Microsoft founder Bill Gates has created products that have transformed the way many of us work and live. But Gates and his fellow Microsoft millionaires have done more than that. Over the past five years, they have helped transform the way people give away their wealth.

One of the things we try to help donors do is to understand what they care about and find ways to fund those passions. We believe that creative giving is a way to fulfill your dreams and be the kind of person God has wired you to be.

Gates, who has given away billions, is a poster child for this kind of approach. His gifts to child health and literacy programs are having a profound effect on future generations.

But you don't need to have a Gates-sized bankroll to express your values and dreams, as we've seen in our profile of a 30-something businessman named Kevin.

Kevin and a dozen of his old high school friends, created a GIVING CIRCLE that allows the friends to pool their resources and give them away.

Last year the members of the giving circle, which was established under the auspices of a local community foundation, agreed together to give money to the following people activities:

• they provided aid to survivors of hurricanes in Honduras;
• they supported a ropes course at a local camp;
• they bought a computer for a friend living in the Republic of Kazakhstan;
• they made a payment to another friend who works with single moms in St. Louis;
• they sent kids on spring break trips to Appalachia;
• they underwrote programs for student leadership;
• they sent a check to a small school in California;
• they funded short-term missions trips for Christian young people from local churches;
• hey made grants to people ministering in inner cities and on college campuses;
• and they made a series of donations to Habitat for Humanity, Teen Challenge, and an urban art institute.

While earlier generations of givers seemed largely content to do most of their giving at arm's length by writing checks to large organizations which were trusted to carry out the donor's wishes, today's givers places a premium on supporting work with which they feel a sense of personal involvement and connectedness.

"One of the criteria we use is that we have to have some relationship with the work we are supporting," says Kevin. "It's not just a cause at-large. We want to give to something that fits with us. We don't just throw money out there. We try to be a part of what they are doing. It's easy
to throw money out there, but it's hard to really be a part of people's lives."

And in their giving, the circle members care more about impact and immediacy than they do plaudits or write-offs.

"We don't want to restrict our giving to 501(c)3s," says Kevin. "If there is a widow in the neighborhood who needs a sewer line put in, we are going to do that whether its through a 501(c)3 or not. A lot of people tell us that we shouldn't do that because it's not tax-deductible, but we're not trying to create tax deductions as much we are trying to be good givers."

The Chattanooga giving circle, which is just one of hundreds of such groups springing up in neighborhoods, at workplaces, and on college campuses throughout the country, demonstrates that philanthropy, which has deep roots in America's faith-based communities, is alive and well.

On the other hand, the group's free-wheeling, community-based entrepreneurial spirit scares professional fund-raisers at some of the nation's largest charities, groups which face uncertain futures unless they acclimate themselves to an utterly new charitable context and a radically new breed of donors.

What kinds of things do you want to support? What are your core values and motivating passions?

If you're willing to go through the process of finding out the answers to questions like these, you'll learn more about who you are and what you care about.

After you've done that work, the process of finding out what you want to fund should be a whole lot easier. But most importantly, you'll begin to experience the joy and satisfaction that giving of yourself can provide. Isn't time to become passionate about your giving?

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