Tag: Donation

3 Things To Do Before You Donate Money

On December 5, 2018

The holiday season is a joyous time for many, but not for all. Many organizations and nonprofits are always looking for additional resources or monetary donations to stay running. If you are in the market to donate this year, follow these tips to ensure that your gift makes the impact you want.

Research, Research, Research

This point cannot be stressed enough. Start by researching the types of causes that you want to help. If you are interested in helping animals in need, consider looking into the World Wildlife Fund. The WWF helps conserves animal habitats and endangered species. If you are more interested in helping children around the world obtain their education, then you might want to look into Pencils of Promise. Find an organization that makes an impact that aligns with your goals.

Once you find an organization, the next step would be to research it. If you don’t know where to look, go to their website or do a simple search online. Read up on how they have helped communities through the press. Otherwise, look for articles online explicitly saying how they have impacted the industry they are helping. Don’t donate without doing your research.

The last thing that you want to do is evaluate their finances. You want to review how much of the donations are being used for their intended cause versus the amount being spent on advertising or salaries. Find an organization that makes the most impact for your contribution. If you are in a rush and unable to page through a company’s annual financial report, use CharityWatch, an online website that reports how efficient an organization is with their donations.

Ask For Recommendations

If you are looking to donate within your community, seek advice from trusted family members and friends. They can share their experiences or viewpoints on local organizations. If there is a very specific or niche target you want to donate to, get insight from community professionals. For example, ask your doctor for organizations they would recommend for specific disorders or diseases. When you get multiple viewpoints, you can make an informed decision easier.

Donate Items Or Time

While donating money will help keep the organization’s doors open, remember that you can also give goods or your time. There are many elements to ensuring that a cause stays open. For example, cleaning supplies, and office supplies are always needed. Many organizations need help distributing their resources to the community or organizing their business. Donating your time is crucial and easy to do. The less the organization has to spend on items or paying a wage, the better they can help their community.

Any organization that you donate your money, resources or time to will be grateful. Don’t sell yourself short if your budget is “too small,” or you feel you could have done more. The holiday season is a time for giving and you have made an enormous impact already.

Common Myths Surrounding Philanthropy

By Philip Burroughs

On October 2, 2018

In Cancer Research, Philanthropy, Philip Burroughs

Philanthropy is a way to improve our planet and society. Many people love to use the term, but few people truly know what philanthropy actually is. Because of this, philanthropy has gotten something of a bad reputation. There are so many different myths surrounding the topic today, and in order to help dispel some of those myths, I’m going to see if I can set the record straight.

Charities Only Serve the Poor

Many people quickly assume that the term charity means you are giving money to the poor. While a great deal of charitable organizations do focus on providing assistance to those who are in unfortunate financial situations, not all charities exclusively work with the poor. The amount of diversity between charities is quite impressive. Charity specialities range anywhere from health services to scientific research. If you’re interested in donating to a charity that doesn’t benefit the poor, there are several options for you.

Charitable Giving Only Happens Because of Tax Incentives

You’ve probably all heard of the myth that the world’s billionaires donate heaps of money in order to reap even more through tax incentives. Not only is that myth flat out false, but the world’s wealthiest people are not necessarily the most charitable. In fact, more low-to-middle-income citizens donate to charity than wealthy citizens. That’s right, these low-income households are donating to charities more than wealthy households, and they don’t often take advantage of the US’ tax incentive system. Believe it or not, but many people give to charity because it is the right thing to do.

Supporting a Charity is Easy

As much as I wish this was the case, finding a single charity to donate to and support can be rather difficult. Not only are there over one million registered charities in the US, but finding compelling statistics to know exactly where your money is going is not always easy. Finding a worthwhile, trusted charity to donate to requires research. Unfortunately, not everyone wants to do that research, but if you take the time to do the leg work, it will be well worth it. Utilize sources like GiveWell to find charities that are actually effective.

Philip Burroughs How to Donate To Your Community

The Most Unexpected Ways to Donate to Your Community

By Philip Burroughs

On May 15, 2018

In Philanthropy, Philip Burroughs

People who give back to their community show that they care about helping it thrive. Check out some of the most unexpected ways to donate to the community below.

