With summer and gardening coming up fast, many of us here in the US have a common problem: the price of water is increasing, so it leaves us with little choice but to turn to xeriscaping and to take shorter showers, or just gripe and pay the extra costs. At least many of us have that option to ensure that we'll still have clean water.
This is the part where we feel guilty, because millions of people don't have such easy access to clean water, regardless of how much we might have to pay for it. Compared to how much more it's going to cost us to use as much water as usual, or considering how much money we'll save by letting our grassy lawns die, $10 to help less fortunate people around the world have a better shot at access to clean water isn't that difficult.
Out of all the water charities out there, I think Water for People is one of the best developed, accountable, innovative and most able to make an impact. They are a 4 (out of 4) star rated charity on Charity Navigator, and they oversee a number of different kinds of water projects in Africa, Asia, and South and Central America, including the project that first caught my attention, the PlayPump. In a nutshell: kids play on merry-go-round at local elementary school, this powers a pump to access clean ground water, the water goes up into a storage tank which has income-generating advertising space on the outside, and people pump clean water out through a tap, and the village has clean water. Ta da! See more about the business model for this project here.
Of course, as creative as many water projects sound, just like any development project, they don't run quite as planned in the original business model. That's why Water for People measures their success in terms how many people their projects at serving not only at the start of a project's completion, but 3, 6, and 10 years afterward to make sure that it's not only meeting original targets, but growing.
Payment Procedures
Go to the DONATE page, and fill in your contact and credit card information as usual. They ask for $25 amounts, but have the option to type in your own $10 amount if you so choose.
If you aren't comfortable giving on a credit card, you can also give with stock or by mail according to the instructions on the web site.
Happy giving, and here's a toast of H2O to you all.
1.5.11
May's Showcase: ORBIS
Imagine yourself at that dinner party where you really could care less about the bake sale at some kid's school or the marathon fundraisers you don't have the time or effort for. The conversation comes to you. Sure, you might be out-done, but at least you'll sound interesting when you answers, "Who, me? Well, I give to a flying optometry hospital."
You don't even have to bluff. Won't you look smart when you can tell people about ORBIS? As part of their mission to save sight on three continents, they do indeed have a flying eye hospital, equip with sterile operating room and recovery room, laser treatment room, and classroom space to educate local people about how to save sight. This traveling hospital is staffed by volunteer doctors and primarily provides surgeries to children, people blind in both eyes, and people who otherwise would not be able to afford a surgery.
The ORBIS mission to save sight for the world isn't limited to their flying hospital. They have six regional offices around the world, and they fly doctors out to educate local optometrists, health officials and NGOs. Usually, their training programs will last three years, during which time they instruct them on method for diagnosing eye problems, treating them, and performing surgeries. This is part of their capacity building strategy, which maximizes their impact by letting local people take over and help themselves with the tools and training they are given. This is probably a large part of the reason why they have a 4 out of 4 star rating on Charity Navigator!
Here is what else they say about their capacity building program:
In the past 26 years, they've already provided over 900 of these programs! You can read some of their success stories here.
As you can see, they've assisted people losing their sight to cataracts, injuries, and a number of different causes, and yeah, it's great that they can see. It's something we all tend to take for granted until it's gone. Consider how one change--restoring someone's sight--can allow them to support themselves in the future. Poverty alleviation requires removing things standing between people and the ability to help themselves, and blindness is one of those things that can be treated.
Payment Procedures:
Go to the DONATE NOW page, and make your credit card payment from there. Or, if you're not from the United States, you can select from one of their other regional sites listed on that page.
You also have the option of donating frequent flier miles! I'm doing money for now, but I might see about doing something with my United Mileage Plus miles. Hmmmmm.
For those of you cool enough to be ophthalmology professionals and airplane pilots, you can also volunteer your services for ORBIS! The rest of us can still do fundraising and advocacy.
You don't even have to bluff. Won't you look smart when you can tell people about ORBIS? As part of their mission to save sight on three continents, they do indeed have a flying eye hospital, equip with sterile operating room and recovery room, laser treatment room, and classroom space to educate local people about how to save sight. This traveling hospital is staffed by volunteer doctors and primarily provides surgeries to children, people blind in both eyes, and people who otherwise would not be able to afford a surgery.
The ORBIS mission to save sight for the world isn't limited to their flying hospital. They have six regional offices around the world, and they fly doctors out to educate local optometrists, health officials and NGOs. Usually, their training programs will last three years, during which time they instruct them on method for diagnosing eye problems, treating them, and performing surgeries. This is part of their capacity building strategy, which maximizes their impact by letting local people take over and help themselves with the tools and training they are given. This is probably a large part of the reason why they have a 4 out of 4 star rating on Charity Navigator!
