10 Last Minute Ways to Give in 2007

One day left! Here are some last minute ways that you can end 2007 in the giving spirit:

1. Get online and make a last minute gift to your favorite charity. Don't have a favorite? Go to Network For Good, type in a keyword (hunger, cancer, children, arts, literacy... you name it!) and they'll give you some examples of great organizations that would be so happy to receive your donation.

2. Hosting a New Year's Eve soiree? Put out a jar, shoebox, or hat with a sign on top, inviting people to donate to XYZ charity. Get the ball rolling by throwing in a few bucks yourself.

3. Clean a couple of old sweaters, hats, or gloves out of the back of your closet and drop them off at a homeless shelter, place of worship, or your local Goodwill or Salvation Army.

4. Give $10 and save 2500 square feet of rainforest! Go to the Arbor Day Foundation right now.

5. Do you listen to your local NPR station every morning? Call them up and make a donation!

6. You know that panhandler that you walk by every day, without giving him money, because you don't believe in giving to people on the street? (I don't either, so no judgment here...) Maybe today, for just ONE day, make an exception. Or buy that person a snack. Or just look them in the eye and say hello - acknowledge them.

7. Give blood. Find a local blood drive (which might be happening in the next few days or few weeks) and sign up for it through the American Red Cross.

8. Visit someone you know who is sick. Or call them on the phone and wish them a happy new year. Visiting the sick is so healing - for the person who is ill and for the visitor.

9. Stop by a local nursing home and drop of a basket of New Year's noisemakers, hats, etc. Or just give a beautiful burst of color with flowers or balloons.

10. Give a special treat to yourself - you deserve it. Really, you do!

Huge Online Giving Efforts Launch Today

In today's Washington Post there is an article about two HUGE online giving efforts that are being launched today.

The Case Foundation (started by AOL Founder Steve Case) is launching America's Giving Challenge, which will challenge everyday Americans to go online, find causes that resonate with them, and give as little as $10. There is a sister effort launching today with Facebook, where users can donate to online through Facebook's "causes" application and can encourage other people in their networks to do the same.

Here's what really excited me:

The Case Foundation is giving away a total of $750,000 in the two online efforts, which start today and end Jan. 31. The people who attract the most friends from their social networks to donate to their cause will get $50,000 to give to charity. The top 100 charities attracting the most online donations will each receive $1,000.

I love this for several reasons:
1. It's good for charities - it will really spread the word about the work they are doing
2. It's good for donors - you can feel a huge sense of empowerment by giving as little as $10.
3. It's good for business - Facebook obviously benefits from this, because people who are publicizing a cause and trying to get their friends to give are going to increase users of, and traffic on, Facebook.

There's a great quote in the Washington Post article from GlobalGiving's Dennis Whittle: "It used to be that if you wanted to give and have an impact, people thought you had to be Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey. But because of the way the technology works, you can be an 'ordinary Oprah.' If you've got $10 or $100 or $1,000, you can come and find a school in Africa to support, and you can get updates from the field to get responses to your support."

It's a win-win-win! You can find more info at http://giving.casefoundation.org/givingchallenge/home

Obama and Dodd talk about volunteerism

I have NOT made up my mind about the next Presidential election, however... I was intrigued to read about Barack Obama's plans to expand service/volunteerism opportunities, including:

• Expand the size of Americorps from 75,000 to 250,ooo positions
• Double the Peace Corps from 7,800 to 16,000 positions by 2011
• A tax credit to pay up to $4,000 in college expenses for students who commit to 100 hours of community service per year

Obama's not the only one talking about service. Senator Christopher Dodd, a former Peace Corps volunteer, has proposed making community service mandatory for high school students, doubling the size of the Peace Corps, and expanding Americorps to 1 million participants.

Read all about it in the Chicago Tribune.

Graffiti of the Philanthropic Class

I can't take credit for the title phrase - I just saw it in a New York Times article by Charles Isherwood (December 2, 2007). In his article, Mr. Isherwood describes how every nook and cranny of cultural buildings these days seem to be scrawled with a donor's name: the staircase, the coat check room, the balconies... are water fountains and bathrooms next?

I found this tidbit particularly hilarious - fundraising so that areas of a building would NOT be named for a donor:

As The Associated Press reported last month, the dean at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business couldn’t find anyone to pony up a cool $50 million to get his or her name on the school. So the dean switched strategies and discovered that several givers were willing to chip in to ensure that, for 20 years at least, the school would not be personally branded, but would instead simply remain the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business (a long enough handle, surely). The non-naming fund eventually reached $85 million.

Donate to your Local Food Bank

An article in today's New York Times (Food Banks, In a Squeeze, Tighten Belts, by Katie Zezima) highlights the severe shortages that food banks all over the country currently are facing.

Ross Fraser, a spokesman for America’s Second Harvest, which distributes more than two billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually, said the shortages at food banks were the worst the organization had seen in 26 years.

“Suddenly it’s on everyone’s radar,” Mr. Fraser said. “Food banks are calling us and saying, ‘My God, we have to get food.’”

Why is this happening? According to the article, there is an unusual combination of factors: rising demand, a sharp drop in federal supplies of excess farm products, and tighter inventory controls that are leaving supermarkets and other retailers with less food to donate.

