Filed under: Holiday Giving, Inexpensive Ways to Give | Tags: Christmas, community, giving in hard times, holidays, meaning, sharing
By Cheryl Mahoney
Christmas is coming, the goose might be getting fat, but wallets are getting thinner. There have been a lot of gloomy predictions this year about struggles to pay for Christmas. I think we need more positive thoughts on that subject.
#1: I think that scaled-back holidays are often nicer than huge ones. I firmly believe that buying fewer gifts makes for better gifts–as they say, quality over quantity. When I go hunting for lots of presents for someone, I usually end up buying kind of so-so things because I just don’t have that many good ideas. Focusing on a few gifts let’s you concentrate and come up with some really good ideas. Also, it takes a lot of stress out of the equation to try to do a little less.
#2: People really do like home-made things. I gave up buying Hallmark cards years ago when I discovered that home-made ones save money, are far more personalized and–best of all–very popular among my friends and family. You can do wonderful things on a computer, and colored pencils work rather well too. As for other home-made ideas, who doesn’t appreciate a nice batch of home-baked cookies?
#3: It’s not really about monetary things anyway. True, a turkey and a Christmas tree and most gifts cost money, but they don’t have to cost a lot. And the most important part of the holiday really isn’t a matter of money. From the religious perspective, Christmas is about the birth of Christ. From the secular perspective, the holidays are about family and friends and giving and generosity. None of those are things that should really be affected by the economy.
So this year, I think we ought to view an economic crisis as a good opportunity to bring some creativity, simplicity and meaning into a perhaps less extravagant holiday, but one with a better spirit to it.
If you want to go further and have a truly non-materialistic holiday, you could incorporate volunteering or giving to those truly in need into your plans.
There’s a lot of other great ideas out there, a few of which I want to share with you:
A View from a Distance: 2008: Revisiting Gratitude and Giving
This moving piece offers a nice perspective on Christmas and ten wonderful suggestions for making the holiday meaningful.
Communicating Sense: Redefine Christmas–Social Media Meets Charitable Giving
This is a great post providing resources for online giving.
If you are going to shop online you can still help charities by using iGive, which is a service that allows you to shop online at over 700 brand name stores and a portion of each purchase will be donated to your favourite cause.
However you choose to celebrate it, I hope you have a merry and meaningful holiday season!
Filed under: Holiday Giving, Inexpensive Ways to Give, Poverty | Tags: change, generosity, giving in hard times, take action
By Melissa Sandgren
If you happen to be wondering how to give with the current economic climate, I have an answer – microfinance.
How does all this work? Well, to learn more, you can check out the FAQs of Kiva, one of our favorite microfinance non-profits, but basically an organization (not a bank) plays the role of the middle man. The money you loan is given to an organization already in the country. Borrowers have a 98% return rate, and once your loan is repaid, you can keep on lending. For the borrower, you’ve just changed a life, perhaps for generations. One of the best parts about microfinance (which isn’t always true with other types of giving), is that you can actually SEE who is receiving YOUR money. Now that’s powerful.
If you’re not convinced already, here are some of the best reasons to support microfinance this holiday season (as a gift for someone else or as a donation):
1. You’re giving a seriously life changing loan. The $25 (or whatever amount) you lend becomes part of a much larger loan, which not only facilitates wealth for the borrower, but also gives them status, personal pride and education for their children.
2. You’re mostly helping women; in countries and communities where women are sometimes treated as property, financial well-being brings exponential opportunities, and if you’re anything like me, that makes you feel fuzzy inside.
3. $20 actually means something again. If you’ve been watching the markets (or if you have kids), then seeing $20 appreciate in value, or simply being appreciated, might be the best reason to give.
4. You’re reminded of how much you have. For example, in China, 200 million people live off less than $1/day.
So now the question is where do I go next?
1. Kiva.org is basically the golden child of American microfinance organizations. Oprah AND Bill Clinton have endorsed it, so you know it’s good. : ) Actually, I have four friends who have sponsored families through Kiva (and then linked it to their facebook accounts which is why I know) and one of their coolest ideas is the Kiva Fellows Program.
