Shopping for Opportunities to Give
We're all accustomed to shopping for things to buy, whether flipping through the latest catalog that came in the mail or browsing the aisles of our favorite stores. But have you ever "shopped" for ideas about where to make charitable donations? The Chicago Tribune recently profiled DonorsChoose , an organization described as "a sort of philanthropic eBay." Visitors to its web site can help students in need after browsing through thousands of wish lists posted by public school teachers.
Matt's View
What makes DonorsChoose especially powerful is that donors can see specifically how their money will be used, whether buying books or helping to fund a field trip. For example, because of donations generated by the site, a straight-A 12-year-old Chicago girl will be able to attend a leadership conference in Washington. There's no way her parents, who both work low-wage restaurant jobs, would have been able to afford the trip.
DonorsChoose covers its costs via an optional fulfillment fee people can choose to pay after clicking to fund a project. The organization gets the highest possible ratings from Charity Navigator , an independent charity evaluator.
This article filed in: Giving
Managing Money by The Book
- "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'" - 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
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