Placemaking is one of my passions. It refers to creating places, or destinations, out of the streets and neighborhoods in which we live. Our cities and towns have so few public outdoor spaces for people to gather and get to know their neighbors. We all go to block parties once a year and think they're great, but we don't do anything to replicate that kind of atmosphere in our streets and waterfronts and shopping districts. The Project for Public Spaces (PPS) seeks to create those places in the US and around the world and to educate communities of all sizes in creating their own public places.
PPS is different from most charities this blog will follow, but they do use donated funds to help their initiatives succeed. They also get funds by offering memberships, hosting conferences, and selling books. Though donations to PPS won't immediately impact the health or education or livelihood of people in need, they will help educate people about the benefits of strong communities and they will help build a local and sustainable business-community infrastructure.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Charitable Lending
The last post on this blog discussed donating (more or less) directly to an individual teacher for a specific project to help their students. Another charitable organization that operates along similar lines is www.Kiva.org.
Kiva matches donors with applicants from around the world who have applied for a loan to fund a small business of their own. These loans are used to purchase business supplies, buy or rent a better place to conduct business, or buy in bulk to make their business more successful. Each application for funds includes a term for repayment - so really donors aren't donating but lending money with the expectation of full repayment.
After the success of Mohammed Yunus and his Grameen Bank (his book is a very intersting read), microfinance has spread all around the globe. Kiva partners with local microfinance groups to screen applicants and access communities with the greatest potential benefit from microfinance. Kiva's website provides descriptions of the specific projects a lender's money would be supporting, and offers updates on the progress of the projects for each lender. Kiva.org has not yet been evaulated by CharityNavigator.
Kiva matches donors with applicants from around the world who have applied for a loan to fund a small business of their own. These loans are used to purchase business supplies, buy or rent a better place to conduct business, or buy in bulk to make their business more successful. Each application for funds includes a term for repayment - so really donors aren't donating but lending money with the expectation of full repayment.
After the success of Mohammed Yunus and his Grameen Bank (his book is a very intersting read), microfinance has spread all around the globe. Kiva partners with local microfinance groups to screen applicants and access communities with the greatest potential benefit from microfinance. Kiva's website provides descriptions of the specific projects a lender's money would be supporting, and offers updates on the progress of the projects for each lender. Kiva.org has not yet been evaulated by CharityNavigator.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Getting Started
I'm hoping to compile a dynamic list of 10 charities that I consider to be worth a look. With thousands of charitable causes to choose from, some people don't give because picking a recipient is a time-consuming task. This blog hopes to do some of that research and make it as easy as possible for everyone to give.
To start, take a look at www.DonorsChoose.org. This is a great direct-action site that matches public school teachers in need with potential donors. Individual teachers apply for funds to carry out small-scale projects that will positively affect their students, usually asking for $100 - $1000 dollars. Donors contribute as much as they like, and will be kept informed of their donations' impact in the classroom via photos, letters, etc.
I particularly like this charity because it infuses money directly into a project of the donor's choosing (reading, music/arts, etc). Unlike government spending and bond measures (where nobody knows who makes the decisions about where the money should go), nearly all of the donor's money ends up in the specific program they have chosen to support. DonorsChoose.org generally asks for 15% (but as much as 25%) of the donation for operating costs, though they claim that some of this is made up for in discounts they can get with their vendors. They have received 4 stars from CharityNavigator.
To start, take a look at www.DonorsChoose.org. This is a great direct-action site that matches public school teachers in need with potential donors. Individual teachers apply for funds to carry out small-scale projects that will positively affect their students, usually asking for $100 - $1000 dollars. Donors contribute as much as they like, and will be kept informed of their donations' impact in the classroom via photos, letters, etc.
I particularly like this charity because it infuses money directly into a project of the donor's choosing (reading, music/arts, etc). Unlike government spending and bond measures (where nobody knows who makes the decisions about where the money should go), nearly all of the donor's money ends up in the specific program they have chosen to support. DonorsChoose.org generally asks for 15% (but as much as 25%) of the donation for operating costs, though they claim that some of this is made up for in discounts they can get with their vendors. They have received 4 stars from CharityNavigator.
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