General

Benefits of Online Fundraising

With the increase in online communication and social networking, it only follows that raising money and awareness for charity is becoming easier and easier to accomplish online as well. Here are some of the benefits of raising money for charity online.

Publicity
Use facebook and Twitter to promote your cause with ease! Your fundraising web page might even appear on search engines. All this means that more and more people will see your message, learn about the charity you’re supporting, and potentially donate.
Convenience of collecting donations
Online fundraising makes wire transfers and credit and debit card charges a breeze. Furthermore, it allows friends and family who live in different areas of the country to donate with ease. Not only will this encourage more people to donate, but it will also encourage the build-up of smaller donations. Many people don’t consider the potential that a few $5 or $10 donations have until they start to fundraise online; a few $5 donations are sometimes better than one $20 or $50 donation because it means that your message is reaching more donors.
Ability to help another philanthropic organization in the process… The website itself!
Many websites are either registered non-profits or geared towards helping worthy causes and individuals. While websites will take a small fee, that fee is usually to cover the cost of credit card charges, web hosting, and other overhead for the company. By using an online fundraising website, you’ll be able to help the company stay afloat so that others will have the chance to support their causes online as well.

There are a variety of online fundraising websites out there that make it easy for individuals to promote the causes that they care about. Check out Firstgiving, GiveForward, or Raise It Now for more information about how you can set up an online fundraising page for your favorite charity.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Donation, Firstgiving, Fundraising

Bringing the Homelessness Issue to an Uncaring Public

There can be few representatives among the affluent populations of the developed countries of the world who do not possess a cell phone. For many of us, it serves a trivial purpose. We use it to send text messages to friends where we record inane details. We take easily expendable photographs, quickly forgotten. We use it to help navigate to a destination, estimate distances or update us on the weather forecast, celebrity gossip and events in the social calendar. Birthday reminders and business appointments compete for our attention. More than anything, we use our cell phones for lengthy and often unnecessary calls. Few of these activities make a significant impact; many flagrantly waste time.

Truly purposeful, life-enhancing uses for cell phones are difficult to imagine. One such breakthrough took place recently in New York City, however. Entrusted with the challenge to ‘do some good,’ a trio of would-be admen (including one woman) working their internship at the New York agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty placed prepaid cell phones at the center of their initiative. The target of their benevolence was the city’s homeless.

The second ingredient which the young interns decided to harness was the social networking tool Twitter. The overall concept revolved around enabling the four selected recipients of the cell phones to put into words their own perceptions of their experiences. The upshot of this has been that the four individuals have enlightened the public about their own struggles and triumphs.

Behind the idea was the sobering fact that, as a group, homeless people are hugely overlooked, or, to use the program’s title, under heard. The Underheard project was born to address this issue, albeit on a small scale. While on one hand the measurable success that the initiative has had is limited – four men each with over 1,000 followers for their tweets – the media attention it has attracted has been hugely positive.

Filed Under: Community, General Tagged With: New York, New York City, Twitter

Cold-Weather Activities Can Be Found in Different Places

Sailor photographs himself at ski resort in Korea.

Image by Official U.S. Navy Imagery via Flickr

When you hear the word ski resort, you may automatically think that that is all there is to do there: ski and ski and ski. In most cases, this cannot be further from the truth.

Many lodges and accommodations for skiers also offer other cold-weather activities. These can include hiking trails that are still passable, are well marked, and are of short enough length that, when regular cold weather precautions are observed, can make for a fun activity. Other places offer access to such things as ice skating rinks. These may be located on the ski resort properties themselves or in a nearby town or city. When this is the case, it may be possible to take advantage of shuttle services.

Other services located on the actual properties themselves can include indoor game rooms, spas, and other amenities. Guests who are staying on the property can have access to these and others. Some may be free, while others may have a small charge.

These same shuttle services, or a short drive by car or public transportation, will also allow you to enjoy shopping in the nearby towns or cities. In addition, you may even be able to hire (which is another way of saying “rent”) ski equipment at a reduced price. It may mean lugging it back to the resort with you, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

You may also be able to enjoy some of the activities mentioned above in the towns surrounding a ski resort. Depending on the business itself, some of these may offer discounts to those guests staying at a particular lodge or property. So, don’t let the fact that not everyone in your family skis. There are still plenty of cold-weather activities — those mentioned above as well as others, such as snow tubing—which can ensure that everyone will enjoy their time there.

Filed Under: Community, General Tagged With: Resort, Ski resort, Snowbiking

Volunteer Opportunities for Children

Volunteering is a wonderful way for children to help others, gain life experience and meet new people. It can also be a great way to beat boredom. Many children are encouraged to volunteer by their families, religious group or friends. Some schools even require volunteer work for graduation from high school. No matter what the reason, volunteering can make a big impact on the children giving back as well as the individuals they are helping. Here are seven ideas on how children can volunteer.

