Does this exist?
So, when I was in college I had an idea for a charity foundation I wanted to create. I didn't have a lot of money. I had student loans paying for 2/3 my tuition and the little bit of spending money I had was gained in short spurts back home or in my work-study.
Still, I really wanted to donate. When I saw a cause that was important to me, I tried to help however I could.
But I was embarrassed if all I could give was $5. All these other people were dropping $25, $30 like it was nothing, but for me even that $5 meant I might not have a full breakfast one morning, or maybe I would wait a little longer to get groceries. Or maybe, if it was the middle of the night and I was tired, I couldn't afford a Sprite from the machine as my small luxury.
So I had the idea of creating a charity. The idea was that I would identify small, workable goals all over the world wherever it was needed--whether that was Fiji or Russia or Peru or the US or wherever. And the goal would be to target people who could only donate small amounts. $5 would be the norm there, maybe even a large donation. There would be no time limit on the fundraising; it would go until we could raise the money.
Once the money was raised, (much like Charity: Water does) it would track the progress of the solution from purchasing whatever it is, to sending it, to the implementation. Pictures and stories and other pieces of a portfolio to show that, yes, this thing happened, and yes, you and your $1 were more than a part. You were integral.
The first idea I had for a goal was to get schoolbooks to a particular Muslim school in Fiji that I knew of through my host mom. She'd told me about how the building had a lot of issues and not all kids even had desks, and they didn't have many supplies, but the biggest concern at that time was that almost no one had textbooks. At the time, since she lived there I thought it would be easier for me to get her the supplies and ensure it would make its way to the correct school, and ensure we could get photographic proof we could bring back to the donors.
I thought that after that first project, I could figure out a way to ask around. It was important to me that we ASK what the problem was and (if possible) what the solution was thought to be by the people experiencing the problem, not just having this organization show up with something that wasn't that helpful for the people actually in need. No one on the outside will ever know as well the trials and necessities of someone on the inside.
When I was around 22, I started creating the website for the charity. But the problem was, although I had the idea I had none of the knowledge to back it up. And I definitely had none of the money. So I kept trying to work on it here and there until it went into the background and eventually faded away.
I forgot about it for years because I saw all sorts of other charities out there that were wonderful.
But I started thinking of it again with the current water.org fundraiser John Green is doing. I donated (of course) and noticed the typical variation in amount of donations-- and I was very moved by how this was a fundraiser meant to raise $100,000 over the course of 10 days, and in only a day and a half they had met the goal. Most people didn't go above $30, although of course some did. It was the power of a movement of many smaller pieces making a greater whole, which feels so special to me.
But in scrolling through the donation list, reading comments, I saw a number of $5 donations. My thought was how awesome those people were to donate when they probably didn't have a lot of money-- but when those people did leave comments, their view on it was how mine used to be. They said things like, "I wish I could give more" and one kid even said something like, "I'm a broke college student but I'm doing what I can."
It reminded me of when I'd been in that position, and what I thought people might think of me, and how that made me hesitate to get involved sometimes.
So, that was a long way of getting to my main question:
Does this sort of charity exist now?
It's been 10 years since I first got the idea, so surely someone else has done this by now. I would love to get a link to such a charity so I could make sure I get it on my list of charities to donate to whenever possible.
If it doesn't exist, that's a problem because I think it could be useful to have as an option for students and others with very limited incomes but who still want to help. And if it doesn't exist, I'll have to keep this idea with a hope of still managing a real world implementation sometime in the future.
I don't know how exactly I'd go about it, but at least one thing has changed since college: now I know people who are much more versed on non-profits than I am, so at least I would have some experts to consult.
The best thing would be if a charity like this is already around, though, because surely whoever is in charge of it would do a much better job than I ever would.
**************************
Incidentally, since I'm talking about charities anyway, I never pass up a chance to spread the word about my favorite charities I donate to whenever I can. (And of course I also donate to my alma mater when I can, because grants paid for the other 1/3 of my tuition so I want to help some other student like unknown alumni helped me.)
