We’ve been talking a lot about charitable orgs lately on Taxgirl.com – due in large part to a great session that I attended at BlogHer.
This week, one of the bloggers on the business channel, Miki over at Leadership Turn, gave us the heads up on an organization called Any Soldier that helps provide care packages and other items for our soldiers (you can see more about what they do here). Miki’s thoughts were, more or less, whether you support the war or not, this was a good cause.
Miki’s email got me to thinking… I talk a lot about charitable organizations on taxgirl.com and how taxpayers can benefit from making donations. So why not give taxpayers the opportunity to talk about which organizations they choose to support?
So here’s your chance! Tell me which charitable organizations you support or feel are worth supporting – and why if you feel like it. You can include any web links to the organizations that you wish. The ONLY caveat is that it must have tax exempt (501c3) status in the US or the equivalent status abroad. (For the benefit of my readers, most of whom live in the US or Canada, please note the origin of any charity which does not have US status.)
I’ll go first. I tend to support mostly local charities. We support the Morris Arboretum and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society because I’m a gardening geek. We also donate to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Franklin Institute and the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences because I think supporting our local museums is important. We contribute to programs through the Union League of Philadelphia – each year, in particular, my good friend and I spend far too much money at the Ladies’ Luncheon in support of the good work of the Ladies’ Auxiliary (there may be a cocktail or two involved in that one but don’t tell my mother). We also donate to our local church, St. Timothys, our local public television station (I’d be lost without Super WHY so I have to give back somehow) and support our local YMCA.
I hate buying stuff from local schools and churches for their fundraisers, so I usually just make a donation to them instead of buying sausages and gift wrap. More money goes to the charity that way – and the kids don’t have to lug around buckets of cookie dough and melting chocolate bars.
It’s easy to donate “stuff” if you don’t have cash to give, or don’t feel like it. I donate my used cell phones (yes, plural, I’m terrible with them, no mocking me, please) to T-Mobile’s cell re-use program and we donate our used computers to charities which refurbish them for schools and work study programs. We donate used clothes and toys to our local Salvation Army and books to the local library.
I think the only “non-local” charity we really support is the National Trust for Historic Preservation. And of course, this year, I also donated to Accion as part of the b5media Blog Off.
I guess it looks like a lot on paper but it’s really not. We spread our dollars around rather than focus on one particular organization, only cause it’s our style.
I’m also trying to teach my children to have a charitable spirit – this is something that I am very grateful to have learned from my mother and I think it’s important to remind my children how lucky we are. In particular, I try to take them by Alex’ Lemonade Stand whenever it’s in town.
So what about you? What do you support? Or which charities do you recommend?
I like local as well, we donate to the local Chaffee zoo, but on the bigger scale, my favorite is Smile Train which gives kids (mostly in foreign countries) with cleft lips/palates, plastic surgery so they can go through life without being stared at and ostrosized(sp). I also like the Nature Conservancy, and the SPCA. One other place I donate to is Kiva.org, which takes your money and loans it interest free to people in need of small business loans (again, mostly in 3rd world nations where $500 can make or break a person). The money get’s paid back in monthly installments over the next 6-12 months and you can then reinvest it with other people trying to make a life for themselves. You don’t need to finance one person’s entire loan either, you can give as little as like 20 bucks, and Kiva pools your money with others for each individual loan request that you want to fund. Something like 99% of the loans are paid back, and it’s not charity, it’s a way for people to dig themselves out of poverty with hard work and an influx of cash to get started with, it’s a great idea.
I also support local charities; my favorite is Forget Me Not Animal Shelter, http://forgetmenotshelter.org
Most people don’t realize that donations to large out-of-area organizations like the ASPCA do NOT “trickle down” to local shelters; these local shelters rely on help from donors in their neighborhoods. Without a celebrity sponsor or national attention, small local organizations often exist day to day, and really need help from those in the communities they serve.
If you are bad with cell phones, try Cell Phones for Soldiers. http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/ They turn used cell phones into calling cards for soldiers over seas to call home. I know that most Liberty Tax offices collect for them.
Worldwide: Kiva.org
Nationwide: donorschoose.org, which allows teachers to submit what they need for their classrooms. You can search geographically or by other criteria. Last Fall, we helped fund two projects and received pictures from the classes and personalized thank you notes from the kids.
Local (north of Seattle WA): HousingHope.org