Charitable Giving

Charitable giving is one of the best ways to help fight poverty and disease, and many other goodwill causes. Donating money or gifts to these goodwill causes, such as those provided by ministries and non-profit organizations who provide disaster relief, or simply donating blood is considered charitable gift giving. The most important thing about this assistance, however, is to be sure that the gift falls into the right hands. By researching charities and knowing where to find them, personal assistance to these groups can be simple and discreet.

When searching for those who need assistance, start by looking through the local phone book. There are many local ministries as well as charity hospitals and homeless shelters that can benefit