Giving Something Back
A career in doing charity work is a very fulfilling job choice. This is one job where everything you do contributes to the betterment of humanity. If you think charity work is only about volunteerism, then you’re very wrong. Charity work is a real job and people can build careers around it.
Here are some career choices you can make if you want to do charity work: [Read more…]
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People and organizations gathering and soliciting voluntary contributions from individuals and companies for a specific purpose are said to be doing fundraising for a cause. The reason for fundraising is the most important factor that will determine its success. The contributing public must be convinced that the reason it is done is true, valid, and needed.
Almost all organized charitable works require some fundraising activity to be performed. This is of course unless the organizers have so much funds between them that they can manage without outside funding. In charitable works however, there is usually a big group that needs to be served that it is always advantageous to have more funds than less to complete a project.
Charity works start with a desire to help a particular person, group of persons, a community, a country, or a worldwide cause. The initial desire to be of assistance to others is fired up with the passion to make it work. Charitable causes are usually planned by unpaid volunteers who only have their genuine sincerity to serve as their main weapon.
The determination to make it work is the most valuable factor that can ensure the success of any charitable endeavour. Fundraising is especially difficult to do since it requires the organizers to convince donors to part with their money and goods, or render service for free. No one would be willing to contribute to a cause that is clearly self-serving.
Fundraising activities, especially those that cover a large territory, requires permission from authorities. This is to ensure that the fundraising activity is carried out for the intended purpose. If the fundraising activity is to be carried out in the name of an established institution, the permission of such organization must also be obtained. It makes sense however to know the critical information required to effectively promote the cause of the organization. Some of the more popular manner of fundraising is through selling products and organizing any event, the proceeds of which shall go to the beneficiary organization.
With the almost predictable regularity of the occurence of natural disasters in all parts of the world, there is a need to establish help centers that can be activated within individual communities which form the core of every country in this world. It is no longer enough to rely and depend solely on government or international aid since there are just too much to do for one person, one organization, or one country to handle. It is time to do what we can to help ourselves and the people around us so we can all be part of the solution rather than the problem.
We have all been witnesses to the great resiliency of man in repeatedly rising up from difficulty. We have seen how this had been made possible by small impromptu acts of charity provided willingly and without motive by nameless people who will probably remain nameless forever in relation to claiming the credit for such noble tasks. These acts of charity start from a mere desire to be of help to others who are temporarily unable to help themselves.
We have seen how one small flame from a single individual is able to gather enough strength to become a blazing fire reperesented by an organization. Every notable charitable organization started from something small and from recognizing a need that has not been acted upon by others. Most of the time, people are called upon to work together not by some law or threat but by the genuine feeling of concern such as those that happens in disaster relief.
Fundraising activities usually form part of unplanned acts of charity because of the need to have funding that will support the cause. It is not uncommon for people who start an informal group for helping others to provide the seed money or at least be actively involved in finding the required funding. Anyone of us can give our own impromptu acts of charity at our own level and capacity.
If you are trying to raise funds for your favorite charity there are many ways that you can do it. You can go door to door and ask for help which is tiring and may not bring in a lot of money. You can have cans for donations on every counter of every store that you can convince to support your cause, but that brings in very small change.
The key to fund raising is to create events that people will want to take part of. Create an event that people will be willing to pay to be part. This means that they have to feel that it is worth their time as well as their money because as you know, we want people to give not just once, but as often as their generous hearts and pockets can allow.
A favorite event for fund raising is a golf tournament. Many people play golf. They will play no matter what the weather, no matter what the season, no matter the time of day. They will play if you put them on a good green at a reasonable price. They will play if they have decent competition. They may even play if they are competing against celebrities or masters just to test their own performance. They will pay to participate, you just need to make sure they have fun and don’t forget lunch.
You won’t be able to pull it off alone. You will be able to raise more if you have sponsors. Your sponsors can include the company that owns the golf course, the catering company and some companies to give prizes, giveaways or just cash donations.
The recent events in Japan has shocked and worried people all over the world. Raw footage and images of the earthquakes and tsunamis have rocked many a strong heart in the past days. It’s been a couple of days since nature unleashed its forces in Japan, and the impact may have lessened for some in other parts of the world. Sad to say, it does happen that after the initial shock, people who are safe may tend to “forget” and live their lives as usual. Understandable, but it does not have to be that way.
