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Raising Givers
Today, we’re talking about the dinner table conversations. We’re exploring how a simple 'charitable allowance' isn't just about money; it’s a tool for a father to teach his sons empathy, agency, and the profound emotional weight of looking out for someone else.
John Bromley has spent over a decade helping people turn the abstract idea of 'doing good' into a tangible, daily reality. As the Founder and CEO of Charitable Impact, John has built a platform that has facilitated nearly $2 billion in donations. He is a titan in the world of Canadian philanthropy, but today, we’re pulling him away from the spreadsheets and the scale of the platform to talk about something much closer to home.
John is a father of two boys. And he’s a firm believer that the most important charitable work we will ever do doesn't happen in a boardroom—it happens at the dinner table.
Through his concept of the 'charitable allowance,' John is showing dads how to give their kids the agency to be generous, the empathy to see the world’s needs, and the character to do something about it.
We’re diving into the emotional side of legacy, the power of family rituals, and how we can raise a generation of sons who understand that their greatest strength lies in what they can give away.
You can learn more and start your Charitable Allowance at https://www.charitableimpact.com/
To be a guest on The Fatherhood Challenge visit: https://podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/thefatherhoodchallenge
Create your podcast today! #madeonzencastr
https://zencastr.com/?via=thefatherhoodchallenge
00:05.85
Jonathan Guerrero
We often talk about what we want to leave for our children, an education, a home, a name. But what what about what we leave in them? Today, we're joined by John Bromley, the founder of Charitable Impact.
00:20.18
Jonathan Guerrero
But we're going to look past the $1.8 billion in donations that he's facilitated. We're talking about the dinner table conversation. We're exploring how a simple charitable allowance isn't just about money. It's a tool for a father to teach his son's empathy, agency, and the profound emotional way of looking out for someone else. We will explore all of this in greater depth in just a moment. So don't go anywhere.
01:29.61
Jonathan Guerrero
Greetings everyone. Thank you so much for joining me and my co-host and son Isaac. however Hello everyone. Welcome to the fatherhood challenge. Isaac, it's so good to have you back. It's just, it's just felt really weird doing these without you. You know, i remember one time i actually heard you you recording all by yourself.
01:48.60
Jonathan Guerrero
I remember recording. I remember hearing you recording alone and I was, ah I was in like another room. I think i was in like the kitchen, but I like, I heard you recording. And I heard you like, today my co-host and son, Isaac, is having the day off.
02:03.70
Jonathan Guerrero
He always gets the day off. It's true. You get the day off a lot. I'm not the host. I'm not the host here, so I don't have to have every day. but yeah Well, it's good to have you back.
02:18.49
Jonathan Guerrero
Well, today's guest has spent over a decade helping people turn the abstract idea of doing good into a tangible daily reality.
02:28.83
Jonathan Guerrero
As the founder and CEO of a charitable of Charitable Impact, John Bromley has built a platform that has facilitated nearly $2 billion in donations. He is a titan in the world of Canadian philanthropy, but today we're pulling him away from the spreadsheets and the scale of and the scale platform to talk about something much closer to home.
02:50.81
Jonathan Guerrero
John is a father of two boys, and he's a firm believer that most important charitable work, and he's a firm believer that the most important charitable work we will ever do doesn't happen in the boardroom.
03:02.33
Jonathan Guerrero
It happens at the dinner tables. Through his concept of the charitable allowance, John is showing dads how to give their kids the agency to be generous, the empathy to see the world's needs, and the character to do something about it.
03:17.22
Jonathan Guerrero
We're diving into the emotional side of legacy, the power of family rituals, and how we can raise a generation of sons who understand their greatest strength lies in what they can give away.
03:29.02
Jonathan Guerrero
John, welcome to the Fatherhood Challenge.
03:32.46
John Bromley
Hi, thanks for having me. Nice to be here with you, Jonathan and Isaac.
03:37.18
Jonathan Guerrero
Okay, so I got to ask what your favorite dad joke is. oh boy.
03:42.26
John Bromley
Oh, well, I don't know if this can be considered a dad joke because it's just so good. But let's see here. why don't um Why don't oysters give to charity?
03:53.02
Jonathan Guerrero
I have no idea.
03:54.65
John Bromley
Well, they're just too shellfish.
04:03.99
Jonathan Guerrero
we go. We got a laugh out of Isaac.
04:06.52
John Bromley
Thanks, Isaac. That's all we're looking for. That's all the dad jokes are looking for.
04:11.93
Jonathan Guerrero
yeah And believe me, that's hard to do sometimes.
04:15.48
John Bromley
well We had to be on topic today. So we started off with some charity jokes.
04:18.62
Jonathan Guerrero
Yeah, you brought your A game. and nice Well, John, you often talk about intentional giving for a dad who's just starting to think about his family legacy. What is the emotional difference between writing a check in private versus making a visible family ritual?
04:39.29
John Bromley
Oh, I think that i think the the difference is learning. um You know, when we, ah you know, modeling, um letting people see, observe what others are doing is a is is one of the major parts of learning.
04:58.65
John Bromley
right It's not just reading a book. It's not just experiencing your things yourself. it's's It's seeing it being done. it's It's why it's so important if you're into athletics, for example, to to watch sports and to see what your heroes do with the ball or on the court or whatever you're into. um so And charity is no different.
05:16.63
John Bromley
So we want to advocate that that you know there's times to write a check privately. But we want to, we want to well, hey, it's 2026. I don't know if people are writing checks so much anymore, but there's time to be private about philanthropy. But in a family situation, it's really important to share your values and and and the culture that you yourself, go how you go about life and and let your kids observe that.
05:44.47
Jonathan Guerrero
We want our sons to be strong, but we also want them to be kind. How does the act of giving help a boy develop strength of heart that he can't get from sports or school?
05:57.46
John Bromley
Well, one of the things we don't talk about in the giving world is how everyone goes through life and needs help. And so if you can really kind of almost put yourself in the shoes of kind of going, gee, like if dad wasn't helping raise me, if I didn't have school teachers, if I didn't have sports coaches, you know, how would I, how would I get through?
06:18.46
John Bromley
How would I learn things? um And if you're, if you recognize that you benefit from being helped, then it's absolutely critical you play the other side of the coin and and and help others. um So, you know, giving, I think, really helps us learn those parts of life that relate to, you know, the concept of it takes a village, you know, to raise ah a child. There's a whole bunch of different things that make us a whole person that give us joy and happiness in life and giving to others and experiencing
06:56.02
John Bromley
What happens to you when you help other people, let alone let what happens to the other person? You know, what happens to you? these are these are These are really important aspects to learn and and and best learned by by best learned by observing i have your parents doing it, knowing it's cool to do that.
07:15.19
John Bromley
And then, you know, experiencing it yourself and and and seeing how you go about developing your own way of doing it as as the kid.
