Veterans Giving Circle Launches

May 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I’m delighted to announce the launch of the Veterans Giving Circle. When I read this CNN report, I knew it was time. Here are a couple chilling quotes from the article:

“The Disabled Veterans National Foundation, based in Washington, D.C., and founded in 2007, received about $55.9 million in donations since it began operations in 2007, according to publicly available IRS 990 forms.Yet according to the DVNF’s tax filings with the IRS, almost none of that money has wound up in the hands of American veterans.”

“The independent group CharityWatch gave the DVNF an “F” grade. More than 30 veterans charities were rated by the independent group by the amount they spend on fundraising compared to actual donations, and two-thirds were given either a D or F grade, according to CharityWatch president Daniel Borochoff.”

Penny Powers: Donation Defender

Penny Powers: Donation Defender (My Not So Secret Identity)

Oooh, it makes me so mad! There just isn’t enough Federal support for our soldiers and veterans, and veterans charities provide critical services. And these bad charities are wasting money entrusted to them by good-hearted people wanting to help our veterans. It’s enough for a superhero to don her superhero outfit and kick some super villain butt.

It’s too darn hard to make good donations by ourselves, and this giving circle is a donation team that will make sure we’re making donations to charities that are doing great work for veterans.

The donation committee will research these charities so we can choose great charities.

We will research problems facing veterans, so that we fund programs that are actually making a difference.

We believe that those who’ve served our country deserve better. Together, we’re making a difference.

If you want to support veterans, you’re invited to be a part of it.

Filed Under: Announcements, Gangs, Veterans

How To Double Your Donation

May 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Check with pen

Matching Is Like A Donation Coupon

If you could double the amount of food you got at the grocery store without paying more, would you? I would!

In a matching donation situation someone else agrees to make the same donation as you to the same charity as you. As a result, the charity will receive double what they would have received.

Why would they do that? To encourage you to donate!

It costs you no extra money to double your donation. It just requires a little extra time to find a matching donation opportunity.

Where To Find Matching Donations

1. Your Employer

Many employers offer a matching donation program. They do this to encourage you to donate and because they write-off the donation on their taxes so they’ll pay less taxes.
Talk to your human resources department to find out if your employer has one and how it works.

  • Do they have a list of approved charities or do they allow any charity?
  • Do they match dollar for dollar or do they match a percentage?
  • How do I sign up?

2. Your Favorite Charity

Sometimes, a large donor wants to help their favorite charity raise more money, and they will offer a matching donation for a limited period of time or for a certain dollar amount. It might look something like this…

A generous couple is contributing half of the cost to fund three projects in Honduras, $1.5 Million, if we can raise the other half from our dedicated, loyal donors.

When you donate $50 to this project, this anonymous donor matches $50, so you’ve effectively donated $100.

If you have a charity that you really like, that you donate to regularly, or want to donate to, watch their website and marketing materials for notifications about matching donation. When you see one advertised, that’s your cue to make your donation now!

3. Websites For Matching Opportunities

Many matching donation opportunities go by unnoticed, because it can be hard to get the word out. Wouldn’t it be great if those opportunities were organized into one website where you could browse the list of possible matches until you found one that matched your interest? Ask and you shall receive!

Donation Doubler and Matching Donations do just that. You can browse the list of charities or look through a specific category that interests you until you find one that interests you. When you find it, donate, and you’ll be doubling your donation!

How do you get more bang for your donation buck?

Filed Under: Charitable Giving Advice

Help Me Name My Superhero

May 4, 2012 By 7 Comments

Isn’t there a super hero inside everyone? I think so. I know there’s a super hero inside me. And I’m ready to let her out.

My superhero doesn’t leap tall buildings in a single bound. She can’t run faster than a speeding bullet or bend metal with her bare hands. She’s not that kind of superhero.

