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The Charitable Tightwad

by Mira O'Connell

Volunteering

Donations

Financial Contributions

The recent fires in my state reminded me of how grateful I am for all that I have. Even for people on a tight budget, charity still can be an option.

Volunteering

You and your children can help those less fortunate and great causes by volunteering your time. Almost any Nonprofit Organization will gladly accept volunteer time. Call your favorite charity and offer your services. If you do not have a particular charity here are a few ideas. Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry. They seek to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Habitat invites people of all backgrounds, races and religions to build houses together in partnership with families in need. Two other volunteer ideas are at your local Food Bank. or Soup Kitchen. You can do a Volunteer Search to find organizations that need help in your area.

Volunteering is a wonderful way to help out your community. Involving your children in volunteering teaches them to have consideration, gratitude and selflessness. It is also time the whole family can share together.

Donations

Another great way to help is to donate items to organizations. Many organizations take donations of food, clothing, household goods, and even cars. Some organizations such as, The Salvation Army, will even pick up the item.

You can also organize a food (or other donation) drive in your neighborhood, school... to help a family or community that has survived a disaster. Contact local churches or business to have them donate space, vehicles for pick ups, a kitchen for preparing food and much more.

If you are healthy and between the ages of 17-65 Another important way to help is to donate Blood. You might also look into donating your Organs upon death.

Financial Contributions

There are many ways to donate financially to organizations without writing out a check. Many long distance companies like, Working Assets, donate a portion of your phone bill to charities. Working Assets also offers online shopping and visa cards that donate a portion of your purchases to a charity. Other companies like Target allow you to name a school or charity that will receive a portion of your purchases. Of course to be truly thrifty, you would need to pay any credit card balances by the grace period to avoid finance charges, but the organizations will still receive a percentage.

Another great way to indirectly donate to charities is to donate the points you receive in your Incentive Programs. You can shop, surf and earn points that can be donated.

You can also of course directly donate funds to organizations. Allocate a certain amount in your budget for charities and school fundraisers and stick with them. If you come across a great cause make it the charity you donate to in your next budget cycle. I know it sounds easy but when setting your budget try to really think about all the fundraising that comes up - your nephew's fundraiser, the annual drive at work, etc. If your company offers direct donation deductions from your check, that is a great way to give because it is before taxes. Also many companies offer dollar for dollar donation matching. You can also donate online to hundreds of charities thru websites such as Giveforchange.com and Greatergood.com. Giveforchange matches contributions to certain organizations as well. You can also bequeath money to charities in your last will and testament.

It is wise to do a little investigation into the charity to which you choose to make a donation. Request a copy of the organizations annual report, or view it online, to see how they allocate their funds. Eventhough administrative costs are inevitable, you want the majority of your donation to go to actually helping the cause. For example the WWF spent only 11% of their budget towards fundraising and administration while the other 89% went towards their worldwide conservation program in 1999. Remember, if you itemize your tax deductions any donation of money or goods to charities (not political) can be tax deductible. Make sure the charity gives you a receipt.

One of my favorite Charities is The Lama Foundation