While many nonprofit organizations do amazing work, they can always use additional funding to continue their efforts. Even charities staffed entirely by volunteers have overhead costs — administration, rent, supplies, promotion — and every little bit helps these groups support a cause or assist those in need.
What is your favorite charity? I tend to gravitate toward nonprofits that support animal welfare, arts and culture, education, the environment, health and human resources and organ donation. In addition to giving money, time or supplies on a bi-weekly basis, I also participate in the AmazonSmile program. Here’s how it works:
1. Sign up for Smile here.
2. Select your favorite charitable organization.
3. The next time you want to purchase something on Amazon, skip the www address and instead type in smile.amazon.com. As you shop, you’ll find the exact same prices and selection offered on the www version of the site; however, shopping through Smile means that Amazon will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to your favorite nonprofit.
You can change your charity listing at any time, and there are nearly 1 million eligible 501(c)(3) public charitable organizations to choose from. So far, I’ve made donations to VPR, NHPR and the Monadnock Region Humane Society.
If you don’t know what organizations to support, check out Charity Navigator, a website that evaluates America’s largest charities. Listings contain plenty of background data as well as full contact and financial information. Best of all, Charity Navigator maintains a donor advisories list to warn philanthropists away from less-than scrupulous organizations.
