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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
How do you chose?
Brent and I do some donating but nothing of any significance. But we would like to start now that we are in a place where we can financially afford to do more. We would even like to help out with fundraisers etc...
but our question is, how do you chose?! There are SOO many AMAZING charities out there. Cancer is one that is close to our hearts (my Grandpa passed away from this), Parkinson's Disease (another Grandpa) Alexander's Disease (our little Nick), ASPCA, Salvation Army (HUGE help during the flood of 97)...all of them would be wonderful. I just have no idea how to even chose one over the other. I feel like no matter what I chose, it will be the "wrong" choice?!
Re: How do you chose?
I don't think there is a wrong choice. I think you just pick one and go with it. Maybe change it up every year. So one year donate to X and next year donate to Y, etc. I might also consider donating to one that gets the least amount of attention or is less well known, if that makes sense. Maybe it's important to you that your money stay within your community so you are helping people local to you.
Kuddo's to you and Brent for making the choice to donate. No matter which one you choose, you will be making a difference, so good for you.
we choose charities we have ties to.
Our biggest donations every year go to the ALS association (we're very involved, and they were a huge help when my grandpa was battling it), and the humane society, because we're huge animal lovers.
I agree with PP, pick something that's close to your heart...and I liked Loveablesarah's idea to alternate years. I know places really depend on those donations but you have to figure out what works for you and if that means alternating years then so be it.
FWIW, my passion is MN Sheltie Rescue, and this weekend we'll be shopping at Linder's to support them...so getting pretty flowers and supporting my love for Shelties, that's another way to help.
A lot of getting involved with a nonprofit has to do with your connection to the people running the organization. You can love an organization, but if you don't love the way you're treated by staff and other volunteers, it'll be tough. Every organization runs committees and fundraisers differently, and you're likely to find some you like better than others.
I would reach out to two or three of the organizations you're interested in and see what their options for involvement are. You'll get a sense just from the way in which they communicate which one is right for you.
Good luck!
Another thing to consider is the financial health of the charity and how they spend money. You might want to donate to a charity that spends more of their money on services vs. administrative and other costs. I know there's a website out there that evaluates this but I can't remember the name off the top of my head. Hopefully someone else will know. Otherwise the organization should be able to give you that info or they may have it on their website.
Ultimately, I don't think there's a wrong choice. Janell's idea is a good one or you could donate smaller amounts every year to the ones that are close to your heart. Also consider that you could donate to one and volunteer if you have the time or attending galas, silent auctions or other fundraising events for others.
Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.
I agree with PPs that you should choose something close to your heart. And if there's several you're considering, check them out or rotate the one you donate to every year. I would definitely reach out to the ones you are interested in and see what responses you get.
I chose the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society this year because my dad is currently battling Lymphoma and going through chemotherapy. A group of us are participating in a walk this fall and I am organizing a fundraiser this summer. This was an important cause to me because it has hit me very close to home.
my read shelf:
501c3 organizations have to file a Form 990 where they disclose their finances. That can be found at the state attorney general's website. ND must have something like that were you can look up the charitable organization and see if they're in goodstanding and active.
We donate every year to the shelter in Indiana where we adopted Rusty from. We also donate to Pet Project Rescue here (we know the person that started it), the American Diabetes Association (my niece has diabetes) and occasionally to the American Cancer Society.
I found charitynavigator.org to be helpful when I first started donating money. It was a hard choice. In the end DH and I each chose one charity that is close to our hearts.
Keep in mind many charities have a political agenda. The Salvation Army is pro-life and does not allow gay people (and advises homosexuals live a celebate life). United Way is pro-choice.
Also, I find it very rewarding to donate in other ways. I like to give food items to food banks, toiletries and some luxuries to womens' shelters, and care packages to troops overseas. I used to volunteer for a food bank in Milwaukee, but I haven't even started looking for one here. Maybe in a couple months I'll have my own head above water and can start up again!
It is really hard to choose. The idea to alternate charities and donate to different ones each year is a good one.
We just couldn't choose, so we donate to a lot of places, but perhaps give smaller donations than if we were putting all our donations toward one place. Like, instead of giving $500 or whatever to one organization, you could give $100 each to 5 organizations.
Have you seen the show "Secret Millionaire"? The premise of the show is that a wealthy person goes into a struggling neighborhood and looks for charities to volunteer for for a week. At the end of the week, they donate $100,000 (or sometimes more) to the charities they've been involved with that week, and they always struggle with how to divide up the money. They have to consider which charity serves the most people, makes the biggest impact, uses their resources the best, etc.
While what people like you and me are doing is on a much smaller scale because we're not millionaires, it's the same process. Maybe getting involved with some of the charities as a volunteer (on a one-time or regular basis) will tell you more about them and help you decide if you'd like to send your money there.
Mr. Sammy Dog