My superhero believes in the power of small donations to change the world and in the power of donating money to make people feel good about their impact on the world. She fights to make sure donations go to great charities doing great work. She speaks for men and women with big hearts but busy schedules so that their hard earned dollars work hard for the world.

She needs a name!

I will donate $25 to your favorite charity if you suggest the winning name. Submit a comment with your suggestion(s), and I’ll choose the one that tickles my fancy the most.

Submissions are due by the end of the day on Sunday, May 13th, and on Monday, May 14th I’ll announce the winning name.

Filed Under: Announcements, Purpose

How To Feel Great About How You Donate

April 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Sometimes I find it hard to explain what a giving circle is and why it matters. You may have noticed that I have a tendency to be a little wordy, and sometimes that means I don’t say much of anything.

So I had a mission. To find a brief but compelling way to explain giving circles. I ended up by finding a story. It’s a story that’s been around for ages and exists in many different cultures. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. But you probably never thought about it as a giving circle.

If nothing else, I’m sure the video will put a smile on your face, because it’s pretty darn cute. And I’m not just saying that because I made it!

Filed Under: Announcements, Purpose

How to Donate When You’re Broke

April 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Ok, you’re broke, and you don’t have enough money to donate. Believe me, I know the feeling. I’ve got 3 tips for you on how to find the money to donate, but first…

2 reasons WHY should donate even when you’re broke

1. You’re not as broke as you think

Maybe you are. Personally, I’ve found when I feel broke, it’s because there are more things that I want than I can afford. In my budget, there is usually some wiggle room and quite frankly, I’m spending my money on optional stuff. Here are just a few places, optional money can go.

  1. Starbucks
  2. Nails (the one’s at the end of your fingers, not the one’s at the hardware store)
  3. Drinks at restaurants or after work
  4. Candy
  5. Movies
  6. More toys
  7. Cable T.V.


Where are you spending your optional dollars?

Yes, all these things are nice and they feel good, BUT… they are still optional. And most importantly, they are temporary enjoyments. Fleeting satisfactions that leave you in the same emotional state you arrived in.

Cutting out one or a combination of these things can leave you with enough money to donate and doing so will help you feel better, which is the second reason you should donate even when you’re broke.

2. Feel better

Relaxed and peaceful woman

How You Feel After donatng!


Being broke sucks. When you’re broke, you can spend a lot of time thinking about the things you can’t afford, the things you can’t do or buy. It’s a real pity party, and a pity party is not a fun place to be.

  1. Donating money when you’re broke reminds you that even as bad as things are, there are others who have it worse than you.
  2. Donating money when you’re broke reminds you that you can still do SOMETHING. You are not just a passive victim of circumstance. You have POWER to impact the world.
  3. Donating money when you’re broke reminds you that you are not alone, that you are connected to everyone and everything, and that your actions matter.
  4. Donating money reminds you that you have more than you think and helps you be grateful for how much you have.
  5. Donating money triggers endorphins and pleasure centers in your brain. It’s a cheap way to get your thrills when you’re broke.
  6. Donating money is good for your soul, and the right time to do something good for your soul is NOW!

3 Tips How to Donate When You’re Broke

1. Redirect a fun expense to donations

Looking through the list of optional expenses you have, which one can you cut out and redirect to charitable donations?

What if instead of visiting Starbucks on the way to the office, you brewed a cup at home and put it in a travel mug to take with you. Then every sip of coffee you took, reminded you that you were doing something for others.

What if you proudly wore your unpainted nails as the badge you earned for helping poor children eat?

What if you checked out a movie from the library, and as you snuggled up at home on the couch, you knew that the world was a better place because of you?

2. Set aside small amount from each paycheck

The strategy that I use is to have $50 a month automatically deducted from my checking account. $25 goes to my Poverty Busters Giving Circle and $25 goes to my People With Compassion for Pets Giving Circle. Poverty and pets are two topics I care most about, and my automatic withdrawal means that I’m doing something about it. My actions are consistent with my belief, and that’s a fantastic feeling.

