I haven't given much thought as to which charity I should donate my monthly $20. So, please help me decide and vote. (The poll is on the sidebar to the right.) I will announce the charity on Friday.
1. March of Dimes
March of Dimes sent me a bunch of labels with a dime glued on to it. The solicitation says, "Shtinky, I know I've taken a risk in sending you this dime... There's a chance you might not return it to me along with a few dollars of your own to help us reach out to nearly 1,4000 babies born prematurely and about 330 babies born with serious birth defects each day... So please, return your dime to us along with your gift of $20, $12 or even $6."
I don't like this type of marketing tactic, but it is a good organization. If this wins, I'll send them a check for $20.10 and I'll keep the dime.
2. Kiva.org
Not a donation per se, but I can lend $25 to an entrepeneur somewhere in the world. If the entrepeneur repays his loan, I can donate the fund directly to Kiva to cover operational costs or re-lend.
3. San Diego Food Bank
I've donated to the local food bank before. I'm sure the food bank's budget is still stretched thin due to this economy. My only gripe with the food bank is that they keep sending me labels for "Mr. Shtinkykat" on them. Ummmm... When in doubt, forget the title, folks.
Monday, June 8, 2009
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7 comments:
Here is my problem with Kiva - they give you 0% interest, then give the money to microfinance organizations that lend the money at high interest rates (average Kiva partner rate: 23.8%, according to their site). They do have a very nice section that explains why high rates are necessary for microfinace organizations to function at http://www.kiva.org/about/microfinance/
Personally, however, I find this to smack of usury, which as a Christian, I am prohibited from engaging in. Even if I were not religiously prohibited from participation, however, I don't think I would be comfortable putting my money in their organization.
Hi there-the first one sounds a great and worthy cause. Its good how you choose different charities every month, I just send a set amount to 3 different charities every month, and then when I'm doing a declutter and giving to the charity shop, I can then choose what charity I want that way! I think Pearl is my birthstone, I'm a Gemini!!
wow, thanks Lost Goat for the info. i've heard of others giving to kiva, and on the surface, the organization sounds like a wonderful place to donate. i'll have to look into their lending practices. i was going to say divide up the $20 between the 3 or pick the first one for this month and give to the other two in july and august. you can't go wrong, every little bit helps.
I chose the food bank, local charities will have a greater impact on your immediate community and hunger is on the rise. I didn't know KIVA had high rates either, though all "micro" loans tend to have higher than normal rates.
An Eye Opener on Kiva. I'm going with Miss M with the local food bank. It's close to home. I am sure that you could call administration about the Mister or cross off "Mr." in a big red pen, write "Ms." and highlight with a big fat yellow highlighter what is correct. ;)
If the info about Kiva is true, you could always supplement it to Lending Club. Then any interest can go to further charity.
But if you want to avoid that hassle, I think local food banks are always a great place to donate. So many of us have used these places at some time or another.
You could also consider calling the food bank and seeing if there is a need for anything specific (which you could buy with your $20). I know a lot of those places have parents asking for school supplies and such. Just a thought.
Depending on your schedule, if you decide not to donate to the food bank this month, you could just donate some time instead.
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