While many people think about giving back at the end of the year, there’s no reason not to do it all year round. There are two ways to give back and you can choose either or both: time and treasure. 

Got more money than time? Donate your treasure. Got more time than money? Volunteer.

Why all year round?

Charities need help every month of the year, not just during the winter holidays. It’s fun for kids to “adopt” a family at the local homeless shelter and find gifts for them, but families need help the rest of the year as well.

While people enjoy setting up food drives for the local pantry, this is a very ineffective way to get food to people who need it. You’re far better off giving cash to the organization, because they can buy what their clients actually need and want much more cheaply than average buyers can get at the grocery store.

Giving more regularly, whether you’re donating time or money, makes it easier on the charity to budget, find grants, and write proposals. 

Be intentional

Every time you go to the store during the holidays, you can give a dollar or two or change to whatever charity is outside (or inside), but this isn’t the most effective way for your charitable impulses to have an impact.

Instead, choose two or three causes that you want to support. Get your kids involved in the decision. For example, you could clean up the local beach or park, or socialize animals at the local animal shelter, or help serve meals at the homeless shelter, or whatever. 

Create your charitable budget and dedicate all your charitable dollars and hours to those specific charities. You can look them up on a variety of online sites to make sure that the charity is legitimate and that your time and treasure will be put to good use.

Donating time

1. Volunteer

Make sure if your kids are joining you that they meet the age restrictions. Some groups, such as animal shelters, usually allow older children in their facilities. Others may not have an age minimum. 

Depending on the organization, they may need help in your area of expertise. For example, many would like help with their marketing and outreach efforts, or with their bookkeeping. 

2. Mentor

Another way to give back with your time is to mentor someone. This can be a formal or informal arrangement. Either way, your job is to support your mentee and help them think through the challenges they face, not to solve their problems for them. 

You might also introduce them to people you think they should know, or include them in some of your networking activities. 

Donating treasure

1. Recurring monthly gifts

Help your organizations with their budgets by donating monthly. It’s usually pretty simple to set up, and many charities will allow you to do this on their website. 

You can also do it from your own bank account if you’re more comfortable with it, but that doesn’t give them as much latitude for planning.

2. Bequests

You might also consider leaving some money to important causes in your will. Your financial advisor can also tell you if using a more structured method like a charitable remainder trust makes sense for your situation.

We love to be able to give back – in fact, we would love to send a free set of table risers to the charity of your choice! Just send us an email to customerservice@liftyourtable.com with the organization’s name, mailing address, and the contact and title information of the person who should receive them.

Are you volunteering at a place that uses folding tables where people need to stand up at them? Provide some folding table risers to lift the table surface so everyone can work in comfort. Check out the full product line at our store.

Lift Your TableⓇ… SAVE YOUR BACK!