Here is what else they say about their capacity building program:
* Training eye care professionals in the prevention and treatment of eye diseases prevalent in their region and ensuring that these skills are effectively put into practice
* Strengthening the different types of eye care institutions, such as hospitals, medical schools and eye banks, so that they have the tools in place to continually deliver urgently needed eye care services
* Introducing health care financing systems, such as tiered payment plans, so that even the poorest of the poor can access sight-saving surgery
* Providing ophthalmic equipment, such as digital retinal cameras, indirect ophthalmoscopes and operating microscopes, and training staff to properly use and maintain this equipment
* Advocating on behalf of legislation promoting and supporting eye health on the national health care agenda
* Generating public awareness that some forms of blindness can be prevented or treated and don’t have to be accepted as fate
In the past 26 years, they've already provided over 900 of these programs! You can read some of their success stories here.
As you can see, they've assisted people losing their sight to cataracts, injuries, and a number of different causes, and yeah, it's great that they can see. It's something we all tend to take for granted until it's gone. Consider how one change--restoring someone's sight--can allow them to support themselves in the future. Poverty alleviation requires removing things standing between people and the ability to help themselves, and blindness is one of those things that can be treated.
Payment Procedures:
Go to the DONATE NOW page, and make your credit card payment from there. Or, if you're not from the United States, you can select from one of their other regional sites listed on that page.
You also have the option of donating frequent flier miles! I'm doing money for now, but I might see about doing something with my United Mileage Plus miles. Hmmmmm.
For those of you cool enough to be ophthalmology professionals and airplane pilots, you can also volunteer your services for ORBIS! The rest of us can still do fundraising and advocacy.
1.4.11
April's Showcase: Cross International
We all know there are starving orphans out there and disaster-stricken poor communities out there, and we all know there are a bunch of organizations asking for money to help take care of them. It's such a daunting issue that it's very hard to fathom which organization could possibly be more worthy than all the others.
So what would make Cross International special?
Besides the breadth of their experience and needs that they discover and find ways to meet, what is most impressive is that according to Charity Navigator, 98.3% of their funds go to project expenses.
That means that for every dollar you give, 98 cents goes into action, while only 1 or 2 cents will go to administrative and fundraiser costs. This is pretty significant; out of all the noteworthy charities I've looked into, I haven't seen any other with administrative cuts kept quite so low. It takes a very dedicated, selfless group of people to accomplish the work this organization does without much compensation.
Before the earthquake in Haiti in early 2010, Cross International had already been very active there, including housing, feeding, and educating orphaned youth--a very far off notion to most of our minds, as those of us without experience have trouble imaging the amount resources necessary to care for 82 orphans, while paying 175 teachers and helping 18 other schools in the city provide education to 6,600 other impoverished children. This is only a sample of their operations in Port-Au-Prince alone, not to mention their other projects in that city and in the rest of the world!
When the earthquake hit last year, my parents and I discovered Cross International while doing a thorough comparison of other organizations responding to the disaster, and felt that our dollars would be use most directly with Cross. This isn't meant to demerit all of the other organizations who responded, but choices must be made, and I think this was a trustworthy choice.
Certainly, many people are interested in contributing to countries hit by more recent disasters, such as Japan (see previous post for more on that) and Burma. Let's not forget how much other communities still need attention, even after their time in the headlines has passed. Furthermore, let's not be rash with sympathy-driven given. Do always take the time to investigate where your funds are going and how experienced any given organization is in a given area!
While I am making an effort to choice organizations that anyone can be comfortable with contributing to, it is easy to recognize right away that this is a Christian organization--not that that changes the good work they are doing, I would still be happy to support them if they were atheist or Jewish or Muslim. Nevertheless, they are Christian and do what they do because of a religious calling, and frankly, many of the other most productive organizations with this focus are also Christian in nature (World Vision is another favorite of mine for their youth-oriented advocacy and fundraising approaches). Let's not let faith or creed be divisive.
Part of the reason they are able to keep costs so low is because many of their spokespeople are retired pastors who travel and make appeals on behalf of the organization, usually at regular church services, so must of their donations come from other Christians. On that note, I was already looking into Cross more for this blog project when a priest came to give a homily about it, so I asked him afterward if there is any time of year when they are most of in need of donations. Of course, they're in need all year round, but he suggested to feature Cross for Holy Week.
So, Christian-readers, you know what is this month! Palm Sunday is April 17th, and Easter is April 24th, putting Good Friday on April 22nd. Not only would that be a good week for you to consider something bigger than the usual $10 I ask for you all to consider, but to suggest it to your families and fellow parishioners.