So, if you are looking for a place to direct your year-end giving, think about your local food bank! Or you could give to a national organization, like America's Second Harvest or Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger.

Measuring Charity's Impact

An amazing study was just released by the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington and the World Bank. "Beyond Charity: Recognizing Return on Investment" measures the economic impacts of nonprofits on the Washington region. According to the study, nonprofits contribute at least $9.6 billion to the local economy, in terms of goods & services and cost savings. The study gives some great, specific examples, such as:

• If 50% of elderly adults who receive in-home care from Jewish Social Services Agency (JSSA) inMaryland were instead placed in nursing homes, the total annual cost would be 15 times higher – or $96 million a year – than the $6 million it costs for JSSA to provide services and keep those 1,000 elders in their homes.
• When the transitional housing program at Friends of Guest House helps a woman released fromprison re-enter society successfully, it costs the community 65% less than if she went back toprison for one year.
• By providing housing for people with mental illness who might otherwise be in hospitals, Cornerstone in DC helps people retain their dignity while saving up to $100,000 per person each year.

You can download the entire study on the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington's website.

Bono - a man on a mission

Nothing starts my Monday morning off right like a Washington Post article about Bono and his philanthropic involvement. From his lobbying activities in DC (DATA - stands for Debt AIDS Trade Africa... 75 employees in DC! Who knew?) to the One Campaign (a more grassroots effort), to his general hobnobbing and dazzling of the most important lawmakers and administration officials in the nation's capital... the man is an inspiration. And, really, that's the secret to his success in the corridors of power - Bono inspires people. With his knowledge, his commitment, and his "star quality." It's really the same with any advocacy and fundraising endeavor. If you inspire people, you can create change.

Changents

I just read about a new (well, maybe not so new!) web site called Changents. It's a social networking site, like Facebook, but for people interested in social change. You can nominate a "Change Agent" to be featured on their site, tell people about Change Agents on the site and start what they call a Ripple Effect, take quick action to support the causes you care about, etc. As they say on their site, they are: " The online stomping ground for Gen X & Y’ers asking tough questions about society and demanding a platform for action." For example, in just 10 minutes on the site, I learned about a woman who is harnessing the power of mobile phones for global change (did you know that in Africa only 5% of the people have internet access, but 60% - 80% have phone access? That's a lot of text messaging! Which people can use for everything from sending messages about elections, to sending educational info about HIV/AIDS, to informing people about elections). I also learned about a carpooling group on Facebook, where people can share rides and help save a few trees. Check it out!

ED in '08

Here's a "candidate" we all can vote for:

ED in '08 is an organization that was formed to ensure that education becomes a top priority in the '08 presidential election. ED in '08 has been getting some press lately because of the ways in which it is reaching out to a wide swath of the voting public - everything from the traditional (buttons, t-shirts, TV ads, newspaper and magazine op-eds) to the tools of the digital age: bolds, email blasts, a web site, and videos on YouTube. They've also got some exciting celebrity endorsers that appeal to a younger market, including rapper Kanye West. Kanye has a short video on the ED in '08 web site that says that 1/2 of all African-Americans and Hispanics in the U.S. do not graduate from high school. Did you know that?

While most almost all non-profits now have web sites, not many of them are using the full array of new media tools at their disposal. Maybe it's not necessary for every market and every cause, but you never know who you will reach with a blog, YouTube video, or posting on Facebook - maybe you'll meet your next big donor.

Hello, Dixie Chicks on line one...

From today's New York Times:

...a team of women who represented the United States at the world bridge championships in Shanghai last month is facing sanctions, including a yearlong ban from competition, for a spur-of-the-moment protest.

At issue is a crudely lettered sign, scribbled on the back of a menu, that was held up at an awards dinner and read, “We did not vote for Bush.”

By e-mail, angry bridge players have accused the women of “treason” and “sedition.”

“This isn’t a free-speech issue,” said Jan Martel, president of the United States Bridge Federation, the nonprofit group that selects teams for international tournaments. “There isn’t any question that private organizations can control the speech of people who represent them."

Not so, said Danny Kleinman, a professional bridge player, teacher and columnist. “If the U.S.B.F. wants to impose conditions of membership that involve curtailment of free speech, then it cannot claim to represent our country in international competition,” he said by e-mail.

Ms. Martel said the action by the team, which had won the Venice Cup, the women’s title, at the Shanghai event, could cost the federation corporate sponsors.

The players have been stunned by the reaction to what they saw as a spontaneous gesture, “a moment of levity,” said Gail Greenberg, the team’s nonplaying captain and winner of 11 world championships.

“What we were trying to say, not to Americans but to our friends from other countries, was that we understand that they are questioning and critical of what our country is doing these days, and we want you to know that we, too, are critical,” Ms. Greenberg said, stressing that she was speaking for herself and not her six teammates.

I'm no lawyer, but I'd love to know whose opinion is legally accurate, Jan Martel's or Danny Kleinman's. It does seem true that a private, non-profit organization could control the speech of those people who represent the organization, while they are speaking as representatives of the organization (in this context, they clearly would be doing so). On the other hand, Mr. Kleinman's comments ring true - if the organization claims to represent the United States in international competition, can they inhibit free speech?