Give To Charity – It Pays

by Allen Taylor

Charity avails so much as the old adage goes.

Most of us like to help others and you don’t have to go too far out of your way to give. In some cases, you need only walk right out your back door.

Charity is one of the best ways to advertise your business in a low-cost way. All you have to do is give and expect nothing in return.

But be very selective in the charity you give to. Be sure the charity is a bona fide charity with the proper legal paperwork that gives it a charitable distinction. Also, try to find one with a longstanding reputation.

Most charities will list their sponsors and donors in their newsletter or make mention in some other way that provides a public benefit. Ask charities that you consider giving to if they recognize people who donate goods and services.

A monetary gift is nice but you can get the same benefits by providing your business services for free. If you are a persuasive salesman and able to get people to let loose of their hard-earned cash, you could volunteer to be a fundraiser. A writer? Write copy for the charity’s brochure. Are you good with your hands? Offer to fix something when it breaks.

Depending on the size of your business, you may want to give to a small charity. It is best to give to a charity that is relatively the same size as your company. If you are a small mom & pop shop you won’t get a lot of benefit by giving $100 to a multi-national charity. The large corporations will overshadow you with their huge gifts. But if it is a cause you really believe in, then by all means, give what you can.

But if you want recognition for your business, you are better off giving to a local charity or a smaller charity that lists its small business donors on its web site and newsletter. Consider the level of charitable donation very seriously. It may be to your benefit to be one of the highest givers, or you may opt to go in at the lowest rung on the donation ladder. How do you decide?

Consider this: How many other donors are there at your level? If there are only one or two then you will stand out more. Also, is the cause related to your industry in some way? Maybe you’ll want to give more. Are you a local business that caters to local customers? Give to a local charity. Are you an Internet company that does business worldwide? Then, maybe you should consider a charity with a worldwide scope.

The decision is yours but be selective about your charitable contributions. Put your charitable limits in your annual budget and stick to them like mud on a boy.

Also, don’t be afraid to volunteer your time. Most charities, particularly local ones, are in dire need of helpers. And you never know who you are going to meet.

About The Author: Allen Taylor is an award-winning journalist, freelance writer and copywriter. He specializes in world-class marketing for small businesses. For more information about how to make your business shine visit http://www.taylor-and-associates.com. Be sure to check out Allen’s ghostwriting services and sign up for the free e-mail newsletter.

Quotes from THP.org

“There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” – Indira Gandhi

“The day that hunger is eradicated from the earth, there will
be the greatest spiritual explosion the world has ever known.
Humanity cannot imagine the joy that will burst into the world
on the day of that great revolution.” – Federico Garcia Lorca, Spanish poet and dramatist, 1889-1936

On June 13, 1942, in his “Four Freedoms” radio address, Franklin D. Roosevelt read a prayer that included:

“Our earth is but a small star in the great universe. Yet of it we can make, if we choose, a planet unvexed by war, untroubled by hunger or fear, undivided by senseless distinctions of race, color or theory. Grant us that courage and foreseeing to begin this task today that our children and our children’s children may be proud of the name of man.”

At his 1961 inaugural address, John F. Kennedy stated:

“To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required…”

1977, the National Academy of Sciences’ Study on Food and Nutrition, involving some 1,500 scientists, made this statement:

“If there is the political will in this country and abroad… It should be possible to overcome the worst aspects of widespread hunger and malnutrition within one generation.”

1980, the Presidential Commission On World Hunger concluded that:

“Each major cause of hunger could be averted or overcome if the human community were to act cooperatively and decisively.

“Conversely, the persistence of hunger reflects a lack of sufficient political will to eliminate its causes. If decisions and actions well within the capability of nations and people working together were implemented, it would be possible to eliminate the worst aspects of hunger and malnutrition by the year 2000.”

