Dollar Philanthropy

Charity that Empowers: Take The Bite

Back in December, I met with Lisa Kays of the Washington Area Women's Foundation for a lovely breakfast.  She had just gotten, in my view, the universe's most perfect job-- blog and social media maven for a progressive nonprofit focusing on giving women tools and support to raise themselves out of poverty-- for good.

During that meeting, (maybe she already knew) I discovered that we shared many of the same thoughts and ideas about the purpose of philanthropy.  That morning, for me, minds met and dreams and visions for social change were offered a potent dose of hope. 

Amonst talking about wonky, technical crap associated with all things bloggy and social networky, our discussions always came back to discussing philanthropy with the lofty goal of giving a hand-up instead of a simple hand-out. 

Today, while catching up on my feeds for the week, I came across a series of posts at The Bamboo Project Blog that address this issue, as well as links to others. 

• It's Not about "Good Enough"  it is about Empowerment
• Change the world by empowering others, not yourself

This notion of empowerment is one of the main reasons I started this blog.  Here I highlight small to medium nonprofits.  Why??? ...click here  ---I do this because I believe that smaller organizations are the footsoldiers of social change.  They are in the trenches.  They see the need.  They, if given enough resources, are nimble enough to implement creative solutions that empower and meet the needs of individual cases. 

Yes... this is a slow approach to social change.  But, not to offend my animal advocate friends, how do you eat an elephant.... one bite at a time.

For donors, empowerment also means that you are taking a risk and investing with the hope that  with enough good stories and problems solved --- that maybe, just maybe--- we can have a permanent solution.  If individual cases fall short--- well at least you met an immediate need (no shame in that, right?).

Here it really comes back to Niels' post above, donating for empowerment not about you. So let go of your fear of being snookered, rooked, and fooled.

Just take the first bite...Do your research, make your best guess, let your gut lead you and indulge yourself in a moment to dream a pretty dream of the world as a better place.  Afterall, altruism and true philanthropy is about taking a chance on someone else.  And we all need chances...

E-Mail Updates: Responding to Your Requests

Thanks to everyone who has sent me feedback on Dollar Philanthropy. All of the comments have been very encouraging and supportive.  I also have listened to your requests to begin e-mailing folks when Dollar Philanthropy is updated.

For hardcore bloggers, yes, you can still add the feed to your aggregator of choice.  However, many of my family and friends are new to blogs and are not quite ready to set up a Bloglines or other similar news service.  So... I've set up an e-mail service with Constant Contact. 

So please take a moment to sign up using the button on the left. Or you can click on this link to go directly to the sign up page: 

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Tags: dollar philanthropy, updates, philanthropy, charity, nonprofits

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Why Small to Medium NonProfits?

First, thanks to everyone who has dropped by Dollar Philanthropy or who forwarded the e-mail I sent out announcing the launch of DP. Please keep coming back and sending your dollar to the causes that touch your heart.

In response to my e-mail, I have gotten a couple of questions about why the focus on small to medium nonprofits.  Well....  I suppose the choice is based on my belief that small & medium nonprofits are more nimble than larger ones.  I think they are more able to mobilize to meet the immediate needs of the community around them.  Also, it is my opinion that a greater percentage of the money goes directly to the cause versus overhead.

I know this is a broad, sweeping generalization and that all nonprofits are not the same. There indeed plenty of schisters out there.  I also understand that big nonprofits do good work too.  However, those folks have more resources at their command to be able to raise funds and make things happen.  I've chosen small and medium organizations because they need the help.

If you know a hard working organization that is worthy of mentioning, please drop me an e-mail. 

Tags: philanthropy, word of mouth marketing, dollar philanthropy, nonprofits

Welcome to Dollar Philanthropy

Dollar Philanthropy is an effort to harness the power of the blogosphere to create a network individuals who will donate a single dollar each week to a reputable nonprofit organization.   

A dollar doesn't seem like much and that is precisely the point. However, when combined, each of our individual dollars can make a huge difference to a local nonprofit that is seeking to serve a need and improve the community around them.

I am challenging readers to commit to giving $52 a year ($1 per week) for this project.  If you want to give more that $1, please feel free. With this in mind, please set us up on your favorite RSS aggregator so you don't miss a post.

My plan is to research and highlight one nonprofit per week.  I will give you all the contact information, important links and information about what they do.  Admittedly, here at the beginning a number of the nonprofits will be based in Georgia (where I live) because I already know about them.  I promise to expand to other states as I begin to get a feel for what this entails.

There are several ways you can donate to an organization.  However, each organization highlighted will have their own methods for donating.  DP will use the methods that are already set up.  The individual post will give you detailed information on the way the organization prefers donations. 

Possible payment methods include:  Check by US Mail,  PayPal, credit card payments directly to organization and Network for Good.  If using a check be sure to make it out to the organization.  Do not make it out to DP.

The US Mail and Paypal will enable you to send any amount.  If you use PayPal to process a credit card, please consider sending a little extra to cover PayPal's charges.  You may also use Network for Good but they require a $10 minimum donation. 

Please note, these donations go directly to the organization. DP does not handle any money.  Whenever possible, please note "Dollar Philanthropy" somewhere on the donation so that the organization can keep track the amounts.

Technorati tags: nonprofit, dollar philanthropy, Charities, Philanthropy