BellaOnline Forums Money Charity Effect of the economy on charitable orgs

With all of the lay-offs charitable organizations are probably the hardest hit at a time when they are needed the most. I'm curious as to those of us that do give, have we changed our giving habits?

Dianne, I'm involved with a historical society - we have a golf tournament in October and have already begun thinking about the sponsorships. Fund raising is always difficult but I am sure it will be more so this year.

Thanks Angie!
Will your organization be taking a different approach this year in finding sponsorships?

The one thing that I have noticed in my research is that financial contributions are indeed down. But, the one thing that has been on the rise, most likely because of the down economy, is the donating of time and talent. People are recognizing how hard hit charities have been, not just by the decrease in funding, but by the increase in those relying on charity assistance. Also, some folks who are out of work are giving back in their newly found spare time. It is so easy to be helpful to charitable organizations in need without ever taking out your wallet. If you are an accountant, you can offer to help with filing taxes. If you are a P.R. person, like I am, you can offer to help with the marketing. If you are a handy person, you can offer to fix something in need of repair. Whenever you give in this way, it alleviates the need for a charitable organization to spend on these items. Every little bit helps. Check out these articles from the Charity Site archive:

Small but meaningful donations
You can be charitable despite tough economy

Tricia,
The articles were great. I used to volunteer for the Red Cross in the hospital at Fort Belvoir. I had to stop when the gas prices were nudging $5.00 a gallon because it was a fairly long drive. Then I got a little busy so I was unable to go back.

The idea of donating services is great!!! I did a search awhile back, but really couldn't find anything. Can you tell us the best way to find a non-profit that may need particular services. I do HR and career training. If I could find a non-profit close to where I live that would be great. Any search tips you can provide would be great!!!

My MIL is involved with the Shepherd Center, a seniors helping seniors program. They help seniors who need rides to doctors or the hospital and handy men to do small fix it jobs.

The Historical Society is a small business although all volunteer. We need all kinds of help - office type, technical, photography, database, museum, preservation, P.R., the list is endless. The question about the golf needs to be addressed and I think a meeting is scheduled in the near future. Perhaps not one major sponsor but several.

The best place to start, when you either would like to volunteer and don't know where, or if you need charitable assitance and don't know how to access it, is to dial 211 from your phone, or go to 211.org on the internet. A little known service that has actually been up and running for 10 years, this United Way-run program works like 911 works. You call, tell them what you need or want, and they direct you to the local organizations in your area in need. Check out the article I wrote about 211 a month or so ago.

Need a Lifeline? Call 2-1-1.

Another thing is to simply call the department of health and human services at your local county seat. The folks there usually can tell you about all the shelters, food banks, charitable programs, etc., that could need help. I bet that the local shelters would be particularly thrilled to have your career training skills. I worked with a local mom's shelter that was always looking for ways to help these moms get out and on their own. Happy Volunteering!

I will definitely check it out.

Thanks Tricia!!!

I definitely agree that we can all donate time and services. If you like to knit, you can knit blankets for local hospitals for example. Most of the time you can get free yarn donated to you for the project!