Know Before You Go

Good Advice for Surfing and Practicing Effective Philanthropy

by Jeffrey R. Pickering

“ KNOW BEFORE YOU

GO. ” This is the motto of Surfline.com, the world’s most dependable online resource for up-to-date surfing forecasts from across the planet. Living on the beach with instant access to Surfline’s mobile app, I often forget that there was a time during my high school days when a check of the waves at Sebastian or Fort Pierce Inlet required a two-hour drive from my childhood home in Winter Park. Sometimes we would get lucky, arriving at the beach to see corduroy on the horizon, promising a day filled with long rides and positive vibes. Most times, however, the ocean would be flat, leading to disappointment and a quiet ride home. Not a very effective way to spend hard-earned gas money or a precious Saturday.

Now that I’m older and wiser, I find that “Know before you go” is a useful guideline in other areas of my life as well. Time & Treasure, the 2022 Guide to Better Giving, published in partnership between Indian River Community Foundation and Vero Beach Magazine, is our community’s resource for finding, learning about and giving to effective local charities. Together with Indian River Community Foundation’s online Nonprofit Search, the Guide to Better Giving provides donors and volunteers with the ability to “know before you give” your time, talent or treasure.

A good day surfing depends on several conditions, many of which can be found at your fingertips by searching Surfline.com. Information about wave height, swell direction, wind direction, water temperature and water quality helps surfers determine where to surf, what board to ride or whether a wetsuit or surf trunks are needed. Better surfing happens when the right conditions align to produce long rides that can be celebrated with friends for days and years to come.

A good ride with charitable giving or volunteering depends on the same sort of details. Having accurate and reliable information about a charity’s board of directors, management, finances and programs helps donors determine which specific organization to give to, what program to support, how much to give, and what results will be accomplished. Better giving happens when our values align with those of organizations that carefully steward charitable investments to deliver meaningful impact.

Much of that information can be found on the pages that follow and on the Community Foundation’s online Nonprofit Search. Additional information about opening your own charitable giving account or making a planned gift from your estate can be found at www. ircommunityfoundation.org.

Whatever cause inspires you, I encourage you to use these resources to “know before you go.” I invite you to “get on board” and give generously. Cowabunga!

JEFFREY R. PICKERING President and CEO Indian River Community Foundation