It's the most
basic decision a donor can make. What do you care
about? It may be an issue that reflects passionately
held beliefs or personal experience. "I know
what it is to be hungry," says Vanessa Lazar,
30, whose yearlong brush with homelessness prompted
her and her friends to start raising money for
starving Ethiopians. "To think of someone going
without food just does something to me."
Similarly, losing a family member to lymphoma may
spur one to support cancer research, while a nature
buff may want to help conserve wildlife.
advertisement
After
narrowing down a cause, investigate organizations
working in that area. The process may seem
daunting. Thousands of groups may be working on your
particular cause. A keyword search for
"literacy," for instance, results in over
2,700 organizations, from Books for a Better World,
a Phoenix group that builds libraries in developing
countries, to First Book, a Washington, D.C., outfit
that gives books to low-income children in the
United States.
Pare that universe down with a
series of questions: Do you want to give locally,
nationally, or internationally? Will your gift
support research or provide direct service? Are you
more comfortable with a big organization or a small
group on a shoestring budget? Bear in mind,
there's no right answer. You're refining
your own giving goals.
After losing her mother
to cancer in 1986, Dacia Kruse, a manager at the
Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, donated regularly
to the American Cancer Society. But in 1998, the
31-year-old discovered a program called Harvest of
Books. Now, each October, she buys books for local
students. "I feel like my $50 is worth more to
Harvest of Books than to the American Cancer
Society," says Kruse of the rush she gets from
making a bigger splash in a smaller pool.
"It's not rational, but now I feel good
after I've given."
Nailing down your
cause also makes it easier to turn down other pleas.
"You can say no because you've already
figured out how you're going to support this
cause that's dear to your heart," says the
FTC's Thorleifson. What's more, proactive
giving means you're less likely to fall victim
to overly emotional entreaties--a favorite ploy of
fraudsters.
Intro: