Charity Ideas – How to Contribute

Giving feels so good, doesn't it? And it’s that time of year when we tend to make that conscious effort to be especially giving. Outside of the holidays and regular daily contributions of love, making time to contribute to a greater cause regularly is crucial to our happiness… but where do we start? Truly there are no rules to contribution but here are some helpful tips on how to start, whether it be to charity or just contributing your time to a loved one. 

1.    Time
Nothing is more valuable than our time. There is no way to create more and no way to get it back. That is why I see giving of time as the highest contribution you can make! A few ways you can give your time are by locating a local food kitchen or shelter that needs volunteers. You can donate your time by going to a local beach or neighborhood to pick up trash or you can give your time to a particular cause by contributing your efforts to building new schools or homes in areas of need.

2.    Money
For some of us it might be possible to actually give a portion of our income back via charity, to someone in need through websites like GoFundMe, or to an organization that is dear to your heart or that supports a cause you feel passionate about. The organizations that I have felt strongly about contributing to lately have been Charity Water & 4ocean. Another favorite way to give money is go to a restaurant and give my server a large tip if the service was exceptional or, maybe, I could tell they were having a bum day.

Often times it may feel like we don’t have enough to give but when we give, it seems, that life conspires to give back 10-fold.

3.     Create Your Own
If you see a problem or an issue ask for help by creating a campaign. Facebook has a wonderful feature now, for birthdays, you can ask for donations to a charity or campaign of your choice! How amazing is that!

I recently had an amazing experience with this when my Brother-In-Law lost his baby and almost his wife in the process. They had so many medical bills (I didn’t have enough money to contribute on my own), I thought about asking others for help and sure enough, all of you banned together and made it happen! It was a wonderful first-hand experience to see how much relief it brought them. It gave them time to grief, it took stress off their shoulders, when it came time to deal with finances - it allowed them time to focus on mental and physical health. This is something that will stick with us for the rest of our lives, that is the power of giving, you can make a real difference for everyone involved.

There are always going to be different reasons or notions that might inspire you to give. I always say, follow them! 

Until next time,
Be good, be great, and most of all be grateful!

-MJ