As for my equally amiable other readers, I still encourage you to maximize your gifts' effect by giving to Cross because so much of it goes directly to the people it serves. When you tell your friends and challenge them to give, consider it a boost to your esteem that shows you're open-minded.
Payment procedures:
Go to their donation page.
They have a number of options, whether you would like to find a specific project to support (there is a variety of approaches in a variety of locations), or there are options if you want to donate tangible goods, such as jewelry or timeshares, or if you want to make them a Facebook cause, or donate via PayPal or the mail or over the phone.
Or, if you want to do it on a credit card and don't have a preference which project it goes to, you can just choose their single gift option, plug in your information, and then just wait for your receipt to hold onto for your tax deduction!
So what would make Cross International special?
Besides the breadth of their experience and needs that they discover and find ways to meet, what is most impressive is that according to Charity Navigator, 98.3% of their funds go to project expenses.
That means that for every dollar you give, 98 cents goes into action, while only 1 or 2 cents will go to administrative and fundraiser costs. This is pretty significant; out of all the noteworthy charities I've looked into, I haven't seen any other with administrative cuts kept quite so low. It takes a very dedicated, selfless group of people to accomplish the work this organization does without much compensation.
Before the earthquake in Haiti in early 2010, Cross International had already been very active there, including housing, feeding, and educating orphaned youth--a very far off notion to most of our minds, as those of us without experience have trouble imaging the amount resources necessary to care for 82 orphans, while paying 175 teachers and helping 18 other schools in the city provide education to 6,600 other impoverished children. This is only a sample of their operations in Port-Au-Prince alone, not to mention their other projects in that city and in the rest of the world!
When the earthquake hit last year, my parents and I discovered Cross International while doing a thorough comparison of other organizations responding to the disaster, and felt that our dollars would be use most directly with Cross. This isn't meant to demerit all of the other organizations who responded, but choices must be made, and I think this was a trustworthy choice.
Certainly, many people are interested in contributing to countries hit by more recent disasters, such as Japan (see previous post for more on that) and Burma. Let's not forget how much other communities still need attention, even after their time in the headlines has passed. Furthermore, let's not be rash with sympathy-driven given. Do always take the time to investigate where your funds are going and how experienced any given organization is in a given area!
While I am making an effort to choice organizations that anyone can be comfortable with contributing to, it is easy to recognize right away that this is a Christian organization--not that that changes the good work they are doing, I would still be happy to support them if they were atheist or Jewish or Muslim. Nevertheless, they are Christian and do what they do because of a religious calling, and frankly, many of the other most productive organizations with this focus are also Christian in nature (World Vision is another favorite of mine for their youth-oriented advocacy and fundraising approaches). Let's not let faith or creed be divisive.
Part of the reason they are able to keep costs so low is because many of their spokespeople are retired pastors who travel and make appeals on behalf of the organization, usually at regular church services, so must of their donations come from other Christians. On that note, I was already looking into Cross more for this blog project when a priest came to give a homily about it, so I asked him afterward if there is any time of year when they are most of in need of donations. Of course, they're in need all year round, but he suggested to feature Cross for Holy Week.
So, Christian-readers, you know what is this month! Palm Sunday is April 17th, and Easter is April 24th, putting Good Friday on April 22nd. Not only would that be a good week for you to consider something bigger than the usual $10 I ask for you all to consider, but to suggest it to your families and fellow parishioners.
As for my equally amiable other readers, I still encourage you to maximize your gifts' effect by giving to Cross because so much of it goes directly to the people it serves. When you tell your friends and challenge them to give, consider it a boost to your esteem that shows you're open-minded.
Payment procedures:
Go to their donation page.
They have a number of options, whether you would like to find a specific project to support (there is a variety of approaches in a variety of locations), or there are options if you want to donate tangible goods, such as jewelry or timeshares, or if you want to make them a Facebook cause, or donate via PayPal or the mail or over the phone.
Or, if you want to do it on a credit card and don't have a preference which project it goes to, you can just choose their single gift option, plug in your information, and then just wait for your receipt to hold onto for your tax deduction!
12.3.11
Japan Earthquake/Tsunami: Brief suggestions
Not all giving is planned, but disasters do merit it. This isn't a full entry, but rather my executive summary of everything I've just looked into:
AmeriCares: Already has extensive experience with Japanese earthquake relief, 99% of the donation will go to program expenses (as opposed to administrative or fundraising expenses). 4 out of 4 star rating on Charity Navigator. Although we can designate it to disaster relief, there is no place on the donation page online to designate it specifically to Japan.Give here.
