Several months ago, I started making more of an effort to do charitable giving. We’ve always done some, but felt like it was something I needed to make into a regular routine. And by this, I don’t mean just setting up an monthly auto-payment to a charity. Doing this is fine, but once you set it up, you don’t really think about that act of giving again.
I wanted to train myself, my brain and my heart, to regular giving. For me, this is the type of thing that takes practice. It comes easier to some people, but I need the repetition, in the hopes that I’ll be more receptive to opportunities to give as they arise. Does that make sense?
I’ve been keeping a Pinterest board (of all things) with various organizations and ways to donate, adding new “pins” as I come across things (either from surfing the net, in conversation with someone, or fundraising products I see around town, etc). Each month we set aside a chunk of money (a predetermined, regular amount) and then at some point during the month I sit myself down and decide where to donate to. I often pick a theme. And yes, I’ve been keeping a spreadsheet to track where and what type of donations we’ve been making (international, local, national, animals, people, buildings, that kind of stuff). I just needed an excuse to keep a spreadsheet now that I’m not working.
I’d like to start sharing brief posts with links to these organizations. I hesitated for quite some time about doing this because I didn’t want to seem like I was looking for praise or acknowledgement. I’ve decided to go ahead and share though, because sometimes people have the will to give, but aren’t certain where to give. Different things move different people. Maybe you don’t feel comfortable giving money to someone asking for it on the street, but you’d still like to help others.
So I’ll post some of the organizations that I’ve come across, and please feel free to share, at any time, places that you personally like to donate to. Or if you hear of a need somewhere, pass that along too. Thanks!