What is Giving Joy?
Giving Joy is an independent project dedicated to the subject of joy and how we transmit it — namely, through faith and charity.
Ok, but what do you write about?
You have two newsletter options to subscribe to: the Charity Profile and the Charity Book Club.
The Charity Profile
I operate from the basic assumption that organized community solutions to solve social problems (a.k.a, charities) are both good and interesting. As a result, I find joy in discovering and researching different non-profits.
The Charity Profile is an outgrowth of that joy. If I love learning about specific organizations perhaps other people would too.
In each profile, I will cover the organization’s history and program offerings, as well as a a high-level summary of finances and governance pulled from publicly available tax filings and annual reporting. If there are any opportunities to get involved, I’ll be sure to include those too.
I want to be clear — these profiles are not intended to be an endorsement, a solicitation, or even an exercise in investigative journalism. I profile an organization because I find them interesting for one reason or another, and I share what I find. That’s the whole ballgame.
The Charity Roundup will be included in the Monthly Roundup, a newsletter that will also feature:
My favorite charity-related stories from other writers
Any other posts or articles I published in the last month
Joyful Noise, a.k.a. whatever song has been that month’s earworm
The Charity Book Club?
Pretty much what it sounds like… it’s a book club, dedicated to charity.
Each month, subscribers will receive a new study guide and discussion questions to accompany a book related to charity. These books will range from classic texts of Christian social teaching to biographies of great philanthropists to sociological studies.
I create these study guides as part of my regular process of learning, and so I thought I would share them with you. Use them to follow-along with the reading online, or to set up an in-person book club of your own!
Stay up-to-date
I don’t want to send you an email for ever post I make. That’s why I’ve consolidated my posts into two monthly newsletters. But I will be posting reflections regularly, as inspiration hits. If you want to make sure you never miss a post, consider following me on the Substack app.
About the author
Evan Holguin works with non-profits, specializing in fundraising and charitable estate planning. Originally from Santa Clarita, Calif., he now makes his home in coastal New England. Evan is a proud member of the Knights of Columbus and alumnus of the University of Notre Dame.
He is the happy husband of Rose and proud father of Emilia, James and a yet-to-be-named child due this fall.