Convoy of Hope: A "first responder" disaster-relief oriented organization, active in other recent quakes and provides funding to like-minded organizations as well. Also a 4 out of 4 star rating, 92% goes to program expenses. There is a place for comments on the donation page so I assume you can use that to designate it specifically to Japan. Give here.
Global Giving: They are not doing any action themselves, as they primarily raise funds to give to organizations they deem appropriate. I don't know what these organizations are and can only trust that they're worth it. Nevertheless, they are running a campaign specifically for Japan, and this might be appropriate for a general fundraiser. It seems somewhat popular. Give here.
Although I've done research outside of Charity Navigator to try to get more complete pictures of organizations, they still know what they're talking about and they have very practical advice for how to respond. Please read this page before you decide where/how to give: See here.
EDIT: We have already raised over $3,200 here for our Japanese club/ Valparaiso University fundraiser, and we have decided to split funds between the Red Cross and Lutheran World Relief. My biggest concern is that because of lot of red tape, not every organization that wants to help in Japan will be allowed in. We included LWR because we are a Lutheran school and for many of the people we were aiming the fundraiser at we figured they would appreciate that choice, but I at least feel somewhat confident that the Red Cross will be able to do something in person.
AmeriCares: Already has extensive experience with Japanese earthquake relief, 99% of the donation will go to program expenses (as opposed to administrative or fundraising expenses). 4 out of 4 star rating on Charity Navigator. Although we can designate it to disaster relief, there is no place on the donation page online to designate it specifically to Japan.Give here.
Convoy of Hope: A "first responder" disaster-relief oriented organization, active in other recent quakes and provides funding to like-minded organizations as well. Also a 4 out of 4 star rating, 92% goes to program expenses. There is a place for comments on the donation page so I assume you can use that to designate it specifically to Japan. Give here.
Global Giving: They are not doing any action themselves, as they primarily raise funds to give to organizations they deem appropriate. I don't know what these organizations are and can only trust that they're worth it. Nevertheless, they are running a campaign specifically for Japan, and this might be appropriate for a general fundraiser. It seems somewhat popular. Give here.
Although I've done research outside of Charity Navigator to try to get more complete pictures of organizations, they still know what they're talking about and they have very practical advice for how to respond. Please read this page before you decide where/how to give: See here.
EDIT: We have already raised over $3,200 here for our Japanese club/ Valparaiso University fundraiser, and we have decided to split funds between the Red Cross and Lutheran World Relief. My biggest concern is that because of lot of red tape, not every organization that wants to help in Japan will be allowed in. We included LWR because we are a Lutheran school and for many of the people we were aiming the fundraiser at we figured they would appreciate that choice, but I at least feel somewhat confident that the Red Cross will be able to do something in person.
1.3.11
March's Showcase: HeroRAT
Yes, you read that correctly. Rats that are heroes.
Allow me to introduce you all to the rat I am sponsoring:
His name is Chosen One, he is a Giant African pouched rat, he was trained in Tanzania, and now works for peanuts in Mozambique. So it's a little different from when I used to have pet rats, but none of my fancy rats could sniff out landmines. Can you say that you have a landmine-sniffing rat?
Good news: You can! Or you can least say that you sponsor one. Because Apopo, the organization which runs HeroRAT, is based in based in Europe, they can accept direct monthly and/or yearly contributions in Euro, but for those of us in American, we can go through their partner to give in US dollars and receive a tax deduction (more payment details later). To sponsor the rat of your choice for a year, it costs roughly $6.70 per month, or one payment of $80. Because this is one of my favorite organizations I have encountered, I have committed to the extra cost instead of just $10.
Being a sponsor comes with perks, too! Thanks to the help of his organization, Chosen One sends me thank-you letters and progress reports through out the year to let me know his own and his colleagues' successes, complete with his paw print as a signature.
So what does Chosen One actually do?
Because of their heightened sense of smell and intelligence, as well as their sociability, rats can be trained to locate buried landmines that have been left over in abandoned war fields. They alert their trainers, who then dig up and deactivate them. Once they have cleared an area, it's safe for people--and business development!--to return without fear of losing limbs and lives in surprise blasts.
But isn't that dangerous!?
That's another advantage of using rats: they aren't heavy enough to set the landmines off! To date, they have not had any rats accidentally set off any landmines. Both on and off the field, the rats are treated very humanely, and are even introduced to the villagers in the localities where they work, shifting perceptions of people who only thought of them as pests.
Some other advantages: while rats can bond with and trust humans in general very well, their bonds aren't quite like that of a dog, so it is easy to have them switch trainers if necessary. Furthermore, they use a local species of rat. Because they are native to the area, they are also well adjusted to the dry heat and diseases in the area, making them a better fit that animals trained elsewhere and brought in.
