It is personal decision how much each of us feels we can "give." To help provide some guidelines, I am re-posting two giving calculators. I challenge you, this week, to look at these two calculators as a starting point for your family's philanthropy plan. It's perfect timing since you should have all of your income tax papers by January 31st.
Take the Pledge - this website uses a tiered income approach and suggests how much you should give to help end world poverty
Give It Back - this website calculates your savings from the current tax-cuts and encourages you to donate it back to charity.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Millennium Development Goals
Give yourself a pat on the back if you know about the Millennium Development Goals. Not only did I not know about them until recently, but I can't even spell "millennium."
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight international development goals that all 192 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015. Selfishly, the MDG's make me feel that, no matter how small my contribution is, my efforts to help the international community are part of achieving these goals. Secondly, as massive as the problems are, it inspires me to know that there is an agreed upon framework with which the international community is working.
Below is a list of the eight goals from the United Nation's MDG website. Click on the goal to see the specific targets associated with each goal:
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
-
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
HOW QUICKLY ARE COUNTRIES PROGRESSING TOWARD THE MDG'S?
This wonderful interactive, How Quickly Are We Moving Toward the MDG's?, shows you the progress by each country on each goal. Use the icons on the lefthand side to pick a goal and then you can select a region.
The Center for Global Development shows dramatic achievements have been made by Honduras, Vietnam, Laos, Ethiopia, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Nepal, Cambodia, and Ghana. These countries' performances suggest that they may achieve most of the highly ambitious MDGs. Moreover, Africa accounts for many star performers. Interestingly, poor countries perform nearly on par with middle-income countries. And not surprisingly, the list of laggards largely consists of countries devastated by conflict, such as Afghanistan, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Guinea-Bissau. Most countries fall somewhere in-between, demonstrating solid progress on some indicators and little on others.
You can also see more on the progress of the MDG's at the United Nations MDG website.
IMPORTANCE OF GOAL #8 - DEVELOP A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT
Goal 8 is important to all of the MDG's because it focuses on the role of developed countries in meeting the goals for the undeveloped countries. As stated by the University of Iowa Center for International Finance and Development, to accelerate progress towards the MDGs in 2005, the top eights industrialized countries, the G-8, met and reached an agreement to cancel $40–55 billion debt owed by impoverished countries. This allowed impoverished countries to re-channel the resources saved from the forgiven debt to social programs for improving health and education and for alleviating poverty.
DEBATE SURROUNDING THE MDG's
Of course nothing is perfect, the MDG's included. Click here and scroll down for a debate on the MDG's. As Obama said last night in the State of the Union address, "Let me be the first to say anything can be improved." Personally, I am inspired by these goals and find them a huge step in the right direction regardless of what their drawbacks might be. It is much better to have these goals than to have nothing because we are frozen in a debate of searching for a perfection that does not exist.
CALL TO ACTION:
1) Have faith that your efforts make a difference and keep doing what you can, no matter how big or small
2) Use the Giving Gifts Page of this blog for ideas on how to give gifts with a purpose to friends.
3) Contact our local international aid non-profit, Direct Relief International, and ask them how you can help. Immediately, you can scroll down to the "Tidbits" post of this blog to learn about supporting DRI Youth's current flower fundraiser and how to get your child involved in future projects.
4) Stay informed and involved. Sign-up for updates or follow on facebook the End Poverty 2015 Millennium Campaign
MY GOAL:
1) I am following the end End Poverty 2012 campaign on Facebook
2) This year, I plan to buy only gifts that have a cause related to them for my girlfriends. This month I bought my first KIVA gift card for a friend's birthday. I have wanted to do this for years and never did. I also purchased stone hearts made by Haitian artists for a get well gift for another friend from 12 Small Things
3) I am getting more involved with helping DRI Women and DRI Youth.
Tidbits
I love that people are sending me things for the site so I am starting a Tidbit post in order to share them with everyone and to tell you about updates to existing pages on this blog.
- Fund for Santa Barbara is presenting the 12th Annual Socila Justice Award for Documentary Film. You can see the films from Jan 27th and Feb 6th and get more information on their website.
- A committed and energetic group of youth, from ages 7-11, that are passionate about helping vulnerable children and mothers around the world, are participating in Direct Relief Youth. One-hundred percent of the money they raise will help DRI's Maternal and Child Health programs. You can help with their goal of raising $5,000, which will allow DRI to send $150,000 in medicine globally and domestically, by supporting their current flower fundraiser. The group will also have two more community projects and two more guest speakers this year. For more information on the fundraiser and/or getting your child involved, please contact Margaret Spencer at: 805-451-4872
- Life is Good Kids Foundation is supporting kids in Haiti. The Life is Good Kids Foundation is an action-oriented non profit, committed to helping young children overcome life-threatening challenges such as extreme poverty, violence, illness and natural disasters.