1. Libraries need volunteers to work the desk, shelf books, assist with community programs and help with fundraisers.

2. Homeless shelters look for volunteers that can help prepare meals, distribute supplies, perform administrative duties, organize food drives and gather contributions of meals and clothing.

3. Food banks serve meals to people in the community that can not afford to put dinner on the table. They need help managing inventory, cooking food, serving meals and washing dishes.

4. Senior citizen centers and retirement homes have many opportunities for children. Volunteering can be as simple as spending time with the residents by playing cards or checkers, running bingo games or sharing stories.

5. Animal shelters need assistance caring for the pets and preparing them for adoption. Children can help by cleaning cages, walking the animals or playing with them.

6. The Ronald McDonald House is an organization that provides temporary accommodations to families who have sick children who are being treated in a local hospital. Almost every city has one of these houses or a similar organization. Children can volunteer in many ways, including fundraising activities to cover the expenses of the charity.

7. Habitat for Humanity is an organization that builds houses for low income families. Although children may not be permitted to perform all construction tasks, the children can help by recruiting volunteers, serving refreshments to helpers and other administrative types of duties.

Filed Under: General, Volunteering Tagged With: Philanthropy, Ronald McDonald House Charities, volunteer

Three Keys to Helping Others

: Image via Wikipedia

Part of being happy is helping others. I know when I do service for my friends and family that I feel happier. I’m sure it makes them happy too. So as part of the “better me” process, I am going to try to make others around me happy too. I’ve come up with three things I’m going to try.

1. Smile. A smile is such a simple thing, but it can really mean the world to someone else. I’m going to try smiling more at strangers on the street. I’m sure I’ll brighten someone else’s day. You never know who just needs to see a friendly face.

2. Help someone with an addiction. I think all of us are affected by addiction in one way or another. Chances are we have friends or family members who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. I know you can’t be happy with those substances in your body, so I’m going to help someone with addiction. The first thing I’ll do is learn more about recovery at TheCyn.com.

3. Be grateful. You know how easy it is to get caught up in everything you don’t have. I know I do this a lot. I think about how I need a bigger house or a better car. I think about how my hair is a mess or I could lose a few pounds. But that kind of thought only brings me down. So instead I’m going to remember everything that I’m grateful for. I’m going to start by making a list and then when I feel down or start to feel depressed, I’ll read this list. It always helps to remember all that I do have when I feel like I’m lacking.

Why don’t you try it with me? Try these three things this holiday season to see if you can bring more happiness to your life.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Happiness, Health, Substance abuse

Maintaining Sports Gear

: Image by monsieur paradis via Flickr

Anyone into sports could complain about the same issue – virtually all sports require specialized gear which can cost a fair bit of money. With the economy stuck in a dumpster, more people than ever are finding less disposable dollars in their wallet with which to splurge on the entry into a new sport or pastime. But even sticking with an old favorite sport requires cash as gear wears out or breaks. Baseball bats snap in two, basketballs lose their sticky rubber coating, bicycle tires and grips go bald and brake cables stretch until they become useless and one is riding an unsafe machine. Shoe soles become smooth. Gloves develop holes where none existed. Coats get worn holes in the sleeves. Kayaks develop holes in the fiberglass. Tents tear.

Let’s face it, no matter how much one treats their leather products, or how well they clean their gear before putting it away, it tends to wear and need eventual replacement or repair. Repair, of course, extends the life cycle but not for as long as one could expect out of a new piece of gear. Trying to replace a large amount of gear at once can be prohibitively expensive unless one has access to a discount source such as offers.com.

With decent discounts on quality merchandise, one can at the very least maintain their interest in the sports that they’ve always loved. Money may not be available at the moment for buying a new rowboat, tackle, clothing, and fishing rod to begin a fisherman’s lifestyle, but with a price break, one can certainly replace a few items here and there as they wear out. And that’s more than enough to keep the interest and activity levels high. After all, when Babe Ruth can come out of a foster home with essentially nothing and rise as he did, it proves that all that’s needed is heart.

Filed Under: Community, General Tagged With: Babe Ruth, Fishing rod, Gear, Sport

Benefits of Online Fundraising

Bringing the Homelessness Issue to an Uncaring Public

Cold-Weather Activities Can Be Found in Different Places

Volunteer Opportunities for Children

Three Keys to Helping Others

Maintaining Sports Gear

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Benefits of Online Fundraising

Bringing the Homelessness Issue to an Uncaring Public

Cold-Weather Activities Can Be Found in Different Places

Volunteer Opportunities for Children

Three Keys to Helping Others

A Special Bridal Shop

Maintaining Sports Gear

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