1980, the Brandt Commission, in a two-year study involving representatives of 17 rich and poor countries, concluded:

“Mankind has never before had such ample technical and financial resources for coping with hunger and poverty. The immense task can be tackled once the necessary collective will is mobilized. What is necessary can be done, and must be done.”

Recently issued Unicef report states:

“By the year 2000 the number of infant deaths in low-income countries could be reduced to 50 per 1,000 or less…. [this] goal is realistic in the sense that the principal obstacle standing in the way of [its] realization is the absence of the will and commitment to achieve [it].

The conservative American organization, the Heritage Foundation, has written:

“Hunger is man’s oldest enemy. There is now the scientific knowledge and the institutional arrangement that makes it possible to overcome hunger, not only within the United States but throughout the world. This can be done within the lifetime of people now living, if there is the political will to do so.”

1981, 52 Nobel laureates issued “The Manifesto Against Hunger.” They said:

“We must refute the false idea of reality that accepts as inevitable what is in fact a result of present politics; in other words, of organized chaos.

“Each and every one of us must support measures to save the living.

“If only people are told what is happening, then the world’s dark future, which now seems to threaten everyone ln it, may be changed.

“But only if we take action.

“Now is the time to act, now is the time to create, now is the time for us to live in a way that will give life to others.”

From: http://www.thp.org

Brutal Bangladesh Sweatshops Exposed

by Nathan T. Lynch

We’ve all heard about the disgrace of sweatshops in Asia and other countries. Until you get first hand news of the horrible conditions in these places, it probably doesn’t seem ‘real’. Well it is. And it’s an ongoing tragedy throughout those countries. Following is an account of what Asian women are going through in these situations, specifically in the country of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is a country in South Asia that was formerly known as the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Even though the country has gone through domestic and international efforts to improve its economic situation, Bangladesh remains an underdeveloped and overpopulated country. For the majority of people who live there, the annual income is only $440US, and lower still for others.

Bangladesh grows massive quantities of rice, tea and mustard. Although two-thirds of its people are farmers, more than three quarters of the country’s earnings come from exports through the garment industry. The ‘industry’, which employs more than 3 million workers, exports an average of $5 billion worth of products! 90% of of its employees, or slaves if you will, are Asian women.

Rents are very high in Bangladesh, especially for the factory workers who only earn about $38 US per month. To try to make ends meet, many of the women in the rural areas trek to the city’s sweatshops that offer horrible working conditions. At these sweatshops, the women work between 10 and 12 hours a day, seven days a week. That’s not including their additional household duties either.

Needless to say, the atrocious working and living conditions take their toll on the health of these Asian women. As many as 68% of them complain of constant weakness and fatigue which is related to the long hours of work. The second major problem is gastric ulcers which are mainly due to low incomes and irregular eating habits. Chest pain, backaches, eye trouble, headaches and joint pain are other common ailments stemming from their work environment. Asian women working in these horrid conditions are also prone to urinary infections which are a direct result of not having enough access to toilets at work. There are strong restrictions on the number of times they are even allowed to take bathroom breaks.

Believe it or not, these women have a union. The Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers’ and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said factory owners had prepared a master plan to start addressing these awful work-place conditions. That is yet to be seen. Sexual harassment is also very common in garment factories and the women there are threatened with being fired if they say anything or try to defend themselves. Exploited at work and living in poverty, many of these female workers have turned to prostitution as a way to make some extra money.

All in all, no matter how much you dislike the job you have, you’ve got to be thankful, at least, that you’re not an Asian woman living and working in Bangladesh.

Discover exotic culture asian culture at asian women

Wikipedia: The Politcs Of Hunger

As of 2006, hunger continues to be a worldwide problem. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, “850 million people worldwide were undernourished in 1999 to 2005, the most recent years for which figures are available” and the number of hungry people has recently been increasing. An orange awareness ribbon is used to raise awareness of hunger in the world.[3]

There is a wide range of opinions as to why this problem is so persistent. Organizations such as Food First raise the issue of food sovereignty and claim that every country on earth (with the possible minor exceptions of some city-states) has sufficient agricultural capacity to feed its own people, but that the “free trade” economic order associated with such institutions as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank prevent this from happening. At the other end of the spectrum, the World Bank itself claims to be part of the solution to hunger, claiming that the best way for countries to succeed in breaking the cycle of poverty and hunger is to build export-led economies that will give them the financial means to buy foodstuffs on the world market.