But that's not all!
In additional to training rats to sniffing out explosives (they've already cleared 796,178 square meters of land, including 861 landmines, 374 unexploded ordinance and 6,216 small firearms), they also train rats to detect tuberculosis (TB). In Sub-Saharan Africa, 50% of TB cases go undetected, but in 2010, the HeroRats found 594 TB-positive cases which were initially missed by traditional diagnostic methods. According to World Health Organization projections, they've helped prevent at least 5,940 new cases of TB.
This organization is one of my favorites because it's very effective and a little nontraditional (not to mention I've always been a big fan of rats). Their correspondence with me so far when I've had questions has been quick and friendly. While I will probably continuing sponsoring rats with them, I understand that this isn't for everyone. That's why I still encourage you (and your friends!) to contribute $10 to their overall costs.
Payment procedures:
Go to the tax deductible donation page.
For those of you in the US, scroll down to the bottom and follow their instructions for giving with their US partner, the King Baudouin Foundation United States (and yes, this will be tax deductible--save the receipt that will be sent to your e-mail inbox!).
From there, specify the amount you would like to give (and then tell all your friends so they do the same, of course).
If you would like to adopt a rat, see the selection.
Once you give according to the instructions above (you'll want to do $80 for the year), forward your receipt to herorats@herorat.org and tell them which rat you would like to sponsor. They will sent your certificate and updates from your rat to the e-mail address you provide to them. (You can also do this as a gift for someone else!)
For information about HeroRAT operations: See here.
For information about Apopo's work and research: See here.
Allow me to introduce you all to the rat I am sponsoring:
His name is Chosen One, he is a Giant African pouched rat, he was trained in Tanzania, and now works for peanuts in Mozambique. So it's a little different from when I used to have pet rats, but none of my fancy rats could sniff out landmines. Can you say that you have a landmine-sniffing rat?
Good news: You can! Or you can least say that you sponsor one. Because Apopo, the organization which runs HeroRAT, is based in based in Europe, they can accept direct monthly and/or yearly contributions in Euro, but for those of us in American, we can go through their partner to give in US dollars and receive a tax deduction (more payment details later). To sponsor the rat of your choice for a year, it costs roughly $6.70 per month, or one payment of $80. Because this is one of my favorite organizations I have encountered, I have committed to the extra cost instead of just $10.
Being a sponsor comes with perks, too! Thanks to the help of his organization, Chosen One sends me thank-you letters and progress reports through out the year to let me know his own and his colleagues' successes, complete with his paw print as a signature.
So what does Chosen One actually do?
Because of their heightened sense of smell and intelligence, as well as their sociability, rats can be trained to locate buried landmines that have been left over in abandoned war fields. They alert their trainers, who then dig up and deactivate them. Once they have cleared an area, it's safe for people--and business development!--to return without fear of losing limbs and lives in surprise blasts.
But isn't that dangerous!?
That's another advantage of using rats: they aren't heavy enough to set the landmines off! To date, they have not had any rats accidentally set off any landmines. Both on and off the field, the rats are treated very humanely, and are even introduced to the villagers in the localities where they work, shifting perceptions of people who only thought of them as pests.
Some other advantages: while rats can bond with and trust humans in general very well, their bonds aren't quite like that of a dog, so it is easy to have them switch trainers if necessary. Furthermore, they use a local species of rat. Because they are native to the area, they are also well adjusted to the dry heat and diseases in the area, making them a better fit that animals trained elsewhere and brought in.
But that's not all!
In additional to training rats to sniffing out explosives (they've already cleared 796,178 square meters of land, including 861 landmines, 374 unexploded ordinance and 6,216 small firearms), they also train rats to detect tuberculosis (TB). In Sub-Saharan Africa, 50% of TB cases go undetected, but in 2010, the HeroRats found 594 TB-positive cases which were initially missed by traditional diagnostic methods. According to World Health Organization projections, they've helped prevent at least 5,940 new cases of TB.
This organization is one of my favorites because it's very effective and a little nontraditional (not to mention I've always been a big fan of rats). Their correspondence with me so far when I've had questions has been quick and friendly. While I will probably continuing sponsoring rats with them, I understand that this isn't for everyone. That's why I still encourage you (and your friends!) to contribute $10 to their overall costs.
Payment procedures:
Go to the tax deductible donation page.
For those of you in the US, scroll down to the bottom and follow their instructions for giving with their US partner, the King Baudouin Foundation United States (and yes, this will be tax deductible--save the receipt that will be sent to your e-mail inbox!).
From there, specify the amount you would like to give (and then tell all your friends so they do the same, of course).