Because the withdrawal comes out automatically, I’m not tempted to spend that money on something else. I don’t arrive at the end of the month, saying, “I would have donated but I have no money left.” We all know how easy it is to spend money sitting in our checking accounts, so get it out before you have time to spend it!

3. Enlist Support


Isn’t it easier to do things when other people support you? The same is true for donating money, so don’t go it alone.

  • Family

    Donating money impacts the family’s financial situation, so it’s a decision you can approach together. Help your children understand the importance of helping others. Help them be grateful for how much they have. Help them know that they have the power to change the world.

    When your family buys in to donating, together you can all plan on how to find the money to donate. It can be a family challenge and everyone gets to feel great about achieving it!

  • Giving Circle

    A giving circle is a group of people who pool their donations so that together they can make larger group donations that make a bigger impact. A giving circle is a great support for donating money, because you’ll be sharing the experience with others. Other people will care if you donate. Other people will want you to feel great. Other people will support you.

    I LOVE my giving circles, and I speak with people all over the country about their giving circles and they all tell me the same thing!

    There are over 800 giving circles across the U.S. donating more than 100 million dollars every year. You can join a giving circle in your town or join a virtual giving circle.

Do you have an experience to share about donating when you thought you couldn’t?

Filed Under: Charitable Giving Advice

Pets Giving Circle Donates to Companion Animal Advocates

April 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

D.J., my 14 year old Dachshund

D.J., my 14 year old Dachshund

Companion Animal Advocates discovered that people were surrendering their pets to the animal shelters because they couldn’t afford to feed them. Believing that keeping pets out of already crowded animal shelters and in their homes was the best course of action, they created a program to provide free pet food and kitty litter to low income people in Bergen County, New Jersey.

Since 2008, they have provided 268,720 bowls of food. In addition, they have a low cost and no cost spay and neutering services and a program that provide pet oxygen masks to local fire departments and EMT’s, who are prevented by law from using state funding to purchase supplies that don’t specifically save human lives.

We like this organization because it is 100% volunteer and for the last several years they have been passionately committed to helping the pet owners in their community. They are also a small organization, and we knew that our $600 donation was going to make a huge impact for them. And we were right, they were just thrilled when we called to let them know they won our vote.

How You Can Help

I’m happy to say that Companion Animal Advocates is cheap, and they want to buy as much pet food as possible. So, they have recruited volunteers to contact Purina for coupons for $1.00 off. If you’re interested in helping with that endeavor, call Purina at 1-800-778-7462 and request two $1 coupons for Purina products (Purina will accept a coupon request once every 4-6 weeks). Upon receipt of the coupons, please mail them to Companion Animal Advocates, P.O. Box 61, Hillsdale NJ 07642. To sign up to receive a monthly e-mail reminder to call Purina for the two $1 coupons, send an e-mail to Info@CompanionAnimalAdvocates.org. Include your First and Last name, your town and state and they will send you a reminder around the middle of each month to call for coupons.

How do you know they were a good choice?

The donation committee researched the organization and asked questions like

  • Is the program well-designed?
  • Is it making an impact?
  • How does the leadership of the organization?
  • Are the financial documents reflecting appropriate activity?
  • Are they using their existing funding wisely and do they have room to handle more funding?

If you’re not asking these questions before you donate, don’t feel too bad. I wasn’t either. But the donation committee does the hard work so that we can feel great about where we donate.

Donate Better. Donate With Others.

You’re invited to be a part of our giving circle and make a big impact with small bucks.

Filed Under: Animals, Announcements, Donations, Gangs

Poverty Busters Donates to Deworm the World

March 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If the Poverty Busters Giving Circle’s mission is to eliminate poverty, then why did we just choose to donate to Deworm the World?

According to Poor Economics, each year of education increases earnings more or less proportionally. So, if we’re interested in ending poverty, then we’re interested in people getting educated.

