The Martlet

Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.”

When “giving” is narrowly defined as donating money, rather than volunteering time, or giving blood or other products, it appears that many UVic students may not be making a life at all.

A survey taken of 18 students sitting outside the MacLaurin and Cornett buildings on campus revealed that 15 of them do not make monetary donations to charity. The most common reasons: they cannot afford to donate, they have concerns about how well charities actually use the money they receive, and they do not know what to donate to.

While it can be hard to bust through the first concern, for students wanting to make their own mark in philanthropy the key is research.

Start by choosing a sector of interest, said Michelle McKenzie, director of Donor Services with the Victoria Foundation.

Those wanting to donate to local charities can consult Victoria Vital Signs (victoriavitalsigns.bc.ca),  an annual publication that identifies the health of 11 sectors in Victoria. Local charities can help address some of the identified needs within the sectors.

Two websites can help identify charities in a sector or particular area.

The Canada Revenue Agency actually registers Canadian-based charities (and lists their financial information) which can be searched by both city and sector at: cra-arc.gc.ca/charities. Visit this site to check that a charity is registered before contributing.

Students can also search by sector or area on CanadaHelps.org, which gives the mission statement, description of services, contact information and web address for each charity. You can donate on-line or set up a “giving page” for a specific charity and invite friends. But be sure you know where you’re sending your money.

“People should learn as much about the charity as they can,” said McKenzie. “They should pick up the phone, ask what the charity does, make a site visit and ask questions.”

Questions regarding the number of people served, the amount of face-to-face contact with those people and the difference the services make to their lives, are useful, as well as asking about how the money the charity receives is divided between infrastructure costs and services to clients.

“Everyone is different in the way they feel about charity and high overheads.” said McKenzie. “They should ask themselves, ‘Do I want to support an organization with a great infrastructure or one that is more grassroots?’”

Many charities are now forming long-term relationships with donors by advocating monthly donations instead of one-off responses to giving campaigns. The certainty of a regular monthly income simplifies planning for the organisation, while regular updates from the organisation give the donors a greater understanding of how they are helping. Students may find that giving $5 a month over the course of a year is more feasible that a lump sum of $60.

Forming a donor group with family or friends can increase the number of charities each person can contribute to while sharing the research; it’s also an enlightening bonding activity. Members could contribute equally, or each could commit to the amount that they can personally afford.

Another fun activity is to ask friends to save their pennies for a few months, then hold a penny-rolling party. People could come having already researched charities, or the host could do the research and everyone could vote on where the money will go. Coin wrappers can often be obtained for free from a bank.

Other strategies for giving to charity include participating in sponsored events and getting people to back you, or asking people to donate to a charity in your name in lieu of a birthday present.

Several websites partner with non-profit organizations to provide aid to people in need around the world.

Clicking a button on these sites allows the owners to generate funds for their charitable partners from sponsors who advertise on the site.

The Greater Good Organization has six such sites covering hunger, child health, literacy, breast cancer, rainforest preservation and animal rescue, which can all be accessed via TheHungerSite.com. A similar site is CharityClickDonation.com.

FreeRice.com is a vocabulary builder that provides 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program for each correct word definition a player chooses. There are approximately 50 grains in a gram of rice and the site donates about 120 million grains (2,500 kilograms) of rice a day.

It may seem complicated at first, but with only a little research you can leave one charitable mark.