Unifying causes

The cause that connected us

Our young adult children were raised to know and love Jesus, and each has developed unique perspectives shaped by their own experiences and relationships.

My husband and I have long been deeply committed to pro-life causes. As our daughters grew older, however, we discovered that their passions often centered on different issues—wrongful incarceration, poverty alleviation, and other social justice concerns. We faced a choice familiar to many parents: Would we remain focused solely on the causes closest to our hearts, or would we create space for our children to pursue the causes that mattered most to them?

We chose both.

We remained committed to the convictions God had placed on our hearts while also supporting our kids’ interests through small grants and opportunities to engage in causes they cared about. That approach honored their individual passions, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that generosity could be more than a collection of separate interests. I believed it could become a source of connection and unity for our family.

Around that time, I began learning about the global water crisis and its far-reaching impact on nearly every aspect of life—health, education, economic opportunity, women’s empowerment, and vulnerability to trafficking. As I shared what I was learning, our family began asking questions, exploring the issue together, and discovering why it mattered.

What emerged surprised me.

Safe water became a cause that resonated with each of us for different reasons. For some, it connected to human dignity and health. For others, it aligned with education, poverty alleviation, or justice. One cause created multiple points of connection, allowing each family member to see their own values reflected in a shared mission.

Today, our family is united around the cause of safe water. It hasn’t replaced the other causes we care about, nor should it. But it has given us a common purpose—a place where our individual passions intersect and where we can make an impact together.

Every family gets here differently

For some, this work of finding a shared cause starts early, in the busy years of raising young kids amid packed calendars. For others, it comes later—after a business transition, a retirement, or a season that finally slows down enough to ask harder questions. Wherever your family is on that journey, generosity can serve as a catalyst for these conversations, helping you identify shared values and create a legacy together.

Framework to find your cause:

• Start with stories. Stories reveal patterns. Patterns reveal the causes.
  • Where has our family personally seen brokenness?
  • When have we felt our hearts stirred, angry, or deeply moved?
  • What injustice or need do we repeatedly discuss?
• Identify shared values. Root causes often flow from belief about dignity.
  • What do we believe everyone deserves?
  • What makes us say, “That shouldn’t be happening”?
  • If we could ensure one thing for every family in the world, what would it be?
• Consider the root after recognizing the symptoms. Don’t just react, resolve.
  • What’s underneath the problem we see?
  • What upstream factors create the downstream crisis?
• Consider your family’s wiring and strengths. Sometimes cause sits at the intersection of burden and capability.
  • How has God uniquely wired us?
  • Do we love strategy, direct service, advocacy, mentoring, and innovation?
  • Do we like local impact or global work?

As we engage with donors at The Signatry, we encounter families at many different stages of life and levels of engagement.

A shared cause creates cohesion and enthusiasm, not tension. Take time to evaluate where your individual passions overlap. What is something you can all get excited about? It doesn’t have to become everyone’s highest priority, just something everyone can align around. Joy will come in having a shared cause, and a unified voice. Passion will grow around that unity.

I believe alignment is possible for families in every season of life. It begins with a desire for unity, a willingness to listen, and the humility to recognize that shared purpose is often discovered, not dictated. When families create space to hear one another’s hearts, generosity can become more than something they do—it can become something that draws them together.

Where might your family’s individual passions find common ground?

Root Causes and Ripple Effects walks through four causes we see families rally around—and the questions that can help you find yours.