New links on existing pages:
"Giving Gifts" Page:
Nest is a beautiful site and is a nonprofit organization that empowers female artists around the world. Using a unique combination of interest-free microfinance loans, mentoring from established designers, and a market in which to sell their crafts, Nest helps its loan recipeints create successful small businesses.
"Useful Links" Page:
Guardian Global Development this site, to help focus the world's attention on global development issues, was just launched in September 2010 with a grant from the Gate's Foundation.
Center for Global Development a site of independent ideas and research for global prosperity.
End Poverty 2015 Millennium Campaign the "United Nations Millennium Campaign" site supports and inspires people from around the world to take action in support of the Millennium Development Goals.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Tips for Volunteering with Kids
1. Start Small - You are more likely to instill in your child a sense of giving if you can do more smaller acts than one large stressful one. Both Penny Harvest and Pennies for Peace focus on the simple act of collecting and donating pennies.
2. Model Giving - If you are involved in a charity help your child understand what you do to help that organization. If you are on an event committee, bring your child the day of the event to help set up. Bring them to the organization that benefits from the event.
3. Think of Ideas That Tie into Your Child's Interests - For example:
4. Give charity as a gift for your child's birthday - this doesn't mean he/she doesn't get other gifts, but make one of their gifts a charity gift card so they chose where to spend the money. See Global Giving or Tis Best for examples. Or, give them a KIVA gift card which they should get to give again and again each time the loan is paid back.
5. Additional Resources:
Ripple Kids and KooDooZ - websites focused on youth volunteerism.
CALL TO ACTION: Pick one thing from the list above that you will do within the next 30 days with your children.
MY ACTION: I have actually done many of the suggestions above. My next action is, I am going to have my kids make Valentine's Day cards for Angels Bearing Gifts and in March, I am going to buy a charity gift card for my daughter's 10th birthday.
I'd love to hear you ideas.
2. Model Giving - If you are involved in a charity help your child understand what you do to help that organization. If you are on an event committee, bring your child the day of the event to help set up. Bring them to the organization that benefits from the event.
3. Think of Ideas That Tie into Your Child's Interests - For example:
- If your child likes BMX racing, Legos or dance - have them do a lemonade stand to raise money to go toward helping someone get a camp scholarship for their favorite activity. It doesn't matter if they raise enough. It's just getting them to think about the idea that's important.
- If your child likes to read - have them go to a nonprofit pre-school, like Storyteller Children's Center or Main Family Resource Center and have them read to preschoolers. They can also read for the Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic annual record-a-thon.
- If your child likes art - have them bring a simple art project to a non-profit preschool, like Storyteller Children's Center or Main Family Resource Center or have them make Valentine's Day cards for the residence of a retirement community or for an organization like Angel's Bearing Gifts. It can also be Easter Cards or St. Patrick Day cards or Happy Spring cards.
- If your child likes music - have them perform at a retirement community
- If your child likes sports - have them collect and donate used sports gear or have them enter a race and raise money toward a cause.
- If your child likes math - Have them collect and sell used toys for Kidz for a Cure, founded by a kid. You don't need much stuff to participate and your child can work on adding up the purchase tickets from your booth for the main checkout. You can also give your child a dollar amount and a grocery bag and have them fill it with a certain dollar value of groceries to donate to Unity Shoppe. Make this a monthly ritual. You can volunteer on site at Unity Shoppe sorting food and stocking shelves as well.
- If your child likes to be active - have them pick fruit for Backyard Bounty
- If you child likes animals - have them volunteer at B.U.N.S.
- If you child likes to bake - have them bake and sell cupcakes for Cupcakes for Cancer. A cancer surviving teen founded this organization and has been recognized by the Independent as a 2010 local hero.
- If your family likes international travel - take a tour of Direct Relief International. You can also arrange to make personal care and dental kits. When traveling abroad, see if DRI has one of their many partners in that country and see if there are any supplies you can bring with you to donate upon arrival.
- If your child likes the beach - You can adopt-a-beach via Coastal Clean Up or just unofficially adopt-a-beach as a family and go and do a beach clean-up day. You can also contact Heal the Ocean about their Junior Council.
4. Give charity as a gift for your child's birthday - this doesn't mean he/she doesn't get other gifts, but make one of their gifts a charity gift card so they chose where to spend the money. See Global Giving or Tis Best for examples. Or, give them a KIVA gift card which they should get to give again and again each time the loan is paid back.
