Armed with these values, consider what they say about you. How can you translate your values into causes that you could potentially support? Let’s take “Opportunity” as an example. The definition being: “creating possibilities for all to advance and succeed.” A few related causes could be education, human rights, or poverty alleviation. Through this process, you can begin thinking about broad cause areas that are directly related to what motivates you.
Here are a few questions to help you get started. Feel free to write down your responses—these will be great to keep close.
- Is there a cause that you are emotionally connected to? This could be anything from a news story to an event you’ve witnessed.
- How do you define your community? Do you feel most tied to the local community or are you connected to another community in a different city, state, or country?
- What community are you most active in? This could be your family, neighborhood, work, political, advocacy, or religious group. Also, is there an issue in the community that you would like to address?