What Good Shall I Do This Day?

Read time: 3 min

👋🏾 Hey! I’m Sid and this is The Philanthropy Futurist, a weekly advice column preparing you for the future of the nonprofit sector. Each Friday, I tackle reader questions about measuring impact, driving growth, and managing your nonprofit.

This Week’s Newsletter at a glance:

• What Good Shall I Do This Day?

• Philanthropy News From This Week

• Sid’s Book Recommendation

What Good Shall I Do This Day?

Volunteering doesn’t just change communities… it changes me.

And I’ve stopped pretending that’s a bad thing.

Somewhat selfishly, I’ve almost always found volunteering to be therapeutic.

It interrupts the mental noise… it reminds me that my problems are rarely the center of reality and that perspective is a gift.

Not to mention, it simply feels amazing to give to others.

We often talk about giving in financial terms. And yes, money matters because (hello!) nonprofits run on it. But time is a different kind of currency. Time is human and it's tangible.

When you give your time, you’re not outsourcing your compassion, instead you are participating in it.

When you give your time, it forces you to be present and it asks you to show up as you are.

That’s why the old question… “What Good Shall I Do This Day?” still lowkey feels radical.

It shifts generosity from something abstract to something personal, and it becomes a choice you get to make daily.

Volunteering doesn’t have to look traditional, either. It can mean mentoring a college student after work hours. Reviewing a grant proposal for a peer organization. Offering your creative skills to a cause that can’t afford an agency. Joining a community board. Showing up consistently for a mutual aid group, and the list goes on and on.

For nonprofit leaders especially, there’s something powerful about volunteering outside your own organization. Because supporting your peers reminds you that this work is an ecosystem, not a competition. And doing this only builds empathy and helps broaden your perspective.

Volunteering isn’t just about being useful… its about being connected… and its about remembering that impact is not always scalable. Because it does not have to be… it just needs to be real and true.

So maybe the question is not… “How much can I give?”

Maybe it’s simpler…

What Good Shall I Do This Day? ✌🏾

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Philanthropy News From This Week

• Navigating disruption while keeping long-term goals in focus in 2026

• Family of man crushed by a bulldozer in his tent at a homeless encampment sues nonprofits

• Taming Tech Chaos in the Back Office

• Nonprofit throws open doors to homeless as temperatures drop to bone-chilling levels

Sid’s Book Recommendation

Each week, I recommend a book or film that has impacted my life in a positive way. My recommendation this week is:

Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde

This book is about a young man who designs a school project to change the world by doing 3 big favors for people and asking each of them to “pay it forward” to 3 others, creating a chain of kindness. His efforts seem to fail at first, but his idea later grows into a widespread movement. It’s a beautiful read. Learn more.

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