In the developing world, enrollment in primary school keeps increasing, but absenteeism is high due in part to treatable illnesses. In fact, over 600 million school-age children are infected with parasitic worms. Parasitic worm infections can cause immediate illnesses, but as the worms accumulate and grow they steal more and nutrients from their hosts causing long-term illnesses and fatigue, too. Children with parasitic infections are much less likely at attend school and to do well in school. And since there is a direct relationship between a child’s education and their future income, keeping children in school helps break the cycle of poverty.

According to Deworm The World, the benefits of school-based deworming are both immediate and enduring. Regular treatment can reduce school absenteeism by 25% and increase adult earnings by over 20%. It is also a program that is very cheap to implement and costs only about .50 cents per child per year. So, our $540 donation will help 1,080 children receive deworming medication.

We liked that Deworm the World worked with the local community structure to administer the medication through the school systems and they partnered with the national governments to design a program that can maintained through the long-term. Since children are constantly exposed to these parasites, continuous treatment is essential to the success of the deworming program.

What’s Next?

We’ll gear up for our next donation cycle. Members can nominate an organization if they’d like, and those nominees will be vetted by the donation committee.

We ask

  • Is the program well-designed?
  • Will it make an impact?
  • Does it cause unintentional harm?
  • Does it maintain the dignity of the recipients?
  • Are the financial documents reflecting appropriate activity?
  • Do they have room to handle more funding?

If you’re not asking these questions before you donate, don’t feel too bad. I wasn’t either. But when you’re part of a giving circle, you can be confident that your hard earned dollars are going to organizations that are going to do a good job with it.

Donate Better. Donate With Others.

You’re invited to be a part of our giving circle and make a big impact with small bucks.

Filed Under: Announcements, Donations

Nominees for People With Compassion for Pets Giving Circle’s March Donation

March 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The People With Compassion for Pets Giving Circle is considering two organizations for it’s March donation. Members donate $25/month which gets pooled into one large group donation, and in March, we will donate over $600!

Isn’t it amazing what a small group of people doing something small, but doing it consistently can do?

Members of the giving circle nominated two organizations which will now be vetted by the donations committee. If you join by March 28th, you can help us decide! Below is a preview of the organizations we will be considering:

Companion Animal Advocates

Companion Animal Advocates discovered that people were surrendering their pets to the animal shelters because they couldn’t afford to feed them. Believing that keeping pets out of already crowded animal shelters and in their homes was the best course of action, they created a program to provide free pet food and kitty litter to low income people in Bergen County, New Jersey. Since 2008, they have provided 268,720 bowls of food. In addition, they have a low cost and no cost spay and neutering services and a program that provide pet oxygen masks to local fire departments and EMT’s, who are prevented by law from using state funding to purchase supplies that don’t specifically save human lives. This organization is 100% volunteer and all donations go to providing services.

Colorado Veterinary Medical Foundation

The Colorado Veterinary Medical Foundation provides free or deeply discounted health care for the elderly, homebound, homeless, and other economically disadvantaged people who would otherwise have to surrender or euthanize their pets. Their services include basics like vaccinations, microchips, spay and neuter, but also trauma services, medical and dental surgeries, and medications. In 2012, Harrison Memorial Animal Hospital cared for nearly 3,610 sick and injured animals; performed 600 spay/neuters for dogs, cats, rabbits, and other pocket pets; performed over 1,152 surgical procedures and dental extractions; and served nearly 2,855 economically disadvantaged pet owners.

Filed Under: Animals, Announcements

Nominees for Poverty Busters Giving Circle’s March Donation

February 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Last night we discovered who we’ll be considering for our March donation! Here’s a preview!

FINCA International

I’m very excited to have a microfinance organization on our list. Microfinance provides a very important service for the extreme poor, because traditional financial institutions (aka, banks and other lenders) can’t make enough money from the very small deposits and loans to justify their time and effort. Yet, having access to these services is critical for people to weather life’s unexpected occurances and to grow their businesses.

