Giving Increases with COVID-19

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By JohnPosted In: Charity Activity, ChildFund InternationalTagged: , , ,

A recent survey has shed some interesting light on the type of giving that Americans did during the COVID pandemic in 2020. Smile Train, the largest cleft charity in the world, examined how Americans prioritized their giving during 2020 in a report called Caring Amid Crisis: How COVID-19 Influenced American Donations. There were many interesting takeaways from their research, including that they found that 91% of those surveyed felt it was more important now than pre-COVID to support charities and fundraising.

Here are some other interesting findings. 56% of Americans made some type of a monetary donation during the COVID pandemic. Older people are more likely to give money, while younger people give more of their time. Finally, the majority of donations that are being made are to organizations that help children or the homeless.

See more of the details from the survey to learn more interesting details and findings.

Family-Owned Businesses Making Philanthropic Commitments

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By JohnPosted In: Charity Activity, Charity in Business, FamilyTagged: , , , ,

Family-owned companies are including philanthropy as a fundamental part of their business model, dedicating significant funds to worthy charities and causes.

Evan Metropoulos and Warren Buffett
Evan Metropoulos, left, with Warren Buffett. Metropoulos & Co. has signed Buffett’s Giving Pledge.

Evan Metropoulos, of Metropoulos & Co., says his family has translated its core values and principles to active charitable giving. The company became a signatory to The Giving Pledge, an initiative of billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates, pledging more than half of the company’s wealth to philanthropy. According to Mr. Metropoulos, the company takes pride in its giving and its role in modeling good corporate practices.

“It has proven to be good for business, too. We are recruiting and keeping fantastic employees who are committed to what we stand for and give to. Our clients and the wider community want to be a part of generating positive change in the world.”

Evan Metropoulos, Metropoulos & Co.
van Metropoulos at the Clinton Foundation
Evan Metropoulos, left, with members of the Clinton family at a Clinton Foundation Millennium Network event.

Ideas for Charitable Giving to Education

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By JohnPosted In: Charity ActivityTagged: , , ,

classSometimes, even if you have the time or money to dedicate towards helping others, you just don’t know where to begin. It’s ironic that we often end up doing nothing simply because we don’t have direction for our efforts. For people who are interested in improving educational opportunities for children in America and around the world, there are certainly thousands of resources.

One way to help children and to impact educational services is to think small. Talk to a local school and see what needs they have in the library. You might start a few magazine subscriptions from National Publishers Exchange or another company and have those educational magazines sent to the library each month. Turtle magazine, for instance, helps early readers and can be sent by National Publishers Exchange each month.

For people who want to send money somewhere or do something more global, here are just three of the thousands of possibilities to give you a taste of the choices for charitable giving.

1. Aura’s House: This is a grassroots project that raises money for housing, health, income generation and educational projects for children in developing countries. since 2003, they have been working with Children International.

2. ClassWish: This is a nonprofit organization that addresses the shortage of teaching supplies by allowing teachers, administrators and others to go to ClassWish.org and create Wish Lists of the items they need for their classes. People can then pitch in to help with the needs that the school identifies.

3. Say Yes to Education, Inc.: This is a United States non-profit that wants to improve inner-city schools. They offer support services at at-risk locations and pledge full scholarships for college or vocational education for children living in poverty.