Monday, September 05, 2005

Suggestions for Those Who Wish To Help

. . .I'd like to offer the following suggestions for those who wish to donate time/goods/services/cash:


If you want to donate time/services:

1. Call before showing up at a shelter or a charity and offer your services. "Showing up", unless the charity has asked people to do so, can make more work for charity workers.

2. Specify your skills or talents to the person who takes your call: If they know off the bat what you have to offer, they can more quickly direct your inquiry and get back to what they were doing.

3. Be realistic about the amount of time you can volunteer: Don't leave a charity hanging because you bit off more than what you could chew.

If you want to donate goods:

1. Again, call the agency before you come over with a load of food, clothes, housewares, etc. The charity likely has limited space and may not have room for your contribution. Describe what you have to donate and try and offer an estimation of how much space it takes up.

2. Do NOT treat charitable donations as a chance to get rid of garbage or white elephants. While it is true that sometimes one man's trash is another man's treasure, more often than not, trash is trash to all men. Do not donate broken (test electronic/battery operated items first), soiled, torn, ugly, and/or out-of-date items.

3. Do NOT just "dump" your goods at the door of an agency. When you call to ask if they can use what you have to offer, ask about the hours during which they are accepting donations. Be prepared to take some of your stuff back if they can't use it.

4. Do NOT specially shop for food to donate, unless a charity asks you to do so. The reason for this is that charities often have access to government commodities programs and not-for-profit food banks and can obtain food for pennies on the dollar. It is ok to donate food that you have in your kitchen so long as the food is fresh (check expiry dates on cans and boxes).

5. If organizations are calling for clothing and household items, consider getting together with friends and purchasing a load or pallet from a merchandise liquidator (i.e. http://www.liquidation.com).

6. If you have frequent flyer miles, you can often donate them through the airline. Ditto for points earned through incentive programs such as MyPoints.com .


If you want to donate cash:

1. Be wary of telephone solicitations, scammers abound. Contribute via the charity's official website, phone number, or mailing address to be sure that your money is going where it ought.

2. Double the value of your contribution by donating through a matching fund at your office. Ask your HR department if they are offering such a program.

3. Consider donating to localsocial service agency affiliates and smaller charities: They have their regular caseload to support and they may not be getting the help they need from their national agency right now.

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