Microfinance has been both held up as the cure for extreme poverty and as a dangerous practice that takes advantage of people. Microfinance has the ability to be both, and I recently wrote a Microfinance Guide that covers what microfinance is good for, what’s it’s not good for, and what to look for when making microfinance loans. That way we can do good while avoiding the harm!

FINCA began in 1984 and now serves over 900,000 clients in 21 countries. In addition to loans and savings accounts, they also provide life insurance and education services. FINCA has more than $320 million in outstanding loans and is on pace to disburse as much as $800 million in loans by year end. The vast majority of their clients are women and they even have programs to help young girls who are still far more likely than boys not to attend school. I’m looking forward to getting an in-depth look at FINCA during the review and then sharing that information with you.

Deworm the World

Over 600 million school-age children are infected with parasitic worms. Parasitic worm infections can cause immediate illnesses, but as the worms accumulate and grow they steal more and nutrients from their hosts causing long-term illnesses and fatigue, too. Children with parasitic infections are much less likely at attend school and to do well in school. And since there is a direct relationship between a child’s education and their future income, keeping cildren in school helps break the cycle of poverty.

According to Deworm The World,”school-based deworming is universally recognized as a safe, simple and cost-effective solution. The benefits of school-based deworming are both immediate and enduring. Regular treatment can reduce school absenteeism by 25% and increase adult earnings by over 20%, and at a cost of less than 50 US cents per child per year.”

What’s Next?

These organizations are researched and vetted by the donations committee so that we can be confident we are sending our large group donation to an organization that is going to make the biggest impact on ending poverty.

Anyone who is a member by March 29th can vote with us. Are you ready to make low dollar, high impact donations? Are you ready to be the change?

Filed Under: Announcements, Poverty

Reputation Research: Charitable Giving Advice Series

February 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Nonprofits are no different than any other organization. While most organizations are well run by people with good intentions, some, unfortunately, are not. Some nonprofits have embezzled or wasted the money entrusted to them by generous people like us.

Some nonprofits have the best of intentions but have been working on programs that don’t work, have unintended consequences, or even hurt the very people they want to help.

An extreme example of nonprofit fraud happened recently when 60 minutes and John Krakauer accused Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea and founder of the Central Asia Institute, of misusing millions of dollars donated to help build schools in developing countries.

Most cases don’t end up on 60 minutes. So if you want to know the reputation of the organization, what do you do?

Fraud represents only one piece of an organization’s reputation. Additionally, there can be problems with the work that they are doing and the programs they are implementing. For example, in one of our giving circles we were contemplating making a donation to an organization that published on the internet the names of people accused of animal abuse crimes. After some reputation research, we discovered concerns about whether or not this was a violation of a person’s privacy. While this concern didn’t automatically disqualify the group for a donation, it did mean we wanted to have a conversation about it. Did we think it was a violation and were we ok with that?

How can you find out about the implications and consequences of a nonprofits programs?

I recommend a simple two step process that can reveal some potential red flags.

  1. What information do on-line sources such as Give Well, Charity Navigator, the local Better Business Bureau, or the National Better Business Bureau/) provide about the nonprofit?
  2. Google the nonprofit’s name followed by the word “criticism”, “problem”, “controversy”, and/or “complaint”. If the nonprofit does a particular type of work (for example, microfinance, orphanage, no kill animal shelter), Google it followed by the word “criticism”, “problem”, “controversy”, and/or “complaint”. What do you find?

Do these questions raise any problems you need to consider? Does it change what you think and feel about their organization and their work? If not, go ahead and make that donation with confidence!

Of course, you don’t have to rely on just yourself for all the work of discovering out which organizations are the best. You can share that work with your giving circle members and make informed donations that make an impact on the problem in a fraction of the time.

Filed Under: Charitable Giving Advice
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