07:24.12
Jonathan Guerrero
you know Go ahead. Okay, well, i actually kind of understand. um have, like, an understanding of what what um ah what like what my what my dad was saying then in the beginning.
07:37.02
Jonathan Guerrero
Like, ah how would I learn these things without having the school teachers or without having done all these sports? Like, I can understand that because, like, I've wanted to play football. I like football a lot.
07:50.36
Jonathan Guerrero
But it's a bit too much of a contact sport to get my – to get, like, a concussion or to hurt my brain too much at only the age of 11. And then there's also, like, like, I'm also homeschooled.
08:04.06
Jonathan Guerrero
So, like, I just kind of, like, learn things naturally, kind of. don't know. shit I just like the... don't exactly know how to put but, like, I can just kind of relate to that. Like, I'm homeschooled, so I never really had, like, teachers, like, school teachers to help me.
08:18.90
Jonathan Guerrero
And plus, i and since I can't... Since I don't want to play, like, um, like, contact football, I prefer flag football, but I still haven't been able to get into a team yet with that, though.
08:29.01
Jonathan Guerrero
But still, just kind of understand that.
08:35.70
John Bromley
So Isaac, are you asking um whether you know how you can go about learning even without a direct teacher, for example?
08:46.01
Jonathan Guerrero
Yeah, it's just kind like that.
08:48.18
John Bromley
Yeah, that's a that's a really interesting question. um
08:53.98
John Bromley
do Do you do experience being helped by others?
08:58.04
Jonathan Guerrero
Yeah, mainly, like, I don't, like, exactly, like, get it, like, directly from, like, oh I don't know, just kind of pick it up naturally, kind of.
09:04.60
John Bromley
Yeah, and when when you, do do do you find yourself ever ah doing things that help other people?
09:14.01
Jonathan Guerrero
Yeah, sometimes.
09:15.70
John Bromley
Yeah, and how does that make you feel?
09:20.34
Jonathan Guerrero
Makes me feel good, like, helping others, kind of, yeah.
09:24.34
John Bromley
Yeah, and is that something that you kind of, when you when you feel good about things, is it something you wanna try experience again?
09:34.29
Jonathan Guerrero
Yeah, it kind of can force to that, yeah.
09:35.86
John Bromley
Yeah, so, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. so So, you know, things that feel good to us, we want to experience them again. And when those things are beneficial to others in the world around us,
09:50.33
John Bromley
At least ah you know for me as a parent, Jonathan, than I don't know where you're at, but I think it's pretty common for parents to be like, those are the behaviors that we want to see our kids do again. Something that's beneficial to the outside world and beneficial ah to them.
10:05.88
John Bromley
So you know there's it's absolutely true that you can learn and experience, you know or you can learn about giving by going about it yourself. um You know, practice makes perfect. One of these sort of traditional sayings. That's no different in the charity sector, you know, um in the giving space.
10:25.24
John Bromley
ah Go about doing something, see how it makes you feel. You know, could you have done it a different way to to make yourself feel better, to help the other person even more? ah You know, could you have done um you know could you Could you approach it in a different way? These are the types sort of trial and error.
10:42.36
John Bromley
ah This is absolutely an important way to learn. And if you have a teacher or a guide along the way, sometimes you can just get there a little bit faster. But Isaac, you're absolutely right, man. You can totally learn these things on your own. The important part, the most important part is that you try, that you actually do it, that you actually take some action.
11:06.01
John Bromley
because if you don't, then the learning has nowhere to start.
11:12.18
Jonathan Guerrero
Yeah, from my side of it, I grew up with parents who naturally were, they were very charitable and they loved giving back to their community, especially people in need. So I grew up seeing that.
11:23.48
Jonathan Guerrero
And so I remember years and years ago, I don't know if you remember when the Unabomber made made the news and he was the anonymous bomber. He was known because he wore a hoodie when he was captured on on video and there was surveillance footage of him eventually they got released and he wore these dark shades and and a hoodie and he would place bombs in mailboxes and it would took a long time before they figured out who he was so I grew up when this was happening I saw this happening and I got to thinking okay this guy is going around probably having a good time he wrote this big manifesto probably a psychopath and
12:11.96
Jonathan Guerrero
he's getting his jollies from going around causing destruction and terror everywhere. So what's the opposite of of that? Can someone do the same thing, but good, something non-destructive, something that gives to a person or gives to a community, builds people up instead of destroying them and can remain anonymous and can have fun doing it.
12:40.63
Jonathan Guerrero
So, I think it was me and one other friend, we went around all over. We lived near University Town and we went all over the place dropping cards off, dropping candy off, leaving groceries at people's doorsteps and then running, encouraging letters, all kinds, just fun stuff.
13:04.09
Jonathan Guerrero
And we really enjoyed that. It was addicting. And the best part about it was Nobody knew who we were and we were building up the community. We were encouraging people in the community, people who often did thankless jobs, very difficult, thankless jobs.
13:24.41
Jonathan Guerrero
And we just let them know that they were appreciated. Something simple. You know, we weren't given a million dollars or anything like that, but that's where that's where it started.
13:35.45
John Bromley
I love that story. That's really cool. And, you know, if if if the if if part of, you know, it's important to point out that, you know, lots of giving happens anonymously. um Lots of people don't sort of, ah you know, and purposefully don't share what they're doing.
13:52.31
John Bromley
um And that's a choice. um there are upsides to doing that. There's some theoretic downsides as as well. We can talk talk on about that, but it's ultimately up to the people choosing. Most important is doing it and and and is doing it.
14:10.87
John Bromley
Second most important is doing something that you enjoy and you find personal personally satisfying ah because then you're more likely to do it again.
14:22.84
John Bromley
um and It's just too bad, you know Jonathan, that the the bad stories are the ones that often make the news, right? Giving really does make our communities go round. If you took all the giving out of our communities, ah are are the places we live, the places we work, ah the places we learn, the places we worship would be much worse off than they are.
14:49.27
John Bromley
But those stories don't always get told.
14:54.14
Jonathan Guerrero
Sadly, that's true. they They don't get told enough. I think that's what makes our role as charitable givers all the more essential. Speaking of which, I think you coined the term charitable allowance, but it's a brilliant concept.
15:10.23
Jonathan Guerrero
The Beyond the math of it, actually, how does giving how does this give a child the power to choose where money goes? How does that shift the power dynamic in the home from dad says so to we care about this together?
15:27.26
John Bromley
Yeah, well, I think you um you' you've nailed it in the question. Where are the kid gets to make their own choice that's where I think the most amount of learning comes from.
