Values Exercise

Take a moment to think about moments or life experiences that have shaped you — maybe someone you love has had an illness, maybe you’re really passionate about deserving young people getting a great education, maybe you love and want to protect nature?

Take a full silent one MINUTE to reflect on those formative experiences.

Now doing a deeper dive into that — what are the VALUES that drive your passion for that topic or experience? Below is a list of commonly cited values to help you think. Try to narrow it down to the few which you relate to most strongly.

To help you select the values important to your giving, use the words in the list below. For couples and families, it can be helpful to do this activity individually first, and then share your responses and discuss areas of overlap and differences. You can also feel free to add in your own or drill down as necessary:

Accessibility	Diversity	Freedom	Humor	Patriotism	Spirituality
Accountability	Effectiveness	Fun	Independence	Peace	Spontaneity
Authenticity	Empathy	Generosity	Joy	Persistence	Stewardship
Collaboration	Empowerment	Growth	Justice	Resourcefulness	Tradition
Community	Equity	Happiness	Kindness	Respect	Trustworthiness
Connection	Exploration	Harmony	leadership	Security	Unity
Courage	Fairness	Health	Love	Self-actualization	Well Being
Dignity	Faith	Honor	Loyalty	Service	(add your own)
Discipline	Family	Humility	Passion	Simplicity	(add your own)

Now, have another look at your list. Choose the 3 that speak to you the MOST. Take the 3 values you just circled and insert them into this statement:

If Value 1, Value 2, and Value 3 were flourishing in the world, it would address many of the problems I care about.

We call this the philanthropy mad-libs! Now you try!