Donating to Charity, there are things you need to consider as well
There are numerous good causes that need help, and many ways to make a difference by donating to charity. A few people I know simply donate whenever they’re informed of a cause that seems right or whenever they get the notion to give a charitable contribution. When these folks are canvassed on the street by some earnest looking college kid, they inevitably stop to hear what the kid has to say. The canvassers may be soliciting contributions for the environment, to fight poverty, to help education, or for one of any number of different causes. If the cause sounds right and money is not overly tight, spur of the moment donors will hand a couple of bucks over.
My parents taught me a very different philosophy towards donating to charity. Simply put, they are planners. My parents pointed out that the cause is not the only thing you should consider with charitable donations. There are some organizations, after all, that work for excellent causes but only actually use a small amount of your money to help those causes. The rest of the money is used for administrative costs or for profit. If you do all your donating to charity at the spur of the moment rather than checking over different groups and planning your contributions, you never know whether your donations are mostly going to help the cause you have contributed to, or to make money for some company.
Recently, I have been taking my charitable donations a little bit more deeply than even my parents do; I have been donating my time. I have been participating in a river cleanup group for the past six months and, just recently, I began helping out at a food bank. To me, donating to charity this way is a little bit more meaningful; instead of just throwing money at a cause and blanking out about it, I actually put my time and work into making a positive change that I believe in. I find it a lot more personally rewarding, which is important to me.
Regardless which approach you take to donating to charity, it’s important to stay open to new organizations and new perspectives.
Many people approach donations to charity the same way they approach buying rice or new jeans; they find a brand that they like and, year after year, stick to it. With innovative new charities popping up all the time, however, I think it is crucial to hear a pitch from groups you don’t know. That is why, if a canvasser comes up to me, I will always listen to what he has to say. If his charity sounds interesting, I won’t give a donation right then. Instead, I will research the charity in my free time and, possibly, give them some money a bit later. That way, I know everything I need to know about the organization before I cough up any of my hard-earned bread.