More than 2,000 people have died or are missing since the first earthquake struck. Countless people have been forced away from their homes. Even more people do not have things that we take for granted. Many are also at risk of exposure to radiation. Governments, companies and individuals from all over the world have been joining together in a massive relief effort- also globally recognized corporations in Japan itself such as Sony, Toyota and Ajinomoto have been hugely generous- but more is needed.
Here at Charities Blog, we challenge everyone to go one step further and help out in any way you can. There are many ways by which you can extend a helping hand to those who have been affected by the Japan earthquakes and tsunamis, and we would like to do our part as well. Below is a widget, courtesy of Chipin.com, which you can use to send your donations to those in need.
Chipin is a reputable widget provider that offers its services for free. Rest assured that whatever you give will go to the people who can use your help the most. Let’s not forget those who are still suffering and share whatever we can.
If you’ve been thinking of giving your time or money to a charity or non-profit organization, the first step to consider is WHERE? As first-timers will quickly find out, there are thousands of people, places and organizations to choose from, and choosing the right one for you can be a daunting task.
The best way to begin is to ask yourself this question: “What means the most to me?” Think about the things most important to you, what you have a passion for, or perhaps a health concern that has affected someone close to you. Reflect on this, and it should be easier to find the charity for you.
Whether you have a lot of money or not is irrelevant when it comes to giving financially or otherwise. There are many ways to give money, online and offline, through direct gifts, donor-advised funds, giving circles, or through your place of employment. Giving of your time, on the other hand, can be a much more rewarding way to help, as this offers you some first-hand experience with those you wish to help. This does take more thought, however, as there other concerns such as proximity, time constraints, safety and the impact the experience could have.
Whatever you choose, it really doesn’t take much to get started on giving back through a charity. With the right organization or issue, some time and energy and the willingness to help, everyone can make a difference in the world today.
In my previous post, I wrote about how mobile phone carriers have made it so easy and so convenient for the average person to donate to the relief efforts in Haiti. There is absolutely nothing wrong with donating via mobile phone – that’s what I did, actually. However, there is only so much that an individual can give in terms of money, right? If you look at things from a wider perspective, though, if more people band together to help out, the results just might be so much better.
I was actually inspired by this story I read at The Guardian the other day. It’s about a group of mothers who organized a sale – baby toys, books, and clothes. They got together to raise cash to donate to Unicef’s Haiti Earthquake Children’s Appeal. Being mothers, their hearts were touched by the plight of the children in ravaged Haiti.
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
Ms Sheffied said: “We just wanted to give more than we have ourselves, and we thought a charity sale would be the best way to do this. So many children have been left orphaned or homeless by the earthquake, so it’s vital that funds are raised to support them. We just hope lots of people will come along to support us. We think this will be a really fun morning for local families, and most importantly we aim to raise money for the children of Haiti.”
They’re in the UK, but the location is not important. If they can do something like this, anyone from any country can set up something similar. How can you help Haiti? Ask yourself that.
Charities have long had to adjust to the changing landscape surrounding them. Gone are the times when even the average person gave freely to charities. There are many reasons for this, perhaps the harsh economic atmosphere worldwide being the foremost. In any case, whatever the reason, charities – especially the smaller ones – are hard pressed to find ways and means to generate more funds.
One way by which charities are adjusting is by using social media. Twitter is one of the most popular tools that charities are making use of to reach out to more people who might want to give cash, goods, and services to help those who are in need. Of course, there are other social media platforms which can be used, such as Facebook.
So how can your charity take advantage of technology in this respect? Social media platforms have a worldwide reach. By creating an account for your charity, you can expand your reach to the other side of the world without expending extra money. Maybe a little effort is needed, but the benefits far outweigh it.
Think about all the “lost” friends that have reconnected through social media. These reconnections may very well serve as potential donors. Even those who may not have heard of your charity before may very well be moved to help out your cause due to your regular tweets and updates on Facebook. The idea is to get the word out to as many as possible and nothing beats social media when it comes to that!