If you would like to adopt a rat, see the selection.
Once you give according to the instructions above (you'll want to do $80 for the year), forward your receipt to herorats@herorat.org and tell them which rat you would like to sponsor. They will sent your certificate and updates from your rat to the e-mail address you provide to them. (You can also do this as a gift for someone else!)
For information about HeroRAT operations: See here.
For information about Apopo's work and research: See here.
1.2.11
February's Showcase: Engineers Without Borders
In trying to do what is right for the world, we each must accept our own limits. As for me, engineering is something that goes completely over my head. I've had two engineering roommates who were very passionate about their subject, but the only thing I learned (besides an enthusiastic lecture about concrete) was that engineering students simply do not require as much sleep as normal people (that's meant in the most admirable way).
In my admiration for engineers, I've loosely followed the Engineers Without Borders team at Valparaiso University and participated in a couple of their fundraisers. Every year they host a pancake breakfast, but my favorite fundraiser was a table they had set up in the student union for a week with pictures of a few local male figures with and without mustaches. You can vote for whether you preferred someone with or without it by putting however much change or cash you wanted to into the respective voting cups, and for each one, the guy would have to keep a mustache or keep it off for the following month. Sadly, the two I voted for wound up not being very popular, but I still like the idea for a fun and easy fundraiser. That also prompted me to look more into the organization.
Engineers Without Borders is an international organization which functions just as it sounds like: they provide engineering projects where they are needed. They're broken down into chapters throughout different countries, but for simplicity's sake, I'm only introducing the EWB-USA. They are further broken down into over 250 chapters, 180 of which are university chapters. Here is a basic introduction from their web page which sums it up nicely:
Sounds nice and broad... and hard to fathom quite the breadth of their reach. Never fear, for you can still have control over where your $10 gift will go! If there is a certain region of the world, or certain kind of need, or even a certain school that you feel particularly tied to, you can easily navigate their donor page to select schools or projects, and then read reports on those projects, including a break down of the costs, the background, the need and the response, as well as follow-up information on the project. Some of the projects already in progress also have photos! While most of the projects I checked out did provide this information, many of them do not provide much information. Realistically, this may be because those projects are still in their early stages. Keep this mind when choosing a project.
Can't decide? I'm with you there. You can also choose to give to a general Project Grant Fund, or by giving directly to the EWB-USA to cover technical review, project management, travel support and administrative costs. Gifts made to any part of the organization, however, are matched 100% by the board of directors and corporate advocates until their $150,000 fund is depleted, with the matched part that they contribute going straight to the general fund.
What is matching?
Matching is when one party agrees to match another party's contributions by some set amount. In this case, if you give $10, the board of directors will give $10 to match your gift dollar-for-dollar, thus making it a $20 gift (their contribution is specific to the organization as opposed to a specific project, though your contribution will still go wherever you want it). Quite often, large corporations or philanthropists will offer matching up to a certain amount collected from individuals or until a certain date. This is done to stir up more support from the average people like you and me, so that's a good opportunity to take advantage of if you're not sure when to give.
Some employers also match their employee's eligible charitable giving, depending on their policy. For instance, on a 50% or fifty-cents-to-the-dollar policy, an employee could give a $10 gift, and the company will match by half that, $5, so that is automatically a $15 gift. If matching is available for something you'd like to support, take advantage of it!
Payment procedures:
Go to the donation page.
You can select where you'd like to give from there. If you're searching for your school or local chapter they should be easy to find by state, and they should have information posted about their projects. If you'd like to search by project, you can first search by country, and then there will be a list of projects to click on to find out more about.
Each one of those pages will take you to a page to pay with a credit card and enter your information so that you can receive your receipt (you'll need that later to get a tax deduction!). You can also give in honor of someone else or contribute stock, donate by shopping with online retailer partners, or give through the mail or include them in your will. More information is about each of these options is easy to find on their donor page.
With that all having been said, those of you outside of the US can find out more about them at their international page: http://www.ewb-international.org/
Finally, this organization is not affiliated with Doctors Without Borders. EWB builds hospitals and supplies clean water and power and sanitation services to them, but doesn't operate them.
In my admiration for engineers, I've loosely followed the Engineers Without Borders team at Valparaiso University and participated in a couple of their fundraisers. Every year they host a pancake breakfast, but my favorite fundraiser was a table they had set up in the student union for a week with pictures of a few local male figures with and without mustaches. You can vote for whether you preferred someone with or without it by putting however much change or cash you wanted to into the respective voting cups, and for each one, the guy would have to keep a mustache or keep it off for the following month. Sadly, the two I voted for wound up not being very popular, but I still like the idea for a fun and easy fundraiser. That also prompted me to look more into the organization.
