COVID-19 changed our world, to put it lightly. But, as much damage as the coronavirus has done, it has also brought the world together to help one another. Countless individuals and nonprofits are working to rebuild communities during the pandemic—and they will surely continue to rebuild once the virus is gone.
If you’re ready to enact change, here’s how you can best help those affected by COVID-19.
1. Choose how you want to give.
Giving comes in many forms. Identify what you can do to help and what will make the most impact on your cause. Here are a few ideas for ways to contribute to causes you care about:
- Donate money or material resources
- Volunteer your time
- Serve on a Board of Directors
- Give blood or plasma
- Spread the word about your cause
2. Do your research before you donate.
Not all charities are made equal. Make sure that your donations are making the most impact possible for the causes you care about. There are several resources out there that analyze nonprofits and hold them accountable to their mission—one, in particular, is Charity Navigator. You can use this site to research the nonprofits that are doing the most to help others. This page allows you to search within categories based on COVID-19-related causes (e.g., medical, education, relief, etc.).
If you have friends or family who are also passionate about helping, financially or otherwise, ask them about the charities they’ve donated to or are involved with. Social media is also a great way to see how others around you are giving.
3. Focus on a few key charities or causes.
Any amount of giving is great, but consider this: a larger donation to a few organizations may be more impactful than smaller donations to many. For example, if you were to donate $100 to ten organizations, they can all benefit from that $100, and that is excellent. However, if you were to donate $1,000 to one nonprofit or $500 to two nonprofits, they may have a chance to do more with your donation.
Consider also that not all of your money goes directly to the cause. Some may be spent on bank fees or third-party fundraising fees. Some may go to administration costs or other logistics-related areas. Regardless, the more you donate to one nonprofit, the more money can go directly to affect change.
If you’re ready to dig in deep to make your donations last longer and do the most good, The Center for Effective Philanthropy has insightful resources to learn about nonprofit giving. These two resources are especially helpful: Crucial Donors: How Major Individual Givers Can Best Support Nonprofits and Donors: 5 Things Nonprofits Want You to Know.
4. Encourage others to join your cause.
Thanks to social media, we can share everything we do in real-time. You can now share information about your cause, as well as the many ways your friends and family can contribute. Oftentimes when you donate, the charity’s site will prompt you to share a link via social media or email, encouraging others to donate as well. Do anything you can to share your passion with those around you, so that they see how important your cause is and will want to take action themselves.
We can help maximize the impact of your charitable donations on your finances. Contact us to schedule an appointment with an advisor.
