Giving back
Before we dive into expressing complex motivations, let's look at some helpful vocabulary for talking about charity work and volunteering, such as involucrarse (to get involved) and recaudar (to raise money).
| My sister is a volunteer who always gets involved. | Mi hermana es una voluntaria que siempre se involucra. |
| The boy raises money for a good cause. | El chico recauda dinero para una buena causa. |
Contrasting reasons: no porque... sino porque
When talking about altruistic acts, people might assume you have a specific motive. To clarify your true motivation by first denying a false assumption, use the structure no porque... sino porque... ("not because... but because...").
Because the first reason is not your actual motivation—making it a hypothetical or "non-reality" in this context—the verb following no porque must be in the subjunctive.
The second reason is your true motivation. Since you are declaring it as a fact, the verb following sino porque takes the indicative.
| I work in the NGO not because I have time, but because I believe in volunteering. | Trabajo en la ONG no porque tenga tiempo, sino porque creo en el voluntariado. |
Notice in the example above that the denied reason uses the subjunctive (tenga), while the real reason uses the indicative (creo).
| He raises money not because he likes to ask, but because the cause matters. | Él recauda dinero no porque le guste pedir, sino porque la causa importa. |
| I get involved not because it is easy, but because I want to contribute. | Me involucro no porque sea fácil, sino porque quiero contribuir. |
| We help not because we have a lot of money, but because we are altruistic. | Ayudamos no porque tengamos mucho dinero, sino porque somos altruistas. |