Engineers Without Borders is an international organization which functions just as it sounds like: they provide engineering projects where they are needed. They're broken down into chapters throughout different countries, but for simplicity's sake, I'm only introducing the EWB-USA. They are further broken down into over 250 chapters, 180 of which are university chapters. Here is a basic introduction from their web page which sums it up nicely:
Dubbed the “Blueprint Brigade,” by Time Magazine, EWB-USA grew from little more than a handful of members in 2002 to over 12,000 today. EWB-USA has over 350 projects in over 45 developing countries around the world including water, renewable energy, sanitation and more. These projects are completed in partnership with local communities and NGOs.
Sounds nice and broad... and hard to fathom quite the breadth of their reach. Never fear, for you can still have control over where your $10 gift will go! If there is a certain region of the world, or certain kind of need, or even a certain school that you feel particularly tied to, you can easily navigate their donor page to select schools or projects, and then read reports on those projects, including a break down of the costs, the background, the need and the response, as well as follow-up information on the project. Some of the projects already in progress also have photos! While most of the projects I checked out did provide this information, many of them do not provide much information. Realistically, this may be because those projects are still in their early stages. Keep this mind when choosing a project.
Can't decide? I'm with you there. You can also choose to give to a general Project Grant Fund, or by giving directly to the EWB-USA to cover technical review, project management, travel support and administrative costs. Gifts made to any part of the organization, however, are matched 100% by the board of directors and corporate advocates until their $150,000 fund is depleted, with the matched part that they contribute going straight to the general fund.
What is matching?
Matching is when one party agrees to match another party's contributions by some set amount. In this case, if you give $10, the board of directors will give $10 to match your gift dollar-for-dollar, thus making it a $20 gift (their contribution is specific to the organization as opposed to a specific project, though your contribution will still go wherever you want it). Quite often, large corporations or philanthropists will offer matching up to a certain amount collected from individuals or until a certain date. This is done to stir up more support from the average people like you and me, so that's a good opportunity to take advantage of if you're not sure when to give.
Some employers also match their employee's eligible charitable giving, depending on their policy. For instance, on a 50% or fifty-cents-to-the-dollar policy, an employee could give a $10 gift, and the company will match by half that, $5, so that is automatically a $15 gift. If matching is available for something you'd like to support, take advantage of it!
Payment procedures:
Go to the donation page.
You can select where you'd like to give from there. If you're searching for your school or local chapter they should be easy to find by state, and they should have information posted about their projects. If you'd like to search by project, you can first search by country, and then there will be a list of projects to click on to find out more about.
Each one of those pages will take you to a page to pay with a credit card and enter your information so that you can receive your receipt (you'll need that later to get a tax deduction!). You can also give in honor of someone else or contribute stock, donate by shopping with online retailer partners, or give through the mail or include them in your will. More information is about each of these options is easy to find on their donor page.
With that all having been said, those of you outside of the US can find out more about them at their international page: http://www.ewb-international.org/
Finally, this organization is not affiliated with Doctors Without Borders. EWB builds hospitals and supplies clean water and power and sanitation services to them, but doesn't operate them.
1.1.11
January's Showcase: Kiva
Here is our first challenge of the year! For those of us misers who have trouble adjusting to the idea of giving away money, this is a great one to start the challenge with because in most cases, the money will come back to you.
Kiva is a highly transparent micro-lending service to entrepreneurs in countries around the world. I've been a Kiva member since 2008, and I've watched them steadily grow in popularity. Apparently, it was named as one of Oprah's favorite things of 2010. That's for good reason, because it's an easy way for middle-class people to help less privileged (but highly capable) people to help themselves. To date, they've financed over $100 million in loans.
How does micro-lending work?
Entrepreneurs in poorer regions of the world can come up with business plans, either for businesses they already have or ones they'd like to start, and talk to local Kiva partners to ask for loans. After the local partners determine their credibility and likelihood of being able to successfully repay the loans, they finance them, and provide information about the clients to Kiva.
Kiva posts the information about the entrepreneurs (the amount of information can vary depending on the partner), and people like you and me can browse through them and select who we would like to provide funding to back-fill the loans. This can be done for as little as $25, and usually a group of about 15-30 lenders can completely back-fill the loan.
The entrepreneurs have very reasonable repayment schedules and are not charged any interest, only the principle. As they pay the loans back, that money is put back into your Kiva account. You have the option of reloaning that money, or withdrawing it. It's yours to do as you want with it when it comes back to you. There is always the chance of default due to business failure or the outbreak of violence or something to that effect. I wouldn't worry much about that, because they have a 98.91% repayment rate.