15:41.40
John Bromley
Because whether it's a good choice or a bad choice, there's learning to be made. ah There's learning to be had. um So um whereas when you know dad gives the money away, ah it's it's there's benefit to learning from that too, but it's it's largely ah through through the modeling and through the you know seeing it being done, knowing it's a cool thing to do, knowing it's a culture of value of the family. So I'm a huge advocate of, you know, things that I hope here sound fairly intuitive, like um let the kid do their own math homework.
16:16.98
John Bromley
Let the kid, you know, catch and throw the football on their own. ah And when it comes to giving, let the kid receive the charitable dollars, hold them an account that they can understand and and have agency over ah and and make their own decisions about where it goes.
16:35.99
John Bromley
um When that happens, yeah, the the the learning escalates and and and and you also build more autonomy and and independence ah on the it with the kid. And you know my lens anyway as a dad is how do I do the best while you're young enough at to still need me and and and to listen to me? So that by the time you're you're older and and and, you know, you can go about life in your own way, but in a way that sort of, you know, makes me proud.
17:05.91
John Bromley
um I think that one of the best ways to get there is to let the kids ah do things on their own and help them see ah the good and bad of what they've achieved, you know, like, right. and it's not always right and wrong, but like, you know, help them through, oh, you could have, you know, considered this, you could have thought about that. Next time you go about it, why don't you think about those things and and see if it's, you know, see if it's a, if it's a more optimized experience. Right. So I think the number one important thing about the charitable allowance is it's,
17:41.05
John Bromley
Treat just like an allowance where you give the kid the money, you let them do what they want with it charitably, and ah you have conversations and learnings around what they actually do.
17:53.28
Jonathan Guerrero
A legacy isn't just what we leave behind. It's the stories our kids tell about us. What is the one story you hope your sons tell their own children about how their dad viewed the world?
18:07.19
John Bromley
ah ah What a great question. ah Wow. Should have got this one sent in advance, Jonathan. It's a big one. I'd love to know what you would say.
18:17.69
John Bromley
um I mean, with respect to giving, a message I want my kids to hear and I and i want the rest of the world to hear that when we go about helping others, it benefits us. And so, you know, I'd like my kids to sort of say, my dad had this interesting lens that, you know, he was always into going the extra step to help, ah you know, here and there.
18:42.42
John Bromley
And he always saw the benefit in it for him. um And what I'm not trying to say, and I don't want misinterpreted is that like giving is somehow ah meant to be, um well, shellfish, and you know, that might we might get the oysters into it. but but but but But more so that like, you know, giving is is is a part of life. And when we exercise and we see the benefit from it, when we eat good food and and healthy food and we see the benefit from it, we're more likely to do it again. And the problem in the giving world, um both in Canada, where I am in the United States, is fewer people are actually participating in it.
19:23.42
John Bromley
And those who are participating are actually giving a smaller amount of their income away. And i think it's largely, well, this is a complex, you know can become a complex discussion, but some of the simple things are, people are a not learning about giving, they're not, and and B, when they experience it, they're not having ah as much joy come from it as they need to in order to participate in it again.
19:48.47
John Bromley
And so I'm always advocating for people to look for, you know, don't forget about yourself when you go about giving. And the reason for that is because when we do things we enjoy, we come back to them with our time and our talents and and and even our money.
20:09.59
Jonathan Guerrero
Sometimes it feels like we don't, well, sometimes it feels like kids don't have much power because we don't have our own money yet. When you started giving your boys charitable allowance a charitable allowance, what was the coolest or most surprising thing they did they chose to support?
20:30.65
John Bromley
Well, I've got two kids, Isaac, and what maybe wasn't surprising in hindsight was that they went completely different ways. ah they They did very different things, um notwithstanding the fact that they both actually started in the same place.
20:47.86
John Bromley
um It's both of them, both of them immediately um thought about helping other kids. One went ah to help kids who were sick and one went to help kids ah who ah didn't have regular access to food. um and But as they continued along the ah allowance route, I saw them branch out from that into areas that are a you know bit more tailored to who I actually see them as as people. So for example, one of them
21:21.11
John Bromley
you know, um who's who's much more into sort of traditional sports, plays a lot of soccer, for example, ah you know, started going down the route of going, huh, you know what? um Soccer can actually get pretty expensive and there's kids who can't afford to play. Is there a way to give to ah enable kids who can't afford the registration fees to to to still have access to play this sport that I get so much joy from?
21:47.19
John Bromley
um and that was... ah not surprising after I had thought about it. ah And so for me, i find I've found a lot of joy in in watching my my kids ah you know go about thinking about what they're gonna do to apply their charitable ah their charitable allowance. And as they get older, starting to ask more questions about other things they can do. For example, hey, what happens if I ask a couple of my friends to come along
22:20.82
John Bromley
and maybe get their their parents to give them a charitable allowance so that we can get even more money to help kids that can't afford the soccer fees you know get get to play soccer. So starting to think a little bit more ah about you know getting others involved and making it a bit more of ah a team or a community strategy.
22:41.40
John Bromley
um That's been really fun. um But you know what, Isaac, none of that wouldn't have happened ah in in in my opinion, had they not had the the power or if they not had the agency to go about doing it themselves.
22:56.55
John Bromley
I'm not sure that I would have been the first person to think about, hey, you love playing soccer, why don't you and you know think about how to how to use some of your charitable allowance to to to promote you know that the the reality that more people can play.
23:10.01
John Bromley
so um As parents, sometimes we struggle to to give our kids independence and agency, even though that's ultimately what so many parents want for their kids at the end of the day.
23:20.98
John Bromley
um And so the charitable allowance to me has been a good way to sort of be there and be present alongside my kids as they go about doing this stuff, but also sitting back and saying, you know what, the decision's theirs.
23:33.85
John Bromley
They get to make it. It's their allowance.
23:41.58
Jonathan Guerrero
If a kid wants to help but doesn't know where to start, how do you figure out what you actually care about? did you ever Did you ever have a light bulb moment when you were my age?
23:55.45
John Bromley
You know, that's an awesome question. um I'm 48. I don't know if I can remember all the light bulb moments I had.
24:09.53
John Bromley
um What I will say, though, is that it's been really... cool watching my kids go about maturing, growing up with the charitable allowance.
24:27.19
John Bromley
um And what I think the light bulb moment they've had, which is something that I would promote for them, is where they started focusing their giving on areas of the world that they know they are really passionate about. So for example, that example I gave you with my my son who who plays a lot of soccer, there's two advantages. a he loves soccer.
24:54.04
John Bromley
and And so he's sort of thinking about it independently. and and and and and And secondly, he understands soccer. um what some of the dynamics going on in the soccer world on his own, even as a 13 year old.
25:10.33
John Bromley
Right. So like he knows that there's kids who can't afford to play and he understands that. And when you understand the things that you're giving to, it's easier to have a better experience giving because you can answer questions like, well, gee, did my giving have impact?