5. Additional Resources:
All For Good - Website helps you find volunteer opportunities for both children and adults in your town.
77 Creative Ways Kids Can Serve - book by 16 year old Sondra Clark
Ripple Kids and KooDooZ - websites focused on youth volunteerism.
MY ACTION: I have actually done many of the suggestions above. My next action is, I am going to have my kids make Valentine's Day cards for Angels Bearing Gifts and in March, I am going to buy a charity gift card for my daughter's 10th birthday.
I'd love to hear you ideas.
What IS Working in Haiti (and elsewhere)
I am completely overwhelmed, and I feel helpless about the situation in Haiti. All of the negative media about non-government organization's (NGO's) being ineffective and even hurting Haiti's recovery, like this one, is making me want to be in denial about the whole situation. So, I want to take a moment to highlight something that IS working to help Haiti, banking via cell phones.
No one is saying immediate basic health, shelter and food issues aren't important, but if you want to look long term at arresting poverty, then you need to understand "why the most powerful idea in microfinance isn’t microloans, but microsavings — helping the poor safely store their money." Maybe on the surface it doesn't sound that monumental, but I hope after reading the articles below you will be as optimistic as I am about this.
Can Cell Phones Rescue Haiti? - Huffington Post
"Yet when you ask Haitians what they want most, the overwhelming majority will tell you they need money to support their families. After Haitians get clean water, food, shelter and medicine -- all the trappings of traditional aid packages -- they will still lack basic economic opportunities. That's where the cell phones come in."
I am re-posting these two articles as they further support the vital role cell phones play in aiding poverty.
I've Seen The Future (in Haiti) - New York Times
Nicholas Kristof on the importance of cell phone technology in aiding poverty areas. Also see this blog post from Kristof for more input from him.
In Kenya, Huts Far Off the Grid Harness the Sun - New York Times
Recent article on the impact proving electricity, via solar panels, has on impoverished communities, not the least of which is being able to charge their cell phone, which ties into the importance of cell phones mentioned in the above article by Kristof.
I want to speak more to my feelings of helplessness and denial about Haiti. Despite the constant negative press about the situation, I continue to read articles about people's refusal to give up. Last week I posted this interview with Thomas Tighe from Direct Relief International who said, "There is no option to quit."
There was also this article:
CALL TO ACTION:
1) donate used cell phones to Haiti or other poverty stricken countries. You can google "donate cell phones Haiti" to get a list of organizations that take cell phones for this purpose.
2) Continue to donate to reputable NGO's supporting Haiti like our local Direct Relief International
3) When donating to other relief organization's ask them if they use cell phone technology to disperse their funds to victims.
MY ACTION:
At my next book club, I am going to ask everyone to bring old cell phones to donate. I know I could say I am going to do a larger collection, but I might not ever get to that. This is a small enough start that I will follow through with it.
No one is saying immediate basic health, shelter and food issues aren't important, but if you want to look long term at arresting poverty, then you need to understand "why the most powerful idea in microfinance isn’t microloans, but microsavings — helping the poor safely store their money." Maybe on the surface it doesn't sound that monumental, but I hope after reading the articles below you will be as optimistic as I am about this.
Announces the first $2.5 million dollar grant, of a total of $10 million, the foundation plans to give away to the first companies that help Haitians with mobile banking. Additional links on foundation page explaining importance of this investment:
- Bill Gates: Mobile Phones + Savings: A Powerful Pair
- Mobile money services have arrived in Haiti! - Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Create Savings Accounts and Bring Financial Security to the World’s Poorest | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Can Cell Phones Rescue Haiti? - Huffington Post
"Yet when you ask Haitians what they want most, the overwhelming majority will tell you they need money to support their families. After Haitians get clean water, food, shelter and medicine -- all the trappings of traditional aid packages -- they will still lack basic economic opportunities. That's where the cell phones come in."
I am re-posting these two articles as they further support the vital role cell phones play in aiding poverty.
I've Seen The Future (in Haiti) - New York Times
Nicholas Kristof on the importance of cell phone technology in aiding poverty areas. Also see this blog post from Kristof for more input from him.
In Kenya, Huts Far Off the Grid Harness the Sun - New York Times
Recent article on the impact proving electricity, via solar panels, has on impoverished communities, not the least of which is being able to charge their cell phone, which ties into the importance of cell phones mentioned in the above article by Kristof.
