When you know what your Big Why is, it can drive you to get out of bed every morning to do the things that are important to you. For Jarrett Caldwell of Hampton Roads, Virginia, he’s grown his business over the past decade from his direct desire to give back to the community. In fact, coming from contribution is the driving force for his success and sets the tone for his entire year from day one.

Jarrett’s 7 Key Pieces of Advice for Giving Where you Live

1. Start small. You don’t have to start with an audacious goal. The important thing about giving back is to find a cause you’re passionate about.

2. Think about what’s possible. Jarrett starts each year with the question, “ How much do we want to give back this year?” Then, he plans out his year around how to make the giving goal plausible. When Jarrett first began structuring his business plan around a goal for giving back, he had never donated more than $9,000 in a year. Reaching his larger giving goals required a bigger commitment to the end goal.

3. Work backward. When using the Economic Model from The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, Jarrett starts with the goal of giving back instead of how much he wants to net. Then, he uses the data about his average sales price and commission to determine his transaction goal he has to meet for the year to reach his giving goal. This year, for example, Jarrett needs to close 55 deals to achieve his giving goal.

4. Determine how you want your funds to be used. It’s your money. You can set the boundaries and expectations around how you want your funds to be used.

5. Do your due diligence around the charities you want to give to. Does the organization have a way to receive the funds? Do they provide proper documentation around what you’ve donated? Jarrett wants to ensure his money goes to a direct project and is not just put into an account for later use. This ensures he knows the direct impact of his contributions.

6. Satisfy a specific need. Jarrett requires that he has decision-making power around how the money is going to be used. This means finding out about the projects a charity is undertaking and choosing what initiatives to be part of. For example, he’ll ask that his donations go to a specific blanket or food drive of a charity. Jarrett has also asked to take care of the largest bill of his church, the mortgage payment, and paid for that for a couple months. By directing how his money is to be used, he ensures the funds are going to good use.

7. Give as you get. Don’t hold onto the money you plan to give until the end of the year. Jarrett found that when he donated funds quarterly or annually, he didn’t have as much say on how it was going to be used. To absolve this problem, he now gives with every transaction.

Giving back to your community is an important aspect of many people’s lives. And when you can strategically plan how to make your giving goals a reality from the get-go, there are so many more lives you can touch in the process. How do you give back?

Inspire members, download Jarrett’s charitable take on the economic model. Not an Inspire member? Find out how to become one here.