25:27.57
John Bromley
Oftentimes, as donors, we we we react to people asking us for money. We give to things that we don't fully understand or to organizations that we don't know. And then it becomes very difficult to understand whether we made a difference with our money or with our donation of time if we're giving time.
25:43.29
John Bromley
But when you focus on things that you you know and that you're a part of, it's a lot easier to to to decipher whether or not you've had impact with your gifts, with your giving.
25:54.58
John Bromley
And that's something that I think my kids are starting to learn and something that I would advocate for. And it's been a really, really fun, fun lesson to watch.
26:13.08
Jonathan Guerrero
and My dad and i talk about being gen generous, but sometimes that feels like a big serious word. does given always Does giving always have to be serious or can it just or can it be something that's actually fun for a family to do?
26:33.62
John Bromley
Isaac, you're going to have a great future. ah Awesome question. I would say it's most important not to make giving serious. I mean, the way I'm interpreting you use it be because it's most important for it to become fun. So yes, it and and yes, it is possible for giving to be fun. In fact, it's important that giving is fun because when it's when things are fun, we come back to them and we do them more and more. so
27:08.22
John Bromley
um But it's the both can exist at once.
27:11.56
Jonathan Guerrero
Okay.
27:11.86
John Bromley
We can be serious about things that are fun. ah You see this in professionals all the time, you know, ah professional teachers, you know, take their jobs seriously, but the ones that have fun doing it are often the best teachers. I'm sure there's, you know, professional athletes wouldn't be on the field or on TV if they weren't having fun while they're taking what they're doing seriously.
27:34.81
John Bromley
So um the first thing I would I would I promote for people as they is to is to say it's OK to have fun when you're doing this stuff. It's OK to enjoy it. In fact, it's important to do so because we want you to come back. And then as you get into things, you know, more.
27:53.50
John Bromley
and more, you you start naturally taking them more seriously. You ask yourself harder questions. you You give yourself harder feedback. You're more critical about decisions you made in the past or how you approach things. And that's one thing one way that things become more serious.
28:09.05
John Bromley
And so I think it's possible for the two to exist together. But Isaac, if I had a recommendation, I would say start by making giving something fun and you can relate to and that you can enjoy.
28:20.63
John Bromley
And as you do it more and more, take it more seriously and always try to get better at doing it and but getting better at at giving can mean having more impact with less time and less money.
28:38.78
Jonathan Guerrero
Do you think that being a giver makes you a better friend? how does how does How does thinking about other people change how you treat the kids at school or on your team?
28:52.31
John Bromley
Oh, absolutely makes you a better friend. I mean, come on, you have a, I don't know if I have a single friend today, someone who I consider an actual friend who doesn't give to me as a regular course of our relationship. um So I don't, I'm almost, I would almost go so far to say is it's not possible to be in a relationship, in a serious relationship that that at both sides value without giving.
29:21.98
John Bromley
ah i'm I'm married. I give to my wife all the time and she gives to me. And if we didn't ah give to each other, i don't think we would still be together, let alone, you know, helping, helping, you know, get, ah get our household through, through the busy lives that we run.
29:38.10
John Bromley
So Isaac, yeah, I actually would go further and say, i don't think it's possible to be in good relationships where giving doesn't exist. In other words, giving is,
29:49.75
John Bromley
an essential part of making a relationship work.
29:57.62
Jonathan Guerrero
If you could give every 11 year old $1 that they'd have to give away, what do you think would happen to the world tomorrow?
30:08.18
John Bromley
Well, the the math answer is that you know you'd you'd you'd have that that that amount of money impact, ah but that's too short-sighted. Your question's a really good, good question.
30:21.83
John Bromley
Because what would happen is that every kid in the world would have the experience of giving a dollar away to help someone else. And some percentage of those kids would go, gee, how do I get another dollar to give away? Because I really enjoyed that.
30:39.51
John Bromley
um and and And I want to do that again. And if those kids got another dollar and another dollar and another dollar, you would be starting to develop in them as a habit,
30:51.26
John Bromley
um um making giving a part of their regular life. And that's what would be the most important outcome of giving kids a dollar to give away. And and why i i I worked with my team to create the charitable allowance, because we see it as a great way for kids to learn about life to learn about financial literacy to learn about how to spend money in other words uh in it but also to develop that in a charitable sort of i can use money and time to help other people to help things that i love in life uh advance and and and and stay a part of stay a part of the world um and um
31:36.31
John Bromley
And so the learning that would come from giving every kid in the world a dollar would actually be more important, in my opinion, than the impact that the money has on the causes that they choose.
31:52.22
John Bromley
If we don't, said so said so what that means to me, Isaac, is that if we don't develop as as a dad, if we don't develop our children to to become the future donors in the world, there won't be donors in the world. And then what's the world gonna look like? So um developing people to become active givers,
32:13.05
John Bromley
is as or arguably more important than the money that they actually give away. Because without the behavior, you don't have the action of the giving.
32:26.11
Jonathan Guerrero
All right, dads, this program's called the Fatherhood Challenge for reason, because you're gonna get challenged. So here's my challenge to you. I wanna challenge you tonight at the dinner table, don't just ask your kids how school was.
32:41.37
Jonathan Guerrero
Ask them if we could help one person solve one problem this week, what would it be? Start the conversation, start the ritual, and build the legacy.
32:55.38
Jonathan Guerrero
So, John, how can dads listening find out more about your work or how to start their own family giving plans?
33:04.54
John Bromley
Yeah, thanks. Well, I'm in Canada, so you could look us up at Charitable Impact. ah We're online at charitableimpact.com. We're you know on all the social media at We Are Charitable.
33:15.83
John Bromley
um And what I would advocate for is if you're if you're in Canada, look us up and start a Charitable Impact account. It's a donor-advised fund. If you're not in Canada, look up the concept of a donor-advised fund.
33:31.26
John Bromley
It acts like a bank account, but just for charitable giving. So it lets you manage and organize all your charitable giving, regardless of what charities you choose. And so if you wanna consider something like a charitable allowance, it's great to have a tool like a donor advised fund to to to help manage your giving and help your kid manage their giving.
33:50.39
John Bromley
And so those would be the two things that I would say. And I'd also just say, hey, I really appreciate being here. ah You and Isaac are asking some good questions and Isaac, keep ah keep crushing it. You're doing great.
34:04.15
Jonathan Guerrero
Well, John, it's been a lot of fun having this conversation with you. And I know we both learned a lot. So just to make things easier, if you go to thefatherhoodchallenge.com, that's thefatherhoodchallenge.com.
34:16.92
Jonathan Guerrero
And if you go to this episode and you're looking... And you're looking for the episode called Raising Givers. Raising Givers. Look right below the episode description and i will have the link that John mentioned posted right there for your convenience. Until next time, keep leading with your heart.
