Frugality Series 1: Charity

Charitable giving can be roughly divided into two categories: financial gifts/donations of property and service gifts/gifts that can't be purchased. Even if you are short on money and time, there are many ways to offer someone else concrete, valuable help.


I just want to make a preliminary few points...

First, the less fortunate have needs year-round - not just on Thanksgiving or Christmas. Growing up, our church was very active with a specific homeless shelter. What families got to serve the homeless on Thanksgiving caused some serious fights every year. But the people who were most peeved about not being able to serve on Thanksgiving were the same ones who only wanted to serve on Thanksgiving.

Um, don't be like that.

Second, you need not be linked up with an organization or anything official.

Finally, if you are unemployed, seriously consider volunteer work. Not only will it provide networking opportunities, but you can also put it on your resume.

Financial gifts and donations of property
1. Responsible giving. Some will disagree with me on this one, but I believe that I have an obligation to do a little research before cutting a check to an organization. Have you ever felt like a greedy little glutton when you deline to add on a small donation at the grocery store check-out line? Me, too. While most grocery stores do vet the charity - and not all do - their vetting standards might not be the same as mine. If you give to an organization, take a few minutes to find out exactly how they distribute received funds. And if that organization resists such disclosure, take your wallet somewhere else.

The same goes for non-monetary donations. Are you sure that ponytail you lopped off is actually going to cancer patients? Some "charities" sell valuable human hair to wigmakers and are not clear about what happens to those funds. Are you sure that bag of clothing will keep someone else warm? Some "charities" sell clothing for fiber (same idea as scrap metal).

Although it is mostly buying instead of giving, read the fine print before purchasing, say, pink shoes or pink hairties or pink cookie cutters because you want to donate while buying coffee in a pink cup. The portion of your purchase that funds a charitable or research entity might be minimal and capped after a certain dollar amount. (I am using breast cancer as an example only because most of us are familiar with the pink ribbon and I am not at all downplaying the value of awareness. PS: Have you done your self-exam this month?)

2. Donations of vehicles and other property. For some, taking the tax deduction makes more fiscal sense than selling the property. Before you try to Craigslist your car, review whether donating it to a reputable organization is more advantageous than selling it. (If you have a lot of property you want to donate, it is probably a wise idea to swing by your friendly neighborhood tax attorney before handing it over.)

3. Go shopping...but for someone else. Spot a great deal on a shelf-stable food that you don't eat? Give it to your local food pantry. Same goes for toiletries, pet items, and clothing staples like socks, underwear, and gloves. If you play the coupon+sale timing game, you can give a lot for very, very little. This would be a good way to get children involved in giving, too - maybe they could be responsible for selecting toys for a Christmas gift drive.

4. Be resourceful. I did a now-lost post on toiletry kits for the homeless last year. I and my then-roommate traveled a lot but rarely used the hotel toiletries. Because they carry their possessions with them, I reasoned that full-size toiletry products were better-suited for food pantries. We hoarded travel-size toiletries from hotels, put them in a bag with deodorant, snacks, and seasonal items like socks or sunscreen, and passed them out from the car on our way to work. Word got around and I have a few people who regularly drop off bags of small-sized toiletries...including a kind check-out worker who gives me any leftover sample-sized toothpaste from promotional events. You might - due to your hobbies or line of work - have access to certain resources or skills that can be a blessing to someone else.

Service gifts/gifts that can't be purchased
1. Donate blood. Few people are excluded and you get a cookie at the end.

2. Donate bone marrow. I posted on bone marrow donation a year ago, but I think I lost that post when everything crashed. I will devote a full post to the matter in the future, but, in a nutshell: most bone marrow donations today only require a little blood-letting and no actual harvesting from the bone. Even if all donations required from-the-bone-harvesting, someone else gets to live and you get...a few days of lower back pain. Note: I think signing up for the registry through a local drive is free, but if you do it on your own, the kit is a $52 donation.

3. Donate time. Do you have a special skill like webpage design that you could offer an organization? Are you in a profession that makes it possible to donate your professional services a few times a year? (Depending on your profession, check with your malpractice carrier and employer first.) Can you sort clothing, make phone calls, or hold someone's hand and listen? The vast majority of us are capable of doing something, and there are plenty of one-time service opportunities for the commitmentphobes among us. And you can profit, too - volunteering is a great way to network, make friends, and even land a spouse. Think about it: if you're a save-the-whales type of person, you probably want to marry or befriend a fellow save-the-whaler. And what better place to conveniently find concentrated amounts of nice, whale-loving people than at We Heart Whales?

I'm all about convenience.

You can get your kids and pets in on this, too. Most older children can handle sorting boxes of cereal, and many areas have opportunities for well-behaved critters to visit schools for abused children, hospitals, and nursing homes. (No, Jack and Coco don't do this. Coco failed the exam because she doesn't understand "sit" or "come" when there isn't a treat dangled above her greedy little nose. And Jack passed, but was told to come back when he "calms down" and is "less boisterous.")

4. Pray. Or send up positive vibes or burn some sage or meditate or do a rain dance. (Or do "no cold weather" dance for me, because I still haven't unpacked my winter coat).

Do you have anything to add?