Give Goods
Many people have an excess of goods in their homes, whether that is clothes, electronics, books or something else. Do not throw out the items. Donate them to a community organization, reuse center or a charity like Goodwill. Give the items another life and keep them out of the landfill. Donating goods also helps the environment. People who donate their goods clean out their homes and closets, which can make room for things that they need, and want, to store. Finally, there is nothing quite like the satisfaction that one gets when they clean out their old belongings. The start of a new season is a convenient time to do this.
Give Time
Some community members donate their time through volunteering. People can find and take time to volunteer even if they are busy with other things such as work or school. Many places offer one-day events that need volunteers. Those with more time could opt to teach a class, tutor or take on other tasks for a nonprofit or community organization. United Way and other databases can give an idea of some organizations and volunteer projects that need to be completed. People who want to volunteer keep their interests, schedules and goals in mind when they help to make the greatest impact they can.
Give Money
Have too much going on to volunteer? If so, spread the wealth by giving to those committed to the greater good. Whether it is a campaign, team, school, organization or cause, money helps these things survive and flourish. According to the National Philanthropic Trust, Americans gave $390.05 billion in 2016, a 4.2 percent increase from the previous year. Corporate and foundation giving each rose 3.5 percent, to $18.55 billion and $58.28 billion, respectively. Individuals were the largest source of charitable giving at $281.86 billion, which accounted for 72 percent. Ready to join them? Consider giving some of the year’s earnings. Here is a list of some different places to donate funds.
Give goods, time, and or money and help make a community a better place in which to live. Give back today!

Dolly Parton Has Donated Her 100 Millionth Book

By Philip Burroughs

On March 20, 2018

In Philanthropy, Philip Burroughs

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library was honored by a special ceremony at the Library of Congress on March 1 when that event also became a kick-off for a new initiative between the two. Beginning this month (March), for the next six months, the Library of Congress’ Young Readers Center will present a monthly program for children throughout the USA with a story time featuring music and guests. It will be shared by live-streaming to libraries across the nation.

At the March 1 event, Dolly shared the special presentation and story time on her Facebook page by reading from her children’s book, “Coat of Many Colors.”

Dolly is known as “The Book Lady.” Her nonprofit organization was founded in 1995 in Dolly’s home area of Sevier County, Tennessee. In 2002, the Native American Communities were added. By the end of its first ten years, it had sent one million free, high-quality books to children in participating communities throughout the world by mailing them to young readers from their birth to their start in Kindergarten, regardless of their family’s income. Now they have celebrated sending out the 100 millionth book.

The Imagination Library has committed to inspiring a lifelong love for reading in young people, helping them succeed in academic endeavors, and aiding in shaping the next generation of readers, philanthropists, and writers. The program sends out the books across the United States, launched into Canada in 2006, into the United Kingdom in 2007, added audio and Braille Books in 2011, and went into Australia in 2013. In 2016, the Imagination Library began sending out the amazing number of one million books every month. In 2017, the official Dolly Parton license plate was made available in Tennessee to benefit the Imagination Library.

This extraordinary gift to humankind provides opportunities for children everywhere to have fun and engaging reading experiences and enrich their lives.

Dolly has made headlines for her philanthropy many times. For example, in 2016, after fires wreaked a great deal of destruction in Tennessee, her home state, where the fires also claimed the lives of seven people, the singer’s foundation, My People, donated over $8 million to families that were affected by that tragedy. Every month, Dolly donated $1,000 to each homeless family, and eventually survivors received an average of $10,000.

Bill Gates Donates $100 Million to Help Find a Cure For Alzheimer’s

By Philip Burroughs

On December 19, 2017

In Cancer Research, Philanthropy, Philip Burroughs

There is no question that Bill Gates is one brilliant individual. Fortunately, if there is one by-product from a man that has made billions it would be the fact that he is actually one generous person. His latest useful endeavor is to donate $100 million towards research to find a cure for Alzheimer’s.

It goes without saying that Alzheimer’s is a terrible disease. At last count, it had stolen the memories and intellect of over 47 million Americans. Those statistics continue to rise simply because there is no known cure for the disease. Luckily for us, Bill Gates is trying to change that.

For Gates, the main focus of this most recent act of philanthropy is to fund the Dementia Discovery Fund, which is a group dedicated to some of the more out-of-the-box ideas behind why this disease is so consistently devastating. This group is also dedicated to looking at the immune system of the brain for clues on how this disease is able to flourish. Perhaps most interestingly, this is the first time that Gates has donated money to fund research into a noncommunicable disease. Normally, the Microsoft tycoon usually has done a lot of work through his foundation regarding HIV, Malaria and Polio just to name a few.

For scientists, finding a cure to a devastating disease is practically the holy grail. Individuals can spend whole careers dedicated to studying just one disease. Funding for the development of new drugs for a disease can be a serious roadblock to an already daunting process. This is one of the reasons why Gates’ donation is so important.

Another reason is because of the immense amount of failed trials regarding the new drugs for treating this disease. Gates knows there have been many failed trials, so his funding will go to helping new trials to development. He is also hoping that a new emphasis will be placed on Alzheimer’s research simply because there are currently very few drugs that treat the disease specifically, only drugs that treat memory loss or confusion.

Scientists know there are a lot of biomarkers that can be found in individuals that later develop Alzheimer’s. One of the things Bill Gates hopes his donation will do is spur researchers to look outside the box and spur the development of medications that can taken as a preventative measure. For instance, you wouldn’t give someone Lipitor to prevent a heart attack; it would already be too late. With Gates’ donation, there is none too soon now a much better chance that new drugs will develop to make Alzheimer’s a thing of the past.