View all episodes
By Jonathan GuerreroToday, we’re talking about the dinner table conversations. We’re exploring how a simple 'charitable allowance' isn't just about money; it’s a tool for a father to teach his sons empathy, agency, and the profound emotional weight of looking out for someone else.
John Bromley has spent over a decade helping people turn the abstract idea of 'doing good' into a tangible, daily reality. As the Founder and CEO of Charitable Impact, John has built a platform that has facilitated nearly $2 billion in donations. He is a titan in the world of Canadian philanthropy, but today, we’re pulling him away from the spreadsheets and the scale of the platform to talk about something much closer to home.
John is a father of two boys. And he’s a firm believer that the most important charitable work we will ever do doesn't happen in a boardroom—it happens at the dinner table.
Through his concept of the 'charitable allowance,' John is showing dads how to give their kids the agency to be generous, the empathy to see the world’s needs, and the character to do something about it.
We’re diving into the emotional side of legacy, the power of family rituals, and how we can raise a generation of sons who understand that their greatest strength lies in what they can give away.
You can learn more and start your Charitable Allowance at https://www.charitableimpact.com/
To be a guest on The Fatherhood Challenge visit: https://podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/thefatherhoodchallenge
Create your podcast today! #madeonzencastr
https://zencastr.com/?via=thefatherhoodchallenge
00:05.85
Jonathan Guerrero
We often talk about what we want to leave for our children, an education, a home, a name. But what what about what we leave in them? Today, we're joined by John Bromley, the founder of Charitable Impact.
00:20.18
Jonathan Guerrero
But we're going to look past the $1.8 billion in donations that he's facilitated. We're talking about the dinner table conversation. We're exploring how a simple charitable allowance isn't just about money. It's a tool for a father to teach his son's empathy, agency, and the profound emotional way of looking out for someone else. We will explore all of this in greater depth in just a moment. So don't go anywhere.
01:29.61
Jonathan Guerrero
Greetings everyone. Thank you so much for joining me and my co-host and son Isaac. however Hello everyone. Welcome to the fatherhood challenge. Isaac, it's so good to have you back. It's just, it's just felt really weird doing these without you. You know, i remember one time i actually heard you you recording all by yourself.
01:48.60
Jonathan Guerrero
I remember recording. I remember hearing you recording alone and I was, ah I was in like another room. I think i was in like the kitchen, but I like, I heard you recording. And I heard you like, today my co-host and son, Isaac, is having the day off.
02:03.70
Jonathan Guerrero
He always gets the day off. It's true. You get the day off a lot. I'm not the host. I'm not the host here, so I don't have to have every day. but yeah Well, it's good to have you back.
02:18.49
Jonathan Guerrero
Well, today's guest has spent over a decade helping people turn the abstract idea of doing good into a tangible daily reality.
02:28.83
Jonathan Guerrero
As the founder and CEO of a charitable of Charitable Impact, John Bromley has built a platform that has facilitated nearly $2 billion in donations. He is a titan in the world of Canadian philanthropy, but today we're pulling him away from the spreadsheets and the scale of and the scale platform to talk about something much closer to home.
02:50.81
Jonathan Guerrero
John is a father of two boys, and he's a firm believer that most important charitable work, and he's a firm believer that the most important charitable work we will ever do doesn't happen in the boardroom.
03:02.33
Jonathan Guerrero
It happens at the dinner tables. Through his concept of the charitable allowance, John is showing dads how to give their kids the agency to be generous, the empathy to see the world's needs, and the character to do something about it.
03:17.22
Jonathan Guerrero
We're diving into the emotional side of legacy, the power of family rituals, and how we can raise a generation of sons who understand their greatest strength lies in what they can give away.
03:29.02
Jonathan Guerrero
John, welcome to the Fatherhood Challenge.
03:32.46
John Bromley
Hi, thanks for having me. Nice to be here with you, Jonathan and Isaac.
03:37.18
Jonathan Guerrero
Okay, so I got to ask what your favorite dad joke is. oh boy.
03:42.26
John Bromley
Oh, well, I don't know if this can be considered a dad joke because it's just so good. But let's see here. why don't um Why don't oysters give to charity?
03:53.02
Jonathan Guerrero
I have no idea.
03:54.65
John Bromley
Well, they're just too shellfish.
04:03.99
Jonathan Guerrero
we go. We got a laugh out of Isaac.
04:06.52
John Bromley
Thanks, Isaac. That's all we're looking for. That's all the dad jokes are looking for.
04:11.93
Jonathan Guerrero
yeah And believe me, that's hard to do sometimes.
04:15.48
John Bromley
well We had to be on topic today. So we started off with some charity jokes.
04:18.62
Jonathan Guerrero
Yeah, you brought your A game. and nice Well, John, you often talk about intentional giving for a dad who's just starting to think about his family legacy. What is the emotional difference between writing a check in private versus making a visible family ritual?
04:39.29
John Bromley
Oh, I think that i think the the difference is learning. um You know, when we, ah you know, modeling, um letting people see, observe what others are doing is a is is one of the major parts of learning.
04:58.65
John Bromley
right It's not just reading a book. It's not just experiencing your things yourself. it's's It's seeing it being done. it's It's why it's so important if you're into athletics, for example, to to watch sports and to see what your heroes do with the ball or on the court or whatever you're into. um so And charity is no different.
05:16.63
John Bromley
So we want to advocate that that you know there's times to write a check privately. But we want to, we want to well, hey, it's 2026. I don't know if people are writing checks so much anymore, but there's time to be private about philanthropy. But in a family situation, it's really important to share your values and and and the culture that you yourself, go how you go about life and and let your kids observe that.
05:44.47
Jonathan Guerrero
We want our sons to be strong, but we also want them to be kind. How does the act of giving help a boy develop strength of heart that he can't get from sports or school?
05:57.46
John Bromley
Well, one of the things we don't talk about in the giving world is how everyone goes through life and needs help. And so if you can really kind of almost put yourself in the shoes of kind of going, gee, like if dad wasn't helping raise me, if I didn't have school teachers, if I didn't have sports coaches, you know, how would I, how would I get through?
06:18.46
John Bromley
How would I learn things? um And if you're, if you recognize that you benefit from being helped, then it's absolutely critical you play the other side of the coin and and and help others. um So, you know, giving, I think, really helps us learn those parts of life that relate to, you know, the concept of it takes a village, you know, to raise ah a child. There's a whole bunch of different things that make us a whole person that give us joy and happiness in life and giving to others and experiencing
06:56.02
John Bromley
What happens to you when you help other people, let alone let what happens to the other person? You know, what happens to you? these are these are These are really important aspects to learn and and and best learned by by best learned by observing i have your parents doing it, knowing it's cool to do that.
07:15.19
John Bromley
And then, you know, experiencing it yourself and and and seeing how you go about developing your own way of doing it as as the kid.
