Charities Blog

Giving Something Back

Charities May Need Security As Well

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With the hard times upon us, no one is spared from the hardships of earning a living and surviving in this world. With that said, you have to wonder if religious organizations and charities need the aid of security protection as well as with their open “door policy”, practically anyone can come in.

The churches have had the benefit of being watched over and it would not be surprising if charities would follow suit. It would not be surprising if evil eyes would monitor charity organizations and their activities since we all know that money comes to them from the free will and voluntary acts of citizens aiming for a good cause. Has humanity lost its mind in targeting the religious and goodwill organizations as well? It really should not be surprising.

For one, there are people who are becoming desperate these days. They need money to survive and feed their families. Bad or good, the only important thing for them right now is providing. If they can get away with it, then it would be good for them. But in case they don’t, well at least they tried. They would live a better life in prison with full meals would they not?

The mentality seems to be deranged. But the fact is that unless something subtle comes up, people are always at the edge of their seats. They continue to hope and pray but apparently most of them are unanswered. So with that in mind, the only thing left right now is to protect the organizations operating for a good cause. Now that is something we never thought would be seen before.

Fewer Donations Coming in This Year

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Is it surprising to note that donations that are usually aplenty once the holidays are nearing are dwindling in numbers? Considering the state of the world today, it should not really be surprising. People are having a hard time coping with the economic crisis and before good deeds can be done, they have to look out for their own means of survival.

This is not an act of being selfish. Times are really hard and the charity groups just have to accept that fact. Over the years more charities have been blessed with donation in the form of money and in kind but today, the best they can hope for are perhaps in kind donations.

In kind means of course stuff like used clothes or even gadgets that are no longer in use. While many of these charities need money to finance their operating expenses, the best they can do is perhaps to conserve or cut down on some of them.

There is the issue of food allocation as well, a part that is sure to be affected. Rising prices are not helping and surely, a lot of cuts will be done. Until the economic issues stabilize, everyone is affected and this includes the good causes.

Charities mean well but it needs the support of generous donors. But while they cannot be forced, it remains that people are not hesitant to share. The factors affecting giving is just something that they cannot override at this point.

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Lehman Closure Affects Charities

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If you think that the closure of Lehman Brothers only affects the business world, guess again. Lehman Brothers also does it share of social work and donating to charity is certainly among their long list of past accomplishments. Actually, you may even call it a regular habit that they do and with the bankruptcy filing that they had done, even charitable institutions are bound to be affected by it.

A big question was whether commitments would be honored. “If it’s a commitment out of the Lehman Foundation, a separate charitable entity, it legally needs to be honored,” says Melissa Berman, president of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. “At the same time, if the foundation has made more commitments than assets, it’s not clear what could be done.”

According to tax forms filed by Lehman Brothers Foundation, it had $23.7 million in total assets at the end of its 2007 fiscal year ending in November. At that time, it had $11.3 million in grants payable.

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On whether this was a commitment or not is really highly technical at this point. With no organization up to constantly disburse those funds for a worthy cause, that is one less donor to the world of charitable work. It is something that cannot be avoided but the only good thing that can perhaps be seen from all of it is the fact that at least you can see troubled companies doing their fair share for society regardless of the situation they are in.

Charities Feeling the Inflation Bug

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If you think that charities are not affected by the economic crisis these days then guess again. Remember, donations and contributions to which most charitable institutions rely on heavily come from the pockets of people who can spare and afford to support them. No thanks to inflation, even these people today are hit by hard times of high prices, cutting down on expenses and of course charitable contributions.

Charities are totally helpless in this aspect. Donating to charity is not a demandable thing. They are done out of voluntary will and for the people who used to do this, how can they if they themselves cannot survive the growing problems of daily needs? In short, inflation goes way beyond the financially able, they hamper them and makes them stay away from expenses or donations that many would see as a big lift towards aiding agencies put up for a cause.

At this rate, we may even see more suffering for these charitable institutions. How can they maintain their charitable ways if they cannot sustain their territories due to the financial crisis? A scary thought indeed and if it does happen, it seems like more people are destined to suffer than to be aided. In the end, it is the people to be blamed as well considering that we all have our own faults in contributing towards world crisis today.

In a survey of eight local safety-net organizations, several said the need for financial and in-kind donations is becoming desperate. Without additional support, they say, severe cuts in services are inevitable and likely will begin in August.

Others – while dealing with a flat financial year, a spike in demand and rising costs – are holding their own. But they’re banking on a benevolent holiday season to keep up.

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