I'd like to announce that the winning charity that will be getting this month's donation will be
Whoever comes up with the charity that I choose for our donation this month will win a Michael Jordan Upper Deck insert card as just a little thank you from MassAuthentics for helping us find the perfect place where our money is needed the most. Please post your ideas in the comments section of this post in the blog and I will announce the winner as soon as I decide. Thanks for all your helps guys and girls!
Each month i've decided to donate 10% of sales to a charity or non-profit and I'm looking for suggestions from my readers, circles on google, and their friends and family. Please leave your suggestions in the comments section of the blog and let me know where you think we should donate for the month of October and why you think that organization is in need of our help. I'll read all of the ideas and do a little backround to make sure a high percentage of donations go towards the actual fund and not in the president's pocket from his salary and then give the final decision right here in my blog and on Google Plus as well and let everyone know where and why I decided to donate to that charity/non-profit. If anyone wishes to make a matching contribution or an additional one just let me know and I'll point you in the right direction.
Ok, there are a few important things to consider when you decide that you want to donate to charity. It's not as simple as, well i've got $100 extra this month so let's go down to the homeless shelter and hand the first person you see the cash. You want to make sure that your money is not only going towards a good cause in name but that the money will be used in a way that you can be proud of. Don't do this blindly, a little research goes a long way and your going to feel a lot better about it if you spend the time so check around.
As sad as it is to say, not all "charities" are what they imply they are, some are not even authentic/real, they just create a website and spread the word as quickly as possible, catch a few unsuspecting good Samaritans that didn't do their homework and then poof their gone, no website, no workers, no charity....and your money is gone with them. Not a penny spent on what you had intended.
There are other examples of fraud also, maybe your looking for a charity that helps homeless veterans find housing. You see that the Veterans Assistance Fund is operating locally right in the next town over, now you've never heard of them but you look at their website and it looks nice, several nice looking "employee's" are listed and there are photo's even. An office is even listed but it says the headquarters is located in Florida so you call the number listed for the manager of your local branch. After talking with the nice women you decide to go ahead and give the $500 you had saved up because you had a brother that just passed away and at one point in his life he was a homeless veteran so it's a little tribute to him in your mind. Plus, the women explains how the money is used, some goes directly to the local shelter even. Well, technically the women didn't lie but what you didn't realize is that although this is a legit "charity" and they do donate a portion of the money to the local shelter, that manager gets 50% of all donations she takes in and then the "president" get's 40% for his salary and other "expenses". In the end, out of your hard earned $500 only $50 actually goes towards what you had intended.
This is why it's important to check how donations are used. It's not uncommon for the people that run these multi-million dollar charities to take a salary. That's not even something I have an issue with, these people have important jobs and they are typically dedicating much more then a normal work week to raising money for the organization. Many of the heads of these large charities have spent their entire lives speaking up for the cause and that's just as important as the actual money, awareness is huge. Don't immediately cross off an organization because you see that salaries for organization leaders, take into account the size of the charity and what responciblities their job may entail, but as always, if you don't feel 100% comfortable about somewhere keep looking. THERE ARE LITERALLY THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of charities out there that could use your help, if your going to put your hard earned money in the hands of a charity, make sure it's used for exactly what you expect.
REMEMBER LADIES AND GENTLEMEN A LITTLE RESEARCH GOES A LONG WAY!
+Joshua Hastings
@joshuadavid1121
www.MassAuthentics.Ecrater.com
http://massauthentics.tumblr.com/
Whoever comes up with the charity that I choose for our donation this month will win a Michael Jordan Upper Deck insert card as just a little thank you from MassAuthentics for helping us find the perfect place where our money is needed the most. Please post your ideas in the comments section of this post in the blog and I will announce the winner as soon as I decide. Thanks for all your helps guys and girls!
Each month i've decided to donate 10% of sales to a charity or non-profit and I'm looking for suggestions from my readers, circles on google, and their friends and family. Please leave your suggestions in the comments section of the blog and let me know where you think we should donate for the month of October and why you think that organization is in need of our help. I'll read all of the ideas and do a little backround to make sure a high percentage of donations go towards the actual fund and not in the president's pocket from his salary and then give the final decision right here in my blog and on Google Plus as well and let everyone know where and why I decided to donate to that charity/non-profit. If anyone wishes to make a matching contribution or an additional one just let me know and I'll point you in the right direction.
Ok, there are a few important things to consider when you decide that you want to donate to charity. It's not as simple as, well i've got $100 extra this month so let's go down to the homeless shelter and hand the first person you see the cash. You want to make sure that your money is not only going towards a good cause in name but that the money will be used in a way that you can be proud of. Don't do this blindly, a little research goes a long way and your going to feel a lot better about it if you spend the time so check around.
As sad as it is to say, not all "charities" are what they imply they are, some are not even authentic/real, they just create a website and spread the word as quickly as possible, catch a few unsuspecting good Samaritans that didn't do their homework and then poof their gone, no website, no workers, no charity....and your money is gone with them. Not a penny spent on what you had intended.
 |
| Michael Jordan Upper Deck Limited Edition rare insert |
There are other examples of fraud also, maybe your looking for a charity that helps homeless veterans find housing. You see that the Veterans Assistance Fund is operating locally right in the next town over, now you've never heard of them but you look at their website and it looks nice, several nice looking "employee's" are listed and there are photo's even. An office is even listed but it says the headquarters is located in Florida so you call the number listed for the manager of your local branch. After talking with the nice women you decide to go ahead and give the $500 you had saved up because you had a brother that just passed away and at one point in his life he was a homeless veteran so it's a little tribute to him in your mind. Plus, the women explains how the money is used, some goes directly to the local shelter even. Well, technically the women didn't lie but what you didn't realize is that although this is a legit "charity" and they do donate a portion of the money to the local shelter, that manager gets 50% of all donations she takes in and then the "president" get's 40% for his salary and other "expenses". In the end, out of your hard earned $500 only $50 actually goes towards what you had intended.
This is why it's important to check how donations are used. It's not uncommon for the people that run these multi-million dollar charities to take a salary. That's not even something I have an issue with, these people have important jobs and they are typically dedicating much more then a normal work week to raising money for the organization. Many of the heads of these large charities have spent their entire lives speaking up for the cause and that's just as important as the actual money, awareness is huge. Don't immediately cross off an organization because you see that salaries for organization leaders, take into account the size of the charity and what responciblities their job may entail, but as always, if you don't feel 100% comfortable about somewhere keep looking. THERE ARE LITERALLY THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of charities out there that could use your help, if your going to put your hard earned money in the hands of a charity, make sure it's used for exactly what you expect.
REMEMBER LADIES AND GENTLEMEN A LITTLE RESEARCH GOES A LONG WAY!
+Joshua Hastings
@joshuadavid1121
www.MassAuthentics.Ecrater.com
http://massauthentics.tumblr.com/
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3209
ReplyDeleteThe Academy of Natural Sciences
Educating children and young adults about science is the key to moving forward in a time when we seem to be inching towards another dark age.
-Mike Jules