I want to speak more to my feelings of helplessness and denial about Haiti. Despite the constant negative press about the situation, I continue to read articles about people's refusal to give up. Last week I posted this interview with Thomas Tighe from Direct Relief International who said, "There is no option to quit."
There was also this article:
"I don't want America to stop from asking these tough questions, because they have to keep all of us on the ball. I just want them to understand that the option to stop helping Haiti, while we address those questions, is that people will die," Stern said.
CALL TO ACTION:
1) donate used cell phones to Haiti or other poverty stricken countries. You can google "donate cell phones Haiti" to get a list of organizations that take cell phones for this purpose.
2) Continue to donate to reputable NGO's supporting Haiti like our local Direct Relief International
3) When donating to other relief organization's ask them if they use cell phone technology to disperse their funds to victims.
MY ACTION:
At my next book club, I am going to ask everyone to bring old cell phones to donate. I know I could say I am going to do a larger collection, but I might not ever get to that. This is a small enough start that I will follow through with it.
Deciding to Give, How much, and Where
Like most things in life, deciding how much to give and where is not a straight forward answer.
Your Money Deciding How Much to Give? Check with a Higher Authority
from New York Times
This was the best article I could find on the subject and I like how it talks about the difference between income and wealth.
The Life You Can Save
This website is also listed in the article above. I like how it uses the tiered approach to deciding how much you should give. It only addresses income, not wealth, and it is focused on world poverty, but still a thoughtful guideline overall
Five Points to Consider for Annual Giving
from New York Times
Same author as the first article. I like how this article suggests a trifecta approach to diving your money between local, national, and international causes and how it emphasizes the importance of doing your homework.
Guide Star and Charity Navigator
Just like test scores aren't the only variable in determining a good school, financials aren't the only way to determine a good non-profit. However, it is a variable to do your homework on. I like to see their income vs. expenses, assets, and even how much the executive director makes.
Nationally and internationally you can look at grant recipients from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and sponsored projects of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. Other vetted international organizations are listed on the Giving Charity As Gifts blog entry like
Tis Best and Global Giving.
Social Networks Giving to Social Causes, but at a Price
from New York Times
This article discusses the pros and cons of social network and giving websites such as Network For Good and Causes on Facebook. They take a cut of the donation and are they a necessary middleman? However, they provide marketing the non profit would not be able to provide or would have to pay themselves and they connect people with common interests.
Tips on Giving
Finally, please see my prior blog post for more articles on Tips on Giving.
I'd like to get more input from local experts on this subject so look for updated posts in the future. Additionally, I think deciding to volunteer your time somewhere is another question entirely so I'd also like to save that for another time.
Your Money Deciding How Much to Give? Check with a Higher Authority
from New York Times
This was the best article I could find on the subject and I like how it talks about the difference between income and wealth.
The Life You Can Save
This website is also listed in the article above. I like how it uses the tiered approach to deciding how much you should give. It only addresses income, not wealth, and it is focused on world poverty, but still a thoughtful guideline overall
Five Points to Consider for Annual Giving
from New York Times
Same author as the first article. I like how this article suggests a trifecta approach to diving your money between local, national, and international causes and how it emphasizes the importance of doing your homework.
Guide Star and Charity Navigator
Just like test scores aren't the only variable in determining a good school, financials aren't the only way to determine a good non-profit. However, it is a variable to do your homework on. I like to see their income vs. expenses, assets, and even how much the executive director makes.
Look for Vetting Sources
Locally, you can be confident any organization receiving a grant from the Santa Barbara Foundation has been well vetted, although certainly not a complete list of worthy non-profits.Nationally and internationally you can look at grant recipients from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and sponsored projects of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. Other vetted international organizations are listed on the Giving Charity As Gifts blog entry like
Tis Best and Global Giving.
Social Networks Giving to Social Causes, but at a Price
from New York Times
This article discusses the pros and cons of social network and giving websites such as Network For Good and Causes on Facebook. They take a cut of the donation and are they a necessary middleman? However, they provide marketing the non profit would not be able to provide or would have to pay themselves and they connect people with common interests.
Giving To Friends' Causes
I like to give to causes my friends are giving their time to. Even if it's not a big donation nor my priority, I like to show support for the time and energy my friends are putting into making an impact in the community.What is the Impact?
Is there a way to gage if the organization is making an impact? This is trickier to determine, but a good question to ask yourself. Look for MEASURABLE outcomes.Tips on Giving
Finally, please see my prior blog post for more articles on Tips on Giving.
I'd like to get more input from local experts on this subject so look for updated posts in the future. Additionally, I think deciding to volunteer your time somewhere is another question entirely so I'd also like to save that for another time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)