Amartya Sen won his 1998 Nobel Prize in part for his work demonstrating that hunger in modern times was not typically the product of a lack of food; rather, hunger usually arose from problems in food distribution networks or from governmental policies in the developing world.

From: Wikipedia

The High Cost Of Poverty

From the Barbara Ehrenreich article on Alternet.org
http://alternet.org/story/39273/

A new study from the Brookings Institute documents the “ghetto tax,” or higher cost of living in low-income urban neighborhoods. It comes at you from every direction, from food prices to auto insurance. A few examples from this study, by Matt Fellowes, that covered 12 American cities:

* Poor people are less likely to have bank accounts, which can be expensive for those with low balances, and so they tend to cash their pay checks at check-cashing businesses, which in the cities surveyed, charged $5 to $50 for a $500 check.

* Nationwide, low-income car buyers, defined as people earning less than $30,000 a year, pay two percentage points more for a car loan than more affluent buyers.

* Low-income drivers pay more for car insurance. In New York, Baltimore and Hartford, they pay an average $400 more a year to insure the exact same car and driver risk than wealthier drivers.

* Poorer people pay an average of one percentage point more in mortgage interest.

* They are more likely to buy their furniture and appliances through pricey rent-to-own businesses. In Wisconsin, the study reports, a $200 rent-to-own TV set can cost $700 with the interest included.

* They are less likely to have access to large supermarkets and hence to rely on the far more expensive, and lower quality offerings, of small grocery and convenience stores.

Donate a Car to Charity

by Seth Scolack, Savvy Seth’s Donate a Car to Charity

You may ask yourself, ‘if I donate a car to charity, are there any benefits in it for me?’ Like they say, “good deeds that you do always come back to you”. Without a doubt, donating your old car to charity is a generous gesture that can greatly improve the life of someone else, and it can also benefit you.

When you donate a car to charity, you are helping a person fulfill a need that they are unable to fulfill themselves. Most of us take for granted the convenience of our car, but for other people, a car is not only convenient but it may also help them to earn a living or provide kids with transportation to school. Besides having helped someone else, there are several other practical reasons why you should donate your car to charity.

For many of us, the thought of having to try and sell our old car that we have had for years is a bad one. Haggling over price with a car dealer and having to spend money to ensure the vehicle is in good enough condition to sell is a nuisance. In fact, spending the time and money on an already old car is sometimes actually counterproductive and ends up costing more money than it’s worth. When you donate a car to charity, you are not required to see that your vehicle is up to working standard. Furthermore, you do not have to spend the money to get your car towed to a lot. You do not have to place an ad in the paper and wait around for people to call or visit your less than perfect automobile. When it comes down to it, selling an old car requires effort. If you are in the position to part with your car and the money that you might make on selling it is minimal, you might just simply choose to donate it.

Speaking of money, one of the great benefits of donating your car to charity is that you are eligible for a tax deduction. In the United States, if you donate to a charity classified with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, you may be eligible for a tax deduction. Before donating your car, it is useful to know the fair market value, which can be assessed by using one of the several guidebooks on the subject. Also, be clear on what your charity will do with the car, as it will make a difference in your tax break depending on whether the car is resold or broken down for parts. Taking the time to speak directly with your chosen charity will answer all your questions and give you a good idea of how they operate.

Donating your car to charity will help someone and will also benefit you. Whether it is to save yourself the inconvenience of selling an old car or not, you can still feel good knowing that you have been generous.

For more information see: Savvy Seth’s Donate a Car to Charity