07:24.12
Jonathan Guerrero
you know Go ahead. Okay, well, i actually kind of understand. um have, like, an understanding of what what um ah what like what my what my dad was saying then in the beginning.
07:37.02
Jonathan Guerrero
Like, ah how would I learn these things without having the school teachers or without having done all these sports? Like, I can understand that because, like, I've wanted to play football. I like football a lot.
07:50.36
Jonathan Guerrero
But it's a bit too much of a contact sport to get my – to get, like, a concussion or to hurt my brain too much at only the age of 11. And then there's also, like, like, I'm also homeschooled.
08:04.06
Jonathan Guerrero
So, like, I just kind of, like, learn things naturally, kind of. don't know. shit I just like the... don't exactly know how to put but, like, I can just kind of relate to that. Like, I'm homeschooled, so I never really had, like, teachers, like, school teachers to help me.
08:18.90
Jonathan Guerrero
And plus, i and since I can't... Since I don't want to play, like, um, like, contact football, I prefer flag football, but I still haven't been able to get into a team yet with that, though.
08:29.01
Jonathan Guerrero
But still, just kind of understand that.
08:35.70
John Bromley
So Isaac, are you asking um whether you know how you can go about learning even without a direct teacher, for example?
08:46.01
Jonathan Guerrero
Yeah, it's just kind like that.
08:48.18
John Bromley
Yeah, that's a that's a really interesting question. um
08:53.98
John Bromley
do Do you do experience being helped by others?
08:58.04
Jonathan Guerrero
Yeah, mainly, like, I don't, like, exactly, like, get it, like, directly from, like, oh I don't know, just kind of pick it up naturally, kind of.
09:04.60
John Bromley
Yeah, and when when you, do do do you find yourself ever ah doing things that help other people?
09:14.01
Jonathan Guerrero
Yeah, sometimes.
09:15.70
John Bromley
Yeah, and how does that make you feel?
09:20.34
Jonathan Guerrero
Makes me feel good, like, helping others, kind of, yeah.
09:24.34
John Bromley
Yeah, and is that something that you kind of, when you when you feel good about things, is it something you wanna try experience again?
09:34.29
Jonathan Guerrero
Yeah, it kind of can force to that, yeah.
09:35.86
John Bromley
Yeah, so, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. so So, you know, things that feel good to us, we want to experience them again. And when those things are beneficial to others in the world around us,
09:50.33
John Bromley
At least ah you know for me as a parent, Jonathan, than I don't know where you're at, but I think it's pretty common for parents to be like, those are the behaviors that we want to see our kids do again. Something that's beneficial to the outside world and beneficial ah to them.
10:05.88
John Bromley
So you know there's it's absolutely true that you can learn and experience, you know or you can learn about giving by going about it yourself. um You know, practice makes perfect. One of these sort of traditional sayings. That's no different in the charity sector, you know, um in the giving space.
10:25.24
John Bromley
ah Go about doing something, see how it makes you feel. You know, could you have done it a different way to to make yourself feel better, to help the other person even more? ah You know, could you have done um you know could you Could you approach it in a different way? These are the types sort of trial and error.
10:42.36
John Bromley
ah This is absolutely an important way to learn. And if you have a teacher or a guide along the way, sometimes you can just get there a little bit faster. But Isaac, you're absolutely right, man. You can totally learn these things on your own. The important part, the most important part is that you try, that you actually do it, that you actually take some action.
11:06.01
John Bromley
because if you don't, then the learning has nowhere to start.
11:12.18
Jonathan Guerrero
Yeah, from my side of it, I grew up with parents who naturally were, they were very charitable and they loved giving back to their community, especially people in need. So I grew up seeing that.
11:23.48
Jonathan Guerrero
And so I remember years and years ago, I don't know if you remember when the Unabomber made made the news and he was the anonymous bomber. He was known because he wore a hoodie when he was captured on on video and there was surveillance footage of him eventually they got released and he wore these dark shades and and a hoodie and he would place bombs in mailboxes and it would took a long time before they figured out who he was so I grew up when this was happening I saw this happening and I got to thinking okay this guy is going around probably having a good time he wrote this big manifesto probably a psychopath and
12:11.96
Jonathan Guerrero
he's getting his jollies from going around causing destruction and terror everywhere. So what's the opposite of of that? Can someone do the same thing, but good, something non-destructive, something that gives to a person or gives to a community, builds people up instead of destroying them and can remain anonymous and can have fun doing it.
12:40.63
Jonathan Guerrero
So, I think it was me and one other friend, we went around all over. We lived near University Town and we went all over the place dropping cards off, dropping candy off, leaving groceries at people's doorsteps and then running, encouraging letters, all kinds, just fun stuff.
13:04.09
Jonathan Guerrero
And we really enjoyed that. It was addicting. And the best part about it was Nobody knew who we were and we were building up the community. We were encouraging people in the community, people who often did thankless jobs, very difficult, thankless jobs.
13:24.41
Jonathan Guerrero
And we just let them know that they were appreciated. Something simple. You know, we weren't given a million dollars or anything like that, but that's where that's where it started.
13:35.45
John Bromley
I love that story. That's really cool. And, you know, if if if the if if part of, you know, it's important to point out that, you know, lots of giving happens anonymously. um Lots of people don't sort of, ah you know, and purposefully don't share what they're doing.
13:52.31
John Bromley
um And that's a choice. um there are upsides to doing that. There's some theoretic downsides as as well. We can talk talk on about that, but it's ultimately up to the people choosing. Most important is doing it and and and is doing it.
14:10.87
John Bromley
Second most important is doing something that you enjoy and you find personal personally satisfying ah because then you're more likely to do it again.
14:22.84
John Bromley
um and It's just too bad, you know Jonathan, that the the bad stories are the ones that often make the news, right? Giving really does make our communities go round. If you took all the giving out of our communities, ah are are the places we live, the places we work, ah the places we learn, the places we worship would be much worse off than they are.
14:49.27
John Bromley
But those stories don't always get told.
14:54.14
Jonathan Guerrero
Sadly, that's true. they They don't get told enough. I think that's what makes our role as charitable givers all the more essential. Speaking of which, I think you coined the term charitable allowance, but it's a brilliant concept.
15:10.23
Jonathan Guerrero
The Beyond the math of it, actually, how does giving how does this give a child the power to choose where money goes? How does that shift the power dynamic in the home from dad says so to we care about this together?
15:27.26
John Bromley
Yeah, well, I think you um you' you've nailed it in the question. Where are the kid gets to make their own choice that's where I think the most amount of learning comes from.
