How to Donate Effectively: Valentine’s Challenge Day #6

Another short and sweet post.  Our Valentine’s Day Challenge for Day #6 is all about donations: the monetary kind & the stuff kind.  The lesson of the day is to give if you have extra; this includes time, talent, things, and (yes, if you have it), money.

But everyone wants to know where their money is going and to donate so that those who need it (whatever “it” may be) actually get it.  Here’s a recent article, following questionable charitable giving practices after the Haiti crisis, that outlines some very good things you should consider before making a monetary donation.  A few organizations on my radar for donations are the Children’s Relief Nursery  and teacher’s projects through DonorsChoose (you can search by location and donate to a teacher right in your neighborhood).

 

If you are like me and don’t happen to have a lot of extra cash but do happen to have piles of baby clothes and baby things that are ready

for a new home, you can donate these items, too.  My latest thing is to donate directly to mothers and children rather than donating through an organization like Goodwill.  So, how to get the items right to the people?  You can use the fabulous Donors Resource website, through which you can search by zip code for organizations in need of donated items.  It’s a beautiful thing and let me know exactly where I can drop off the baby thing

Question of the Day:  When you have extra (things, time, money), where do you donate it?  Give us all a few more organizations to put on our lists!s so that they will go to moms and babes directly.