August's Showcase: Seeds of Peace

This is likely the charity I have put the most thought and concern into. Considering that this is the month of Ramadan, I wanted a peace-related cause to feature. Choosing Seeds of Peace was difficult for two reasons:

1. Peace is difficult. Peace is really, really difficult and messy, and many well-intentioned peace operations don't have the impact they aim for (or at least the ones that do succeed frequently are given due credit because someone else is always ready to take credit for the successes). Even considering the rise in privatization of peace negotiations, it is hard to find an organization that stands apart from everything that I wish to fund.

Seeds of Peace sticks out to me for a few reasons. First, it is recognized (although not as much recently), and it does active work where it is needed, such as in the Middle East and South Asia. Second, it's not a "feel good" kind of peaceful way of bringing people together and wishing for peace. Rather, it takes youth from conflict-prone areas and provides training and workshops for future leaders in addition to providing friendships from group they previously held prejudices toward. They don't just hand them a diploma and congratulate them on finishing the program and get ready to welcome the next group--they provide a network of support and regular updates to their graduates. The purpose is to build consistent leaders for peace within the affected communities, not to try to bring peace in from outside. This is why I really like them.

2. The second reason this was a difficult decision was because I'm taking a risk on this one and breaking my own rule for only supporting financially sound organizations. Sadly (and startlingly), Seeds of Peace has a zero-star rating on Charity Navigator. I spotted this several months ago, but I have been following the organization since then to see if they would make any changes.

Sure enough, they have. They've hired a new head of development, which is a good sign because one of the major strikes against them was that they hadn't been growing for a few years. I've watched them add new ways to give (which I'll get to) to make sure they stay connected and relevant. They've also posted an official response to the Charity Navigator rating which addressed everything they were rated poorly on, and how it has been addressed and has been improving since that information was collected in a year of restructuring. It was the response I had been waiting for that answered all of my own questions about the course the organization is taking.

Charitable organizations, like any other kind of organization, can make mistakes, hit low points, and find it necessary to restructure themselves. I've seen it happen to companies who still remained good companies at their core, but did take some time to recover. In light of the state of the world economy, it's still happening to plenty right now. I believe enough in the work of Seeds of Peace and the angle it takes to want to support now while it is in need, but shows many signs of taking action to fix its problems.

Payment Procedures

Of course, I'm doing my $10 directly on the Make a Donation page, but this is where it gets interesting!

As you see here, they have arranged five ways for you to shop, set up wedding registries and do general internet searches like you would anywhere else, only using those particular sites will pay the organization of your choice! I highly suggest checking out those links even if Seeds of Peace is not your organization of choice. Though it's hard to break the search engine habits I already have, I am committed to using GoodSearch throughout the month of August for all my personal searching needs.