15:41.40
John Bromley
Because whether it's a good choice or a bad choice, there's learning to be made. ah There's learning to be had. um So um whereas when you know dad gives the money away, ah it's it's there's benefit to learning from that too, but it's it's largely ah through through the modeling and through the you know seeing it being done, knowing it's a cool thing to do, knowing it's a culture of value of the family. So I'm a huge advocate of, you know, things that I hope here sound fairly intuitive, like um let the kid do their own math homework.
16:16.98
John Bromley
Let the kid, you know, catch and throw the football on their own. ah And when it comes to giving, let the kid receive the charitable dollars, hold them an account that they can understand and and have agency over ah and and make their own decisions about where it goes.
16:35.99
John Bromley
um When that happens, yeah, the the the learning escalates and and and and you also build more autonomy and and independence ah on the it with the kid. And you know my lens anyway as a dad is how do I do the best while you're young enough at to still need me and and and to listen to me? So that by the time you're you're older and and and, you know, you can go about life in your own way, but in a way that sort of, you know, makes me proud.
17:05.91
John Bromley
um I think that one of the best ways to get there is to let the kids ah do things on their own and help them see ah the good and bad of what they've achieved, you know, like, right. and it's not always right and wrong, but like, you know, help them through, oh, you could have, you know, considered this, you could have thought about that. Next time you go about it, why don't you think about those things and and see if it's, you know, see if it's a, if it's a more optimized experience. Right. So I think the number one important thing about the charitable allowance is it's,
17:41.05
John Bromley
Treat just like an allowance where you give the kid the money, you let them do what they want with it charitably, and ah you have conversations and learnings around what they actually do.
17:53.28
Jonathan Guerrero
A legacy isn't just what we leave behind. It's the stories our kids tell about us. What is the one story you hope your sons tell their own children about how their dad viewed the world?
18:07.19
John Bromley
ah ah What a great question. ah Wow. Should have got this one sent in advance, Jonathan. It's a big one. I'd love to know what you would say.
18:17.69
John Bromley
um I mean, with respect to giving, a message I want my kids to hear and I and i want the rest of the world to hear that when we go about helping others, it benefits us. And so, you know, I'd like my kids to sort of say, my dad had this interesting lens that, you know, he was always into going the extra step to help, ah you know, here and there.
18:42.42
John Bromley
And he always saw the benefit in it for him. um And what I'm not trying to say, and I don't want misinterpreted is that like giving is somehow ah meant to be, um well, shellfish, and you know, that might we might get the oysters into it. but but but but But more so that like, you know, giving is is is a part of life. And when we exercise and we see the benefit from it, when we eat good food and and healthy food and we see the benefit from it, we're more likely to do it again. And the problem in the giving world, um both in Canada, where I am in the United States, is fewer people are actually participating in it.
19:23.42
John Bromley
And those who are participating are actually giving a smaller amount of their income away. And i think it's largely, well, this is a complex, you know can become a complex discussion, but some of the simple things are, people are a not learning about giving, they're not, and and B, when they experience it, they're not having ah as much joy come from it as they need to in order to participate in it again.
19:48.47
John Bromley
And so I'm always advocating for people to look for, you know, don't forget about yourself when you go about giving. And the reason for that is because when we do things we enjoy, we come back to them with our time and our talents and and and even our money.
20:09.59
Jonathan Guerrero
Sometimes it feels like we don't, well, sometimes it feels like kids don't have much power because we don't have our own money yet. When you started giving your boys charitable allowance a charitable allowance, what was the coolest or most surprising thing they did they chose to support?
20:30.65
John Bromley
Well, I've got two kids, Isaac, and what maybe wasn't surprising in hindsight was that they went completely different ways. ah they They did very different things, um notwithstanding the fact that they both actually started in the same place.
20:47.86
John Bromley
um It's both of them, both of them immediately um thought about helping other kids. One went ah to help kids who were sick and one went to help kids ah who ah didn't have regular access to food. um and But as they continued along the ah allowance route, I saw them branch out from that into areas that are a you know bit more tailored to who I actually see them as as people. So for example, one of them
21:21.11
John Bromley
you know, um who's who's much more into sort of traditional sports, plays a lot of soccer, for example, ah you know, started going down the route of going, huh, you know what? um Soccer can actually get pretty expensive and there's kids who can't afford to play. Is there a way to give to ah enable kids who can't afford the registration fees to to to still have access to play this sport that I get so much joy from?
21:47.19
John Bromley
um and that was... ah not surprising after I had thought about it. ah And so for me, i find I've found a lot of joy in in watching my my kids ah you know go about thinking about what they're gonna do to apply their charitable ah their charitable allowance. And as they get older, starting to ask more questions about other things they can do. For example, hey, what happens if I ask a couple of my friends to come along
22:20.82
John Bromley
and maybe get their their parents to give them a charitable allowance so that we can get even more money to help kids that can't afford the soccer fees you know get get to play soccer. So starting to think a little bit more ah about you know getting others involved and making it a bit more of ah a team or a community strategy.
22:41.40
John Bromley
um That's been really fun. um But you know what, Isaac, none of that wouldn't have happened ah in in in my opinion, had they not had the the power or if they not had the agency to go about doing it themselves.
22:56.55
John Bromley
I'm not sure that I would have been the first person to think about, hey, you love playing soccer, why don't you and you know think about how to how to use some of your charitable allowance to to to promote you know that the the reality that more people can play.
23:10.01
John Bromley
so um As parents, sometimes we struggle to to give our kids independence and agency, even though that's ultimately what so many parents want for their kids at the end of the day.
23:20.98
John Bromley
um And so the charitable allowance to me has been a good way to sort of be there and be present alongside my kids as they go about doing this stuff, but also sitting back and saying, you know what, the decision's theirs.
23:33.85
John Bromley
They get to make it. It's their allowance.
23:41.58
Jonathan Guerrero
If a kid wants to help but doesn't know where to start, how do you figure out what you actually care about? did you ever Did you ever have a light bulb moment when you were my age?
23:55.45
John Bromley
You know, that's an awesome question. um I'm 48. I don't know if I can remember all the light bulb moments I had.
24:09.53
John Bromley
um What I will say, though, is that it's been really... cool watching my kids go about maturing, growing up with the charitable allowance.
24:27.19
John Bromley
um And what I think the light bulb moment they've had, which is something that I would promote for them, is where they started focusing their giving on areas of the world that they know they are really passionate about. So for example, that example I gave you with my my son who who plays a lot of soccer, there's two advantages. a he loves soccer.
24:54.04
John Bromley
and And so he's sort of thinking about it independently. and and and and and And secondly, he understands soccer. um what some of the dynamics going on in the soccer world on his own, even as a 13 year old.
25:10.33
John Bromley
Right. So like he knows that there's kids who can't afford to play and he understands that. And when you understand the things that you're giving to, it's easier to have a better experience giving because you can answer questions like, well, gee, did my giving have impact?
