Giving for V-Day

For Valentine’s Day this year, I am going to propose to the Guy that instead of buying each other cheesy gifts, that we donate to a charity of our choice. I’ve donated to the Alzheimer’s Association in the past, and I’m considering that organization again. It might be nice to select an agricultural-based social enterprise start-up, since I’ve been reading a lot about those lately. So I started surfing around on charitynavigator.org and smartgivers.org – two great resources to evaluate where your dollars go furthest. My two additional honorable mentions are going to be FINCA International (a microlender dedicated to ending rural poverty) and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, both of which were rated very highly on Charity Navigator. Looking at these sites does make you think about what your giving principles are based on. I do believe in institutional fixes and organizations devoted to lasting change rather than band-aids or disaster-relief organizations (not that they don’t good work). But beyond that, I’m not sure if I know of any other great criteria for selection other than low administrative costs and the like. Does anyone have a more thoughtful process for who they allocate funds to for charitable giving?

What I'm Learning from Dog Adoptions this December

I’ve recently started volunteering at my area Animal Humane Society, facilitating adoptions of abandoned dogs, which has been significantly more fulfilling than I expected. I am no animal activist, by any means. In my entrance interview even, I stumbled over the questions regarding what part of animal rights I was most concerned about. Umm, general animal cruelty? I wasn’t even sure of what the options were for such a question. I was motivated by a fond feeling of nostalgia for the string of miniature dauschands our family had growing up, as well as, yet another hare-brained business idea of the Guy and I’s (a doggie day care which would be based on the premises of big companies, much like the actual day care service that many large companies already provide). So far I’ve been truly impressed by the charming, devoted people I’ve interacted with as well as the professionalism and well-oiled engine of the AHS.

Two observations on volunteering around this time of year:

ONE. I’ve found the benefits of volunteering at such an organization with such a clear, simple, single-minded mission blissfully uncomplicated. Sure – Darfur, Iraqi refugee, and women’s or immigrant rights funds may be more politically important and impactful in our society. But no one really disagrees that Fido shouldn’t be abused, and witnessing the love and real connection and meaning that an animal can bring to a somewhat haphazard or lonely set of owners, is really quite majestic – in a small, authentic way. As a poet friend of mine always says, ‘What a good and fine thing it is to do a good and fine thing.’

TWO. This experience is helping correct my unasked personal stance that in the whole ‘Time vs. Money’ debate on charitable giving, your money is far more impactful. After experiencing this organization’s operations, in this case, it really does seem that giving of my time and energies provides them maximum benefit, and leaves me devoid of angst over the absolutism of the financial experience of charitable giving (one unaltered number, un-wishy-washy: can I afford this?, is it too much?, Is it nearly enough?)

United Way Charitable Giving

This year I’m begrudgingly accepting the coordinator position for my company’s United Way campaign, and this morning was the rally. So this means I’ll be leading a giving campaign for 200+ people. The giving levels are pretty good, actually. As an incentive, they give you a free vacation day if you give at one of two levels:

The Love-Share Level – Give .7% of you income. For me this would be about $20 bucks deducted from each paycheck, or $40 a month. I think this might be a little out of my reach, right now.

The Goal-Share Level – Give 12% more than you gave last year, and also at least .5% of your income. Which for me, would be $12 out of my paycheck or $24 bucks a month.

This is certainly more doable. But I like the flexibility to give to other things throughout the year – my coworkers cancer research walk, the Alzheimer’s fund around Christmas in memory of my grandmother. More money to the Obama campaign in the next month, for sure. I don’t like having to say no to giving down the road. So I decided I would give $8 per paycheck, or $16 a month, for a total of around $200. And in the end, this is actually double what I gave last year, so I still feel good about increasing my giving levels as my income grows.