2. Wokai.org works solely in China, and it’s a personal favorite of mine; their pilot program focuses on women entrepreneurs in Inner Mongolia. They just finished their beta testing and I’m proud to say I was one of fifty lenders to sponsor five people at $10 each. Merry Christmas! Or should I say, Happy Early Chinese New Year 
3. One of UniversalGiving’s partner NGOs is Pro Mujer. They work to promote women’s development in Latin America’s poorest communities.
Lastly, I would like to mention 2006 Novel Peace Prize winner Mohammad Yunus and his work in microfinance in Bangladesh in the 70s. He basically started the movement by lending money to poor Bangladeshis ineligible for loans. What a great guy; I recommend his book. AND, if you find yourself thoroughly consumed with the intrinsic coolness of microfinance – like I was – you can even take a class (for free!) courtesy of the UN… and then apply to be a Kiva fellow.
Filed under: Volunteering | Tags: change, commitment, community, hope, service
By Cheryl Mahoney
This Friday is International Volunteer Day. Created by the United Nations in 1985, IVD for Economic and Social Development is a huge effort to bring volunteers together and celebrate what they do. There are IVD national committees all over the world helping to organize and coordinate rallies, community projects, advocacy campaigns and more. In the Philippines there will be a symposium on Youth Volunteering and HIV/AIDS Prevention. In Croatia there is a concert being planned, where attendants will gain admission with tickets and candy, making possible gifts to a children’s home. In Syria, they are focusing on environmental awareness.
These are just a few of the exciting events happening, all over the world. You can find more events, and a lot more information–like how to get involved!–at World Volunteer Web. WVW was created by the United Nations Volunteers Program as a global volunteer resource online, and has lots of great things to share.
There has been some coverage in the media lately about donations to nonprofits dropping off as the economy declines and budgets get tighter. A few of the more proactive articles however have also pointed out that volunteering is one way to help others that shouldn’t cost much, if anything, if it’s in your local community. Check out Volunteer Match for volunteer opportunities in the US. If you want to go further afield and have a truly life-changing experience you could consider volunteering internationally.
Social change is in the air. After the excesses of the holidays why not make a New Year’s Resolution to give other people the precious gift of your time.
By Sarah Johnston
On this very important day, World AIDS Day, I’m sure plenty of organizations and other blogs are giving people statistics and information about how devastating HIV and AIDS are. This is of course an extremely valid way of raising awareness but I thought it might be possible to show something positive, to focus on the hope shining in the darkness. One of our partner NGOs is PATH. They are essentially a catalyst for global health. Their mission is to have ‘a world where innovation ensures that health is within reach for everyone.’ They believe that solutions for the world’s biggest health problems are at hand and that it only takes a little creativity to make sure those solutions work in poor countries as well as rich ones. That creativity has been put to remarkable use in the fight against AIDS and I would like to share one of their incredible projects with you.
In Bungoma, western Kenya, before a crowd of 150 people, actors at an outdoor market demonstrate a young couple’s dilemma: she wants to go for counseling and an HIV test before getting intimate, but he feels like she’s questioning his manhood. Another actor stops the play to ask the audience, “Should this woman have sex with this man?” The audience responds with questions, suggestions, and lively debate. When the play resumes, they witness one possible ending.
PATH organizes such interactive community theater performances to prevent HIV transmission in Kenya, where nearly 9 percent of the population has HIV. Called “magnet theater” due to its natural pulling power, the regular performances are designed to get people talking about how traditional attitudes may be fueling the epidemic. One mother explains, “I do not know how to talk with my children about such things, so I encourage them to go to the magnet theater.” There, her young teenagers will join other people, young and old, who flock to take in the performances.
Because of their regularity and the audience participation, each performance is anticipated and much discussed by the whole community. Subjects such as HIV and sex, once taboo, become regular topics of conversation, laying the groundwork for societal attitudes to change, for new social norms to take hold.
This seems to me to be the only way that the fight can truly be won: grassroots campaigns that encourage a change in attitude and behavior. Finding a cure for AIDS is not necessarily the holy grail. Let’s face it, even if a cure did exist today, how many poor Africans would be able to access it do you think?
If this story of hope has inspired you today, I urge you to consider donating to PATH so they can continue with their hugely necessary and successful work. Thank you.
