Charity events in any form are always popular, but increasingly, many organisations are choosing to recruit their fundraisers through more interactive events such as walks and runs. A charity walk or run is not only a healthy way for your participants to raise money for a good cause, but also a very visible way of publicising your charitable cause to the community.
If a charity run or walk seems like a good fit for your organisation, here is an overview of some things you may want to keep in mind when planning the event.
THE PLANNING PHASE
Choosing a Route
When planning a mass participation event such as a walk or run it is important that you first take some time to carefully consider the route your participants will be following. Your choice of route will play a central roll in other decisions you make concerning resources, staff size, security, transportation, volunteers, signage, and ultimately the satisfaction of your participants.
When mapping out the course, first determine the type of event you would like to hold. Most fundraising events try to be as inclusive as possible because, simply put, more fundraisers translates into more donations for your cause! If your goal is to be as inclusive as possible that means you want people of all ages and physical abilities to be able to participate in your event. That said, when choosing your route it is a good idea to not only look at a map but get out there and actually walk the course yourself. When surveying the road, pay attention to elevation gain, traffic, road conditions, and any other factors that could potentially make participating in your event strenuous for the less physically able. You may also benefit from contacting a local running or walking club for suggestions of routes that may fit your participant’s ability levels. Some common route distances for charity events are 5k, 10k, Half Marathon and Marathon. Read the rest of this entry »
The main difference between philanthropy and charity lies in the ways they are executed. While charity creates a dependent relationship between the giver and the receiver, philanthropy pursues to empower and enable sustainability. Charity is the instant solution whereas philanthropy is the preservation. Charity gives a relief to the suffering while philanthropy seeks for the root causes of social problems and solves them. Philanthropy is doing something more, something greater, that brings about important social changes than mere charitable activities.
When a charitable person makes a giving, either he digs his pocket for whatever he’s got or he meticulously writes a check for a particular amount and gives it to a thankful receiver. A philanthropist, on the other hand, makes a funding to a foundation or an organization, where that money is invested for a bigger social benefit. A philanthropist can make grants for a certain time period; say for five days, ten years or throughout life. A charitable man’s giving is used and exhausted, but the philanthropist’s power is preserved as it’s used in the long run. Charity is for today but philanthropy is forever.
Today, many nonprofit organizations have come up with their philanthropic missions to serve the poor and the needy in developing countries of the world. These organizations mainly work on multiple fronts such as education, health care and family welfare. They have been tremendously successful with their simple and highly effective solutions to create real changes in the lives of these people and to the society at large. They are encouraging more and more people to come forward and take up philanthropy to support their cause. Read the rest of this entry »
Many people are looking to do charity work but understandably it’s difficult to know what charity is worth working for. So many different organisations tend to be not as squeaky clean as we are led to believe. Many take lots of money from people and only send small percentages to people who are suffering. Nobody should have to work for these type of companies so I’ve written the following article to help inform you of different niche charity organisations which may benefit with your help. It could also be a fantastic way to volunteer for something you’ll enjoy doing.
Have you considered volunteering for a place which recycles clothing and sends it to developing countries? It’s a great way to help aid those people who are suffering in developing continents and it reduces the amount of clothing which is put into landfills. This is helping the environment and suffering people.
Have you considered joining an environment group? This is a great way to clean up the local areas, help wildlife which is suffering and also educate younger people in the importance of helping the planet. It also is a fantastic way to replace the trees which have been taken down in the paper industry.
Have you thought about mobile phone recycling? It’s a strange idea but if you haven’t got time to help out you can collect people’s handsets and get cash for mobiles when it comes to disposing of them correctly. Getting cash for mobile phones will enable you to either keep the money or donate it to the charity you wished to work at. Don’t forget if you collect peoples handsets it’s advisable to inform them that you will be receiving cash for mobiles you no longer use so they are not under any false understanding.
The economic situation over the last few years has had a major impact on British society. But what impact has it had on charities and charitable donations? Have people been giving less to charity? With people having become employed, and others with reduced or unchanged incomes, many people have less disposable income so they don’t have as much they are able to give away. This article investigates the impact of the economy on different aspect of charity.
The government have made cuts to many areas of spending, something that is set to continue. One area in which money is being saved is by charity funding being reduced. Some have lost around half of their funding while others have lost it all. Many rely on this funding as well as individual charitable donations. More than 2,000 charities are being forced to close services and it is particularly having an impact on smaller charities.
Compared to pre-recession figures, the total amount of charitable donations by individuals has dropped by around £700 million a year. Fewer people are giving money to charity and those who are giving are tending to give less.
Cash charitable donations makes up a higher percentage of giving that any other type of donation, 50% of the total. This is an area that is impacted by people’s personal circumstances. With the financial situation of many people very different to a few years ago this means a lot of people are unable to give as often as they would have previously. This is the area of charity that suffers most in an economic downturn.
People giving to charity in connection with natural disasters has been impacted less. Donations for those affected by disasters such as the earthquake in Haiti and the earthquake and tsunami in Japan have been as high as would normally be expected. These are more emotional decisions, for example based on seeing the devastation on television and being compelled to help out. In these circumstances people often give without thinking about their finances so much. Read the rest of this entry »
A Washington state travel tycoon and TV host says he’s donating the $1 million he’s saving from the Bush tax cuts to charity.
Rick Steves, the founder of Rick Steves’ Europe travel empire, which includes the travel agency, guide books and TV show, said he’s giving the money to a local arts center to help the community and make a political statement. He will donate the money over 10 years.
“Over the last decade, my tax burden has decreased even as public funding for important local programs and institutions has been decimated – a trend I find alarming,” he said in a written statement.
He’s asking other rich people to make similar donations.
“I see it as a civic duty for businessmen like me, who’s directly benefited from our vibrant communities to do our fair share,” he wrote.
Steves is no doubt in the minority among the rich in feeling under-taxed. The top 1% pays 38% of the nation’s income taxes even at the low “Bush tax cut” rates.
And he’s not the first to make the request. A group of professors at Yale and Cornell earlier this year launched a similar campaign to get the wealthy to give their tax breaks to charity.
Yet giving the money directly to charity – and making sure it’s spent well – may be a more efficient way of creating and saving jobs than giving it to the government in the form of taxes.
And Rick Steves is right when he says that the wealthy benefit greatly from their vibrant communities – a fact too often missed in the discussion of the wealthy who “make it all themselves.” Whether they already do enough for those communities in the form of philanthropy and property taxes, however, will always remain in the eye of the taxpayer.
Do you think the wealthy should give their tax cuts to charity?
Charity events in any form are always popular, but increasingly, many organisations are choosing to recruit their fundraisers through more interactive events such as walks and runs. A charity walk or run is not only a healthy way for your participants to raise money for a good cause, but also a very visible way of publicising your charitable cause to the community.
