Well,mary oliver and eroticism hurrah, it’s 2020 now. Holiday lights are down, and a new decade is in. It’s the time of the year right afterthe most wonderful time of the year, the start of those sluggish winter months in which your February Self might question the sanity of your January Self for making your New Year’s resolutions SO ambitious.
For now, though, our well-meaning resolutions have the same amount of promise as our shiny new decade. If you resolved to donate more in 2020, turning the charitable fervor from your NYE naiveté into a year-long commitment starts now.
How, you ask? Ashley Post, a spokesperson for Charity Navigator, the nation’s largest evaluator of charities, has a few tips.
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Pick the right charities for you
It’s going to be easier to stick with your giving resolutions if you pick charities that you care about deeply, Post says: "You don’t have to feel bad if you don’t have one cause or passion, but you should take an honest inventory of what matters most to you."
For some people, this might be the easiest part of your resolution. If you’re drawing a blank, she recommends thinking about specific problems that have impacted those in your life, or those around you. What kind of solutions do you wish they had? Look into nonprofits that help work toward those solutions, Post said.
If there’s really nothing coming to mind, Post notes that some people are led by the political climate or the news cycle, which can make your giving timely.
Once you have an idea of what kind of causes you’d like to support, there are a number of sites that can help you make sure the nonprofits you’re looking into are vetted. If you’re looking for insight into a nonprofit’s transparency and to find out how much they spend on operations, check out CharityWatch.org, CharityNavigator.org, and Give.org.
Be strategic in your giving
After you’ve identified where you want to give, Post says another way to stick through with your goals is to make sure your giving is something that actually makes a difference. For monetary donations, this can mean being strategic both in whenand howyou give.
First, Post recommends really committing to one or two organizations that you care deeply about, rather than passively giving to 10.
"If you have $100 to give, the most significant way to give would be to give $100 to one organization, or $50 to two organizations, rather than splitting up your charitable budget and giving $10 to 10 organizations, or $5 to 20," Post said. "When we split up our charitable budget, it’s really not an effective way to give. Making one large gift reduces the processing cost for the nonprofits, so your money makes more of an impact."
Further, Post notes, building a relationship with one organization can make you more likely to follow up with them in the months or years to come.
As for timing, a lot of charities count on the last few weeks of the year to meet their budget goals, says Post. For nonprofits trying to meet their yearly goals in just a few weeks in December, this can lead to a frantic, end-of-year scramble. Luckily, there’s an easy solution that can help nonprofits andyour likelihood of sticking through with your giving resolution: Make a year-round gift.
Post notes that this can lessen the load on nonprofits in need of funds by providing a guaranteed income while also helping you stick with your giving resolution. In addition to committing to routine giving, Post recommends checking to see if your employer offers a gift-matching program, which can also maximize your giving.
Beyond being strategic about monetary donations, it’s also important to be deliberate about what kind of giving can help the most. If you’re unable to donate money, Post recommends again taking stock of what you have to offer, and finding a way to use your time and talents to help charities.
Do you have a lot of time in the evenings? Take that moment to physically go and volunteer with a charity you’re passionate about. Do you have any skills that might help a cause? If you're good at social media, for instance, Post notes that you could volunteer remotely by scheduling posts, which she says could especially help smaller charities in need of bandwidth. No matter what, make sure that you're giving in a way that optimally aids the cause you want to support.
Make a budget
After picking a cause and an effective way to give, the hard(est) part comes in: reallysticking to it.
Post suggests thinking of donations the same way you think about monthly subscriptions, like Netflix or Spotify.
"It’s helpful to have a ‘set it and forget it’ mentality because it guarantees you’re going to be charitable," Post said. "You never want to go broke while giving. You want to be generous, and reasonable."
This tactic can extend to non-monetary giving as well. Post recommends planning the amount of time that you have available to volunteer within a given time frame.
"If you say that every third Saturday of the month you're going to volunteer, you’ve made a commitment to the organization," Post said. "They can rely on you, and that will help make it a habit."
She also recommends signing up for newsletters, which can keep you informed about a particular nonprofit’s happenings year-round.
Get some accountability buddies
Another way to stay committed to your resolution is by getting friends involved.
"Accountability is always good for staying on track," Post said. "If your friends are also supporting causes with monetary donations, just check in with each other and make sure you’ve all gone through with it."
Post suggests getting together with friends to volunteer in person at the same time. Not only does this help you commit (no one likes a flaky friend), but it also means more volunteers for whatever charity you’re supporting.
No matter your ultimate tactic for committing to your resolution, Post maintains that the most important thing is to just do it.
"Don’t put off making a donation," Post said. "It might not seem big but it is. Charities need your help."
Topics Social Good