Best Friends Animal Society: http://bestfriends.org/
This place is incredible-- a 20,000 acre no-kill animal shelter (the largest of its kind which is also the largest shelter for homeless pets in the US). They rehabilitate animals, save animals from death in other shelters, adopt out pets as much as possible but let them live their lives in dignity if they can't be adopted, had a show called Dogtown on the National Geographic channel for a while, saved the Michael Vick dogs, and... well. I can't explain how much I love them.
More information at their FAQ: http://bestfriends.org/Who-We-Are/Fre...
More information on their work: http://bestfriends.org/What-We-Do/Our...
Or if you want a video, this is an episode of Dogtown as an example: http://youtu.be/yp8akb974_Q
Partners In Health: http://www.pih.org/
If you have not yet read Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder, you must read it. I love that book. It's what introduced me to Paul Farmer, a man who since then I have found to be a huge inspiration. Any time I try to explain their work, I do a terrible job. In short, they go to poverty-stricken areas with very poor access to clean, consistent, and safe health facilities, and they build free hospitals with quality medical care, as well as teach the local population (which is often highly rural) how to expand these efforts of safe health beyond the hospital grounds. They started in Haiti in the 1980's and have since started projects in countries around the world.
Again, awful job explaining how incredible they are, so go here to see their work yourself: http://www.pih.org/our-work
Or consider a quote from one of the co-founders:
“The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that's wrong with the world.”
—DR. PAUL FARMER
Charity: Water - http://www.charitywater.org/
If you were around for my 30th birthday, you know I donated that birthday to charity: water. One of the reasons I love this charity in particular is that 100% of donations goes straight to the goal and they follow up with you on where exactly your money is going, as well as give you pictures when it's done.
Wondering, why water? Go here and probably cry--but I hope, after that, you'll donate money or your birthday to help this cause: http://www.charitywater.org/whywater/
Find more about donating your birthday here: https://www.charitywater.org/birthdays/
By the way, for once I'm not even going to apologize for a long entry because, if anything deserves a lot of attention being paid to it, charity would be it.
Still, I really wanted to donate. When I saw a cause that was important to me, I tried to help however I could.
But I was embarrassed if all I could give was $5. All these other people were dropping $25, $30 like it was nothing, but for me even that $5 meant I might not have a full breakfast one morning, or maybe I would wait a little longer to get groceries. Or maybe, if it was the middle of the night and I was tired, I couldn't afford a Sprite from the machine as my small luxury.
So I had the idea of creating a charity. The idea was that I would identify small, workable goals all over the world wherever it was needed--whether that was Fiji or Russia or Peru or the US or wherever. And the goal would be to target people who could only donate small amounts. $5 would be the norm there, maybe even a large donation. There would be no time limit on the fundraising; it would go until we could raise the money.
Once the money was raised, (much like Charity: Water does) it would track the progress of the solution from purchasing whatever it is, to sending it, to the implementation. Pictures and stories and other pieces of a portfolio to show that, yes, this thing happened, and yes, you and your $1 were more than a part. You were integral.
The first idea I had for a goal was to get schoolbooks to a particular Muslim school in Fiji that I knew of through my host mom. She'd told me about how the building had a lot of issues and not all kids even had desks, and they didn't have many supplies, but the biggest concern at that time was that almost no one had textbooks. At the time, since she lived there I thought it would be easier for me to get her the supplies and ensure it would make its way to the correct school, and ensure we could get photographic proof we could bring back to the donors.
I thought that after that first project, I could figure out a way to ask around. It was important to me that we ASK what the problem was and (if possible) what the solution was thought to be by the people experiencing the problem, not just having this organization show up with something that wasn't that helpful for the people actually in need. No one on the outside will ever know as well the trials and necessities of someone on the inside.
When I was around 22, I started creating the website for the charity. But the problem was, although I had the idea I had none of the knowledge to back it up. And I definitely had none of the money. So I kept trying to work on it here and there until it went into the background and eventually faded away.
