For a while, I’ve wanted to start giving to charity in a more focused way. I’ve always given little bits here and there, but mostly to relatively affluent organizations, such as National Public Radio, or Macalester, the college I attended, or the Cambridge School of Weston, the private high school I attended—which, as private schools go, is not that affluent at all.
Occasionally I’d give $25 to Partners in Health, a great organization I learned about in my favorite book, Mountains Beyond Mountains, or to an organization such as Amnesty International. But reading other personal finance blogs has made me want to do more. Many of the people who write personal finance blogs, particularly followers of Dave Ramsey, seem to be pretty religious, and they take charitable giving seriously. Anyway, I took two small steps today: I signed up to resume monthly $10 gifts to WNYC, my local public radio station, and to begin monthly $10 gifts to Partners in Health. I figured giving $10 a month would make the financial contributions pretty painless.
Note to my alma maters: please don’t use this as an excuse to call me more.
2 Comments
February 24, 2009 at 4:47 am
great stuff. about a year ago, i began sponsoring a child through compassion international – osly jean – and i watched my heart melt and i began giving to other charaties – kiva loans are my new favorite.
once you grow into a generous person – watch out – the rest of your life will follow…
February 25, 2009 at 12:21 am
In the Grimm’s tales anyone who is kind and helpful to animals and old people is rewarded. I give to Drs. Without Borders, anything I use, like Vermont Public Radio and then charities my friends are involved in. For example, a friend of mind does things for Nicaragua, so whenever I get a card from her group I give some money. Now that, in theory, I have less money than I useta, due to the downturn, I don’t quite know how to stop, so I haven’t yet.