25:27.57
John Bromley
Oftentimes, as donors, we we we react to people asking us for money. We give to things that we don't fully understand or to organizations that we don't know. And then it becomes very difficult to understand whether we made a difference with our money or with our donation of time if we're giving time.
25:43.29
John Bromley
But when you focus on things that you you know and that you're a part of, it's a lot easier to to to decipher whether or not you've had impact with your gifts, with your giving.
25:54.58
John Bromley
And that's something that I think my kids are starting to learn and something that I would advocate for. And it's been a really, really fun, fun lesson to watch.
26:13.08
Jonathan Guerrero
and My dad and i talk about being gen generous, but sometimes that feels like a big serious word. does given always Does giving always have to be serious or can it just or can it be something that's actually fun for a family to do?
26:33.62
John Bromley
Isaac, you're going to have a great future. ah Awesome question. I would say it's most important not to make giving serious. I mean, the way I'm interpreting you use it be because it's most important for it to become fun. So yes, it and and yes, it is possible for giving to be fun. In fact, it's important that giving is fun because when it's when things are fun, we come back to them and we do them more and more. so
27:08.22
John Bromley
um But it's the both can exist at once.
27:11.56
Jonathan Guerrero
Okay.
27:11.86
John Bromley
We can be serious about things that are fun. ah You see this in professionals all the time, you know, ah professional teachers, you know, take their jobs seriously, but the ones that have fun doing it are often the best teachers. I'm sure there's, you know, professional athletes wouldn't be on the field or on TV if they weren't having fun while they're taking what they're doing seriously.
27:34.81
John Bromley
So um the first thing I would I would I promote for people as they is to is to say it's OK to have fun when you're doing this stuff. It's OK to enjoy it. In fact, it's important to do so because we want you to come back. And then as you get into things, you know, more.
27:53.50
John Bromley
and more, you you start naturally taking them more seriously. You ask yourself harder questions. you You give yourself harder feedback. You're more critical about decisions you made in the past or how you approach things. And that's one thing one way that things become more serious.
28:09.05
John Bromley
And so I think it's possible for the two to exist together. But Isaac, if I had a recommendation, I would say start by making giving something fun and you can relate to and that you can enjoy.
28:20.63
John Bromley
And as you do it more and more, take it more seriously and always try to get better at doing it and but getting better at at giving can mean having more impact with less time and less money.
28:38.78
Jonathan Guerrero
Do you think that being a giver makes you a better friend? how does how does How does thinking about other people change how you treat the kids at school or on your team?
28:52.31
John Bromley
Oh, absolutely makes you a better friend. I mean, come on, you have a, I don't know if I have a single friend today, someone who I consider an actual friend who doesn't give to me as a regular course of our relationship. um So I don't, I'm almost, I would almost go so far to say is it's not possible to be in a relationship, in a serious relationship that that at both sides value without giving.
29:21.98
John Bromley
ah i'm I'm married. I give to my wife all the time and she gives to me. And if we didn't ah give to each other, i don't think we would still be together, let alone, you know, helping, helping, you know, get, ah get our household through, through the busy lives that we run.
29:38.10
John Bromley
So Isaac, yeah, I actually would go further and say, i don't think it's possible to be in good relationships where giving doesn't exist. In other words, giving is,
29:49.75
John Bromley
an essential part of making a relationship work.
29:57.62
Jonathan Guerrero
If you could give every 11 year old $1 that they'd have to give away, what do you think would happen to the world tomorrow?
30:08.18
John Bromley
Well, the the math answer is that you know you'd you'd you'd have that that that amount of money impact, ah but that's too short-sighted. Your question's a really good, good question.
30:21.83
John Bromley
Because what would happen is that every kid in the world would have the experience of giving a dollar away to help someone else. And some percentage of those kids would go, gee, how do I get another dollar to give away? Because I really enjoyed that.
30:39.51
John Bromley
um and and And I want to do that again. And if those kids got another dollar and another dollar and another dollar, you would be starting to develop in them as a habit,
30:51.26
John Bromley
um um making giving a part of their regular life. And that's what would be the most important outcome of giving kids a dollar to give away. And and why i i I worked with my team to create the charitable allowance, because we see it as a great way for kids to learn about life to learn about financial literacy to learn about how to spend money in other words uh in it but also to develop that in a charitable sort of i can use money and time to help other people to help things that i love in life uh advance and and and and stay a part of stay a part of the world um and um
31:36.31
John Bromley
And so the learning that would come from giving every kid in the world a dollar would actually be more important, in my opinion, than the impact that the money has on the causes that they choose.
31:52.22
John Bromley
If we don't, said so said so what that means to me, Isaac, is that if we don't develop as as a dad, if we don't develop our children to to become the future donors in the world, there won't be donors in the world. And then what's the world gonna look like? So um developing people to become active givers,
32:13.05
John Bromley
is as or arguably more important than the money that they actually give away. Because without the behavior, you don't have the action of the giving.
32:26.11
Jonathan Guerrero
All right, dads, this program's called the Fatherhood Challenge for reason, because you're gonna get challenged. So here's my challenge to you. I wanna challenge you tonight at the dinner table, don't just ask your kids how school was.
32:41.37
Jonathan Guerrero
Ask them if we could help one person solve one problem this week, what would it be? Start the conversation, start the ritual, and build the legacy.
32:55.38
Jonathan Guerrero
So, John, how can dads listening find out more about your work or how to start their own family giving plans?
33:04.54
John Bromley
Yeah, thanks. Well, I'm in Canada, so you could look us up at Charitable Impact. ah We're online at charitableimpact.com. We're you know on all the social media at We Are Charitable.
33:15.83
John Bromley
um And what I would advocate for is if you're if you're in Canada, look us up and start a Charitable Impact account. It's a donor-advised fund. If you're not in Canada, look up the concept of a donor-advised fund.
33:31.26
John Bromley
It acts like a bank account, but just for charitable giving. So it lets you manage and organize all your charitable giving, regardless of what charities you choose. And so if you wanna consider something like a charitable allowance, it's great to have a tool like a donor advised fund to to to help manage your giving and help your kid manage their giving.
33:50.39
John Bromley
And so those would be the two things that I would say. And I'd also just say, hey, I really appreciate being here. ah You and Isaac are asking some good questions and Isaac, keep ah keep crushing it. You're doing great.
34:04.15
Jonathan Guerrero
Well, John, it's been a lot of fun having this conversation with you. And I know we both learned a lot. So just to make things easier, if you go to thefatherhoodchallenge.com, that's thefatherhoodchallenge.com.
34:16.92
Jonathan Guerrero
And if you go to this episode and you're looking... And you're looking for the episode called Raising Givers. Raising Givers. Look right below the episode description and i will have the link that John mentioned posted right there for your convenience. Until next time, keep leading with your heart.