes!

Today the podcast hits the 100th episode! Thank you for listening, subscribing and sharing episodes with the people you know!

Transcript

Welcome to Spend Donate Invest! I go by GG, that’s short for Genet Gimja and I’m your host as we explore the topic of how we can align our values, our beliefs, our politics, and what we do with your money on a daily basis.

If you’ve been listening for a while, you know that this podcast started out as a quarantine project, maybe you had the same experience that I did of grappling with the rising income inequality and racial reckoning and a vague feeling of dissatisfaction about whether I was doing enough to live out my values.

Eventually I started to think about what I’m doing with my money. I looked around at the companies that were in my retirement accounts and realized that some of them are perpetuating some things that frankly, just don’t line up with my values. For example, I try to vote and shop in a way that acknowledges our climate crisis, but then I found myself investing in some climate destroyers.

And other things came to the surface too, thinking about all of the ways my money has felt… disconnected from my values.

So that’s what this show has been, an exploration of that topic. I’m coming from the standpoint of someone who is a first generation American, an immigrant, actually a refugee from Eritrea. I’ve worked for corporations, I’ve worked for nonprofits, I’ve worked for the American government. I’m a Black woman, of a certain age and so what I’m trying to give is a little bit of context of where I’m coming from. I do believe that we need a complete overhaul of our systems and institutions, and I do believe in taking the actions that are within our control, but I want to say this very clearly, it is very important to me that we don’t burn out in this quest for a better society. It is important to me that we don’t get so overwhelmed that we don’t do anything. It is important to me that we don’t fall into decision paralysis as we think about how we might take some action to get some alignment with our actions and our values.

So that’s the spirit I’m always going to try to bring to this discussion. I want to cover practical, gentle suggestions that might be useful to us in this quest.

Thank you for coming along on this quest with me!

I can’t believe there are about 100 episodes of the podcast already! What I thought would be fun today is to go through all 100 episodes, but here’s the catch, I’m only going to summarize each episode with 1 sentence. Can it be done? Let’s find out!

1. A little teaser on what to expect from this podcast.
2. Some thoughts on how to decide how much to donate.
3. A range of options from lightest touch to heaviest lift for socially responsible investing.
4. Socially responsible shoppers are more hopeful about the future or is it that hopeful people tend to shop socially responsibly?
5. Splitting donations across several organizations or picking one to consistently support
6. How to choose between the environment, equity and inclusion, labor practices and other potential focus areas for our values investing.
7. Listen to this if you’re beating yourself up for shopping somewhere that goes against your values.
8. Deciding on your budget, your priorities, and your strategy for donating wide versus going deep
9. What to do when your company doesn’t offer a socially responsible 401K.
10.  How do we know if the places we shop are truly socially responsible?
11. What to do next if you’ve realized you’re a gentrifier
12. Here are some index funds and ETFs I have considered when looking for investments that are a little more socially responsible.
13. Your fears about a charity’s administrative costs are probably overblown.
14. If you have goals of donating but then realize that you never get around to it, there are some practical and easy suggestions to follow through more often.
15. Are you the kind of employer you want to be for your housekeeper or other domestic staff?
16. If you’re brand new to the concept of shopping your values, start here.
17. Why are we so weird about giving people on the street cash?
18. The less white and the less male an entrepreneur is, the less investments they tend to attract…unless we find a way to invest in them…using these suggestions. LOL. Ok it was hard to make that one sentence but technically it was.
19. How to share your enthusiasm for shopping responsibly with your family and friends in a way that doesn’t get on everyone’s nerves lol
20. If you are brand new to donating, start here.
21. Some predictions for 2022 and some resolutions, some of which kind of came true?
22. This was an episode that revealed which 2021 episodes got the most downloads.
23. If you want to raise generous kids, consider these suggestions for how to talk to them, activities and books.
24. Is donating only for the rich or financially stable?
25. A round up of books that you might like if you like the topics on this show.
26. Suggestions on traveling more sustainably: where and when to go, how to get there, how to be once you arrive.
27. Some thoughts and suggested reading on Banking Black
28. How to create a small group of people to donate with
29. Just how much say-so should we get when we donate to a charity?
30.  A little introduction to a website called Mighty Deposits where you can get a scorecard for your current bank and look for a better bank that better aligns with your values
31. Responding to a listener whose spouse doesn’t want to move their money to a bank with better values
32. A better question to ask than whether it is ethical to be a billionaire
33. What’s an actual living wage in America these days?
34. What Elon Musk’s erratic personality has to do with his company’s ESG score
35.  A discussion about the pros and cons of supporting people in crisis zones by buying off their Etsy or airbnb pages
36. A quick run through the 7 sins of greenwashing
37. A surprising look at the environmental costs of cryptocurrency
38. How to donate towards reproductive freedom
39. Remember when there was a baby formula shortage?
40. Deciding what level of wealth is right to decide to start donating to others
41. A juneteenth celebration episode!
42. A discussion on how to talk about your salary with coworkers as a form of allyship
43. A response to a letter writer who was disillusioned by his parent’s church giving when he was a child
44. Some organizations that are working to fight gun violence in the US and currently looking for your money to fund their work
45. How to get on the same page as your family in terms of your money values especially when it comes to your family giving
46. The three phases of impact investing starting from the easiest to the most involved
47. How to start a scholarship!
48. A response to a listener who is receiving a windfall and wants to know how to use it according to their values
49. A little about automated robo advisors that actually take into consideration your social values
50. Rather than giving your money out randomly, here’s a formula you might consider
51. Some info about activist investors and how you can use your power as a shareholder

Right around that time the podcast turned 1 year old, and for that next month or so the most popular episodes were replayed.

