As the holidays approach, it is easier to incorporate giving into your life and teach children to do the same. Here are some ways that you can give every day, all year long!
Giving comes in so many forms. It can include money, gifts, food, and service. Here are a few ideas to help your children become more charitable.
Go through items you no longer need and give to friends or family going through hardship, or drop off at a place that distributes to the needy.
Instead of actual gifts being brought to parties, ask for guests to bring items that can be donated. Include your child in picking a favorite charity.
Teach your children to help the elderly complete tasks that have become more difficult to them, whether it is yard work, window cleaning, etc.
This can be something as simple as putting an extra coin in a parking meter, to something like buying a meal for the person behind you in the drive thru. Teach your children to lead with a giving heart where they are always thinking of others.
Giving doesn't always have to be to poor or needy people. You may know of a family that just needs a smile. Surprise them with basket of goodies, a special drawing or card, or even just a hello as you pass them in the store.
Giving is easy – spread some joy around!
In a corner of my basement I have 15 huge totes of boys clothing from newborn on up. Every year I pack another tote or two and move them to the basement and plan to either garage sale or consign them. The problem is that I waited until I was pretty sure I was done having kids so the pile grew pretty tall and I can't get rid of them as fast as I was accumulating them.
I need to find ways to get rid of them a little faster, but it kills me to just give them all away. Every time I compile them for a sale I take some out and give to charity, so I wanted to share with you some other uses for outgrown clothing. If you are smarter than me, you won't let them build up to an overwhelming point!
I've talked about holding garage sales before. They are a great way to get rid of a good amount of clothing, but they do take a lot of work.
Every consignment shop works a little differently. Typically, you bring in some items, they pick what they want, tag them and give you money in return once it sells. In my area there is a group that holds a semi-annual consignment sale. They rent a hall and you can bring up to a certain amount of things that they will end up selling. They hold a weekend sale then put everything together by your seller number and pay you a month or so later.
Facebook is also a great place to look for local groups that sell items online. You post a picture and price for people to inquire if they are interested.
You can also consign online through sites like Thredup. They send you a bag and sell what they can, the rest is donated. Ebay or Craigslist are great online tools also.
There are so many great ideas to use old baby clothes – t-shirt quilts, window frame displays, bags, other clothing and more. Check out pinterest for some great inspiration!
I'm off to figure out how I can empty out some of my old clothing totes!
Kim Ross also writes at A Little Bit of This and That ~ The Adventures of a Stay at Home Mom.
So I'm pretty sure you, dear reader, are not the recent winner of the $650 million lottery. If you were I'm sure your charitable giving would help solve some of the world's problems. For the rest of us who don't have millions to give, there are still ways to make a difference.
Want to help a teacher fund a classroom project? Check out donorschoose.org and see how even small donations can add up to help teachers purchase things like art supplies, bookshelves, ipads, and musical instruments. We all know how much budgets are being slashed in our schools and how often teachers are paying for supplies from their own pockets. Donorschoose allows them to describe their classroom projects and items that they need for their classroom. Any donation amount you can give will help them reach their funding goal. Find projects in your own school district or anywhere in the U.S.
How about giving to a project half a world away? There are many non-profits soliciting donations for aid to third world countries. But your donation just seems like a drop in the bucket and it's hard to know what that money is actually doing to help. Catapult is a website that connects you with specific projects happening around the world that impact the lives of women and girls, targeting those that don't have access to education, proper healthcare or even clean water.
With both of these sites, your donation is targeted to a specific project, solving a specific problem. Empowering you to help empower those in need. It's like putting your gift right into the hands of the person who needs it.
You can also find Paula on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter @techsmart319. Feel free to reach out if you have questions.
Ever wonder where all of our dollars go and why the wallet empties so fast? If we were to add up all the little purchases we make without thinking about it, we'd realize we probably don't want to know. How about giving up a little something each week directing what we would have spent on it to a good cause instead? There's a new app for that called just that, Instead.
Available for iPhone, iPad and Android, this free app is a micro-donation site that collects the money you might have spent on say, lunch, a latte or a movie and passes it on to a charitable organization. Donations of as little as $1 or as are accepted and can be directed to the charity of your choice.
Sometimes it's hard to write that $100 check to your favorite non-profit. But if you gave $2 a week that you might have spent on one coffee or soft drink, you're not only saving the calories, you're supporting a good cause.
I love this idea. A life-saving mosquito net costs about the same as 2 cappuccinos. I can give up a little to do that kind of good.
There's a couple dozen well known charities on the list of options, but you can also suggest your own favorite. I'm hoping they will add my local education foundation to the list. Every month they will send a check to the charity for 95% of the accumulated donations, with 5% covering Instead's costs.
One caveat – Instead's 501(c)3 status is still pending but once that happens, you will be able to claim all donations on your tax return. At the end of year they will provide you an itemized list of all of your donations.
The big idea behind Instead.com is that we all try to live within or below our means in order to help support causes that need our help. And this app makes it really easy to achieve that goal. A worthy New Year's resolution I think!
No pressure, but the clock is ticking. Only a few more days to prepare. Are you done with your shopping?
We've all probably got at least one person on our giving list who is frustratingly difficult to buy for. They just seem to have it all already and another tchotchke or gag gift just doesn't ring genuine or particularly useful.
On the other end of the spectrum are people and organizations who need much: basics that we take for granted, assistance with necessities, medicine. What do the two of them have to do with each other? You.
Why not give that hard-to-buy-for someone a gift of charity? Make a donation to a worthy cause in their name. It's a really special gift and is so rewarding.
At unicefusa.org you can purchase nutrition kits, mosquito nets or malaria vaccines with a small donation.
At justgive.org or causes.com you can search for a specific charity by name or location and give to an organization or to specific cause or project. Or you can buy a charity gift card and let the receiver choose who to give to.
If you want to support your local teachers, try donorschoose.org and find specific classroom projects that you can help fund in your own or a loved one's town.
Sponsor a microloan at kiva.org and give a potential small business a leg up.
These sites make it very easy to make a donation in your name or someone else's. Using the search options , you can pinpoint the exact cause that is most meaningful to your giftee.
While there are many global charities that do wonderful work around the world, you might also consider local charities where there results of your giving are more visible to you. Your own town likely has plenty of worthy organizations. Senior Centers, food delivery programs such as Meals on Wheels, local education foundations that provide much needed school programs, homeless shelters, food banks, and pet rescue groups are just a few types of organizations that rely on donations to provide their services. And in this challenging economy, many of them are seeing a downturn in donations while the number of people relying on their services is increasing. Donating locally is good for your community.
As we all know, it is better to give than receive. So why not give and give back at the same time?
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanzaa to you and yours. May you give and receive many blessings.