Since you’re fortunate to have significant resources, you already devote quite a large percentage of them to charitable giving. You might, however, be looking for a few more ways to help your community and the broader society. There are plenty of possibilities, so read on to learn about some.
Start a Scholarship Fund
College is getting more and more expensive these days, and there are some students who may want to pursue their education but simply cannot afford the tuition. You can help by setting up a scholarship fund. Start with a large donation of your own, and then collect further donations from other individuals and businesses. You’ll have to set up an application process and form a committee to judge applications and choose the scholarship recipient by a set of objective criteria. While this may seem like a lot of work, just think of the benefit it can bring to one young person who can receive an education.
Set Up a Trust
If your resources allow it, you might look into setting up a charitable trust to manage your giving. Talk to a financial planner for help with this, and examine the structures and activities of other such trusts like that of Jeffrey Previte Former CEO of EBI Consulting. This will give you an idea of the directions you can go in your own endeavor.
Focus on Kids
It’s certainly true that children are the future, so you may want to focus your charitable giving on kids. Research various organizations that would allow you to sponsor a child or several children, overseas. Alternately, you could create such an organization right in your own community. While this would require a great deal of time and effort, the results could be stunning as you recruit families to pay for tuition, school supplies, food, clothing, and other necessities for kids in need.
Search for Needs
Just look around your community. You can probably identify several needs right off the top of your head. Perhaps your local food shelf could use a new refrigerator. Maybe local schools need new computers or library books or playground equipment. The community center might be able to use a new sound system. Be active in discovering what local organizations can truly use. Ask them for their wish lists, and then go about checking off some items. If you can’t meet a particular need on your own, gather a group to help you. Even if people just contribute a little, it’ll add up in a hurry.
Give of Yourself
Finally, don’t forget to give of yourself. You’re excellent at giving your money and other resources, but you should also consider giving your time and talent. Set aside several hours per month to volunteer at one of the organizations you support. You could hand out food or stock shelves at the food shelf, teach a community education class, or tutor kids in an after-school program. There are all kinds of possibilities, so just let the organizations know you’re available. They will be glad to provide the work.
Your charitable giving is very important to you, so bring it to the next level by following some of these ideas.
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