I know I said that I'd be asking $10 from you all per month, and that these loans are at least $25. I'm still asking you to contribute $10 to Kiva as an organization to help them continue their work. $10 will more than cover their costs for facilitating one $25 loan for you. You always have the option not to give to Kiva and just pay for the loans as well.
Kiva cards are also great gift options for the person who has everything! It's like a gift certificate and giving in a loved one's name all rolled together, because they get to choose who they're going to finance.
Currently, I am supporting Leiner Rodriguez Olivera and Teofilo Cesario Verdesoto Arevalo. Olivera, 24, is a student in Peru who helps her mother run a grocery store, for which she asked for a $700 loan. Arevalo, 41, lives is Ecuador with his wife and three children. He took out an $800 loan to buy agriculture supplies for the various crops he raises, and his dream is to grow cocoa (which had me sold!). You can click on their names to see their pages and progress, including pictures!
In the past, I've also supported a wholesaler in Azerbaijan, a group of women selling rice in Cambodia, and a man raising livestock in Tajikistan. They've all paid back their loans 100%.
Payment procedures:
You will need to make an account on the Kiva website: http://www.kiva.org/
That way, once you put the money in, they will automatically put it back into your Kiva account as it is repaid so you can easily loan it back out or, should you chose to, withdraw the money for your own use. They will also keep track of your stats and who you've given to the past. You will be informed as payments are returned to you. You can pay via credit card or via PayPal.
Because the loans are made under the assumption you'll get them back, the money you lend out is not tax deductible in the United States. However, money donated to the Kiva organization is! Keep your receipts!
Have fun browsing and picking out whose business you want to support, and happy splurging!
Kiva is a highly transparent micro-lending service to entrepreneurs in countries around the world. I've been a Kiva member since 2008, and I've watched them steadily grow in popularity. Apparently, it was named as one of Oprah's favorite things of 2010. That's for good reason, because it's an easy way for middle-class people to help less privileged (but highly capable) people to help themselves. To date, they've financed over $100 million in loans.
How does micro-lending work?
Entrepreneurs in poorer regions of the world can come up with business plans, either for businesses they already have or ones they'd like to start, and talk to local Kiva partners to ask for loans. After the local partners determine their credibility and likelihood of being able to successfully repay the loans, they finance them, and provide information about the clients to Kiva.
Kiva posts the information about the entrepreneurs (the amount of information can vary depending on the partner), and people like you and me can browse through them and select who we would like to provide funding to back-fill the loans. This can be done for as little as $25, and usually a group of about 15-30 lenders can completely back-fill the loan.
The entrepreneurs have very reasonable repayment schedules and are not charged any interest, only the principle. As they pay the loans back, that money is put back into your Kiva account. You have the option of reloaning that money, or withdrawing it. It's yours to do as you want with it when it comes back to you. There is always the chance of default due to business failure or the outbreak of violence or something to that effect. I wouldn't worry much about that, because they have a 98.91% repayment rate.
I know I said that I'd be asking $10 from you all per month, and that these loans are at least $25. I'm still asking you to contribute $10 to Kiva as an organization to help them continue their work. $10 will more than cover their costs for facilitating one $25 loan for you. You always have the option not to give to Kiva and just pay for the loans as well.
Kiva cards are also great gift options for the person who has everything! It's like a gift certificate and giving in a loved one's name all rolled together, because they get to choose who they're going to finance.
Currently, I am supporting Leiner Rodriguez Olivera and Teofilo Cesario Verdesoto Arevalo. Olivera, 24, is a student in Peru who helps her mother run a grocery store, for which she asked for a $700 loan. Arevalo, 41, lives is Ecuador with his wife and three children. He took out an $800 loan to buy agriculture supplies for the various crops he raises, and his dream is to grow cocoa (which had me sold!). You can click on their names to see their pages and progress, including pictures!
In the past, I've also supported a wholesaler in Azerbaijan, a group of women selling rice in Cambodia, and a man raising livestock in Tajikistan. They've all paid back their loans 100%.
Payment procedures:
You will need to make an account on the Kiva website: http://www.kiva.org/
That way, once you put the money in, they will automatically put it back into your Kiva account as it is repaid so you can easily loan it back out or, should you chose to, withdraw the money for your own use. They will also keep track of your stats and who you've given to the past. You will be informed as payments are returned to you. You can pay via credit card or via PayPal.
Because the loans are made under the assumption you'll get them back, the money you lend out is not tax deductible in the United States. However, money donated to the Kiva organization is! Keep your receipts!
Have fun browsing and picking out whose business you want to support, and happy splurging!
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