I forgot about it for years because I saw all sorts of other charities out there that were wonderful.
But I started thinking of it again with the current water.org fundraiser John Green is doing. I donated (of course) and noticed the typical variation in amount of donations-- and I was very moved by how this was a fundraiser meant to raise $100,000 over the course of 10 days, and in only a day and a half they had met the goal. Most people didn't go above $30, although of course some did. It was the power of a movement of many smaller pieces making a greater whole, which feels so special to me.
But in scrolling through the donation list, reading comments, I saw a number of $5 donations. My thought was how awesome those people were to donate when they probably didn't have a lot of money-- but when those people did leave comments, their view on it was how mine used to be. They said things like, "I wish I could give more" and one kid even said something like, "I'm a broke college student but I'm doing what I can."
It reminded me of when I'd been in that position, and what I thought people might think of me, and how that made me hesitate to get involved sometimes.
So, that was a long way of getting to my main question:
Does this sort of charity exist now?
It's been 10 years since I first got the idea, so surely someone else has done this by now. I would love to get a link to such a charity so I could make sure I get it on my list of charities to donate to whenever possible.
If it doesn't exist, that's a problem because I think it could be useful to have as an option for students and others with very limited incomes but who still want to help. And if it doesn't exist, I'll have to keep this idea with a hope of still managing a real world implementation sometime in the future.
I don't know how exactly I'd go about it, but at least one thing has changed since college: now I know people who are much more versed on non-profits than I am, so at least I would have some experts to consult.
The best thing would be if a charity like this is already around, though, because surely whoever is in charge of it would do a much better job than I ever would.
**************************
Incidentally, since I'm talking about charities anyway, I never pass up a chance to spread the word about my favorite charities I donate to whenever I can. (And of course I also donate to my alma mater when I can, because grants paid for the other 1/3 of my tuition so I want to help some other student like unknown alumni helped me.)
Best Friends Animal Society: http://bestfriends.org/
This place is incredible-- a 20,000 acre no-kill animal shelter (the largest of its kind which is also the largest shelter for homeless pets in the US). They rehabilitate animals, save animals from death in other shelters, adopt out pets as much as possible but let them live their lives in dignity if they can't be adopted, had a show called Dogtown on the National Geographic channel for a while, saved the Michael Vick dogs, and... well. I can't explain how much I love them.
More information at their FAQ: http://bestfriends.org/Who-We-Are/Fre...
More information on their work: http://bestfriends.org/What-We-Do/Our...
Or if you want a video, this is an episode of Dogtown as an example: http://youtu.be/yp8akb974_Q
Partners In Health: http://www.pih.org/
If you have not yet read Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder, you must read it. I love that book. It's what introduced me to Paul Farmer, a man who since then I have found to be a huge inspiration. Any time I try to explain their work, I do a terrible job. In short, they go to poverty-stricken areas with very poor access to clean, consistent, and safe health facilities, and they build free hospitals with quality medical care, as well as teach the local population (which is often highly rural) how to expand these efforts of safe health beyond the hospital grounds. They started in Haiti in the 1980's and have since started projects in countries around the world.
Again, awful job explaining how incredible they are, so go here to see their work yourself: http://www.pih.org/our-work
Or consider a quote from one of the co-founders:
“The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that's wrong with the world.”
—DR. PAUL FARMER
Charity: Water - http://www.charitywater.org/
If you were around for my 30th birthday, you know I donated that birthday to charity: water. One of the reasons I love this charity in particular is that 100% of donations goes straight to the goal and they follow up with you on where exactly your money is going, as well as give you pictures when it's done.
Wondering, why water? Go here and probably cry--but I hope, after that, you'll donate money or your birthday to help this cause: http://www.charitywater.org/whywater/
Find more about donating your birthday here: https://www.charitywater.org/birthdays/
By the way, for once I'm not even going to apologize for a long entry because, if anything deserves a lot of attention being paid to it, charity would be it.
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