Let’s pick right back up at episode 57.

57. With so much going on in the world, here are some suggestions for specific values you might focus on for your investing so that you don’t get overwhelmed trying to focus on everything in the world at once

58. We realize now that the narrative we were taught about Thanksgiving as children was based on a whitewashing of our history, but how do we think about Thanksgiving here and now?

59. This was an episode that I personally really loved highlighting some awesome work being done by Native Americans and yes we can absolutely help to fund their work

60. What to say when your friend or family member won’t stop asking you to donate to whatever nonprofit they’re into and you really don’t want to

61. This was a episode highlighting some of our favorite celebrities and where they donate

62. This was a roundup of the most popular episodes in 2022.

63. This is where I gave my predictions for the year 2023. Yikes! I will be reviewing those at the start of 2024.

64. Some things to consider when you’re giving after a natural disaster

65. This was a popular episode celebrating Black philanthropy in the US

66. If you’re interested in supporting the arts, there are some ideas in this episode 66.

67. Was a deep dive to understand what was the reality behind the hype that Patagonia’s founder had given his company away

68. Some thoughts on whether a gift is a good gift or not.

69. Oh this episode was about money at a more macro level and whether socialism leads to better sex for women. Spoiler: it does.

70. There was a legal threat to investment advisors being able to respond to our requests that they invest according to values like climate change so this episode was about what was going on.

71. Some interesting research with gender differences in how we think about money especially when it comes to lining up our values and our money

72. This was an episode about Prince Harry and The Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle and the foundation that they recently set up, how much money it has, where it has come from and exactly where they have donated

73. We spend a lot on weddings, this episode had some ideas on throwing a more environmentally friendly wedding

74. This was another wedding episode, and it was about whether it matters where you get married and some ethical considerations

75. This was about how to start an impact investing club so you don’t have to go it alone

76. This episode took a lot of research and time to prepare- it is about ESG and what it actually means. Spoiler it is not what a lot of people say it is.

Next couple of episodes were replays of popular episodes. Then the show picks back up at episode 79.

79. This is where I thought about all of the people who talk to me about the show and came up with the five types of givers that I have typically met.

80. This was the second part of that discussion on the five types of givers.

81. This was a replay about creating that family mission statement.

82. This was an episode about how much of our money might be going into supporting the prison industrial complex without us even realizing it.

83. This episode was about Warren Buffett’s giving pledge with his billionaire peers and how it is going.

84. This was an episode from a show that I enjoy called Narratives of Purpose featuring an interview with a founder of a group that’s trying to unblock capital for underfunded business owners.

Ok this is where we get into the Celebrity Giving Series! This was so much fun to research! Of course it can be interesting to find out where our favorite celebrities donate, but also I think it can spark our interest and introduce us to new places to give or new causes to think about.

85. This episode was about where former President Obama donates his money

86. This one was a very surprising episode about where Beyonce donates and wow, I learned so much.

87. This one was about where Paris Hilton donates, it wasn’t quite what I had expected.

88. This one was about where Rihanna donates and it was SO INTERESTING, I just love what she’s doing right at the intersection of climate change and women.

89. This was about where will.i.am from the black eyed peas donates. Spoiler everythign was named like his name with all the punctuation in it lol

90. This was a spotlight episode on 4 specific socially responsible banks you might consider

91. If you’re starting a company or an organization, you might like this episode about how to start it from the very beginning with your values in mind.

92. This was part two of that discussion.

93. This was the 2 year anniversary of the podcast and I didn’t expect to get quite so introspective on this episode about that.

94. Some very interesting research on the very rich and why they don’t donate even when they say they really really want to.

95. This was an episode about how to think about those volunteer tourism trips where you build houses or do other type of service work abroad.

96. There’s a bank that’s claiming to be the most socially responsible bank in the world, in this episode I take a deeper look as to what they mean by that and whether you and I might actually agree with them.

97. This was an episode about this group that brings adult Trust Fund kids together to think about reconciling their values and their incredible wealth and how they can use their power for good.

98. This was a replay of the popular Thanksgiving episode.

99. This was about Giving Tuesday this year and how we might make a plan beyond just giving our money

And that brings us to episode 100, here we are!

So what’s next? I’m thinking about that now! I’ve got a few ideas for tweaks for the structure of the show, I’ve got a few topics I’m working on for upcoming episodes based on conversations with you all.

But I really want to hear from you! What has been your favorite episode so far? Have you ever shared an episode? If so, which episode?

And of course if you ever have topics you want to hear on the show just drop me a line anytime, or if you have ideas on how to update the show for the future. The email address for the show is spend donate invest at gmail dot com.

And there is a newsletter that comes out once a month max, absolutely no spam no filler, it is short and sweet. To sign up for the newsletter please go to the website which is located at spend donate invest dot world.