Archive for November 20, 2008
‘Tis The Season…
by John Weckerle
As the end of the year approaches, we find ourselves contacted more often than usual by charities and other nonprofits asking for financial support either for holiday-oriented initiatives or for their operations for the coming year. In a time of economic downturn, these organizations feel the pinch just as we do; if people have less, they have less to give. I’m not going to identify the nonprofits I plan to support next year in this article (although regular readers can probably guess at least one), or the ones I don’t (and many of you can probably guess a couple of those), but as I give pause to think about where the support for the coming year will be going, I find myself asking questions and formulating responses that I thought I might share.
- What are our priorities in giving? Are we focused on charitable giving, business organizations, clubs, or others? Are there specific missions – education, conservation, job creation, and assisting the poor, to name just a few examples – that rise to the fore when we think about what we want to accomplish? Knowing our own personal “mission” can be a deciding factor in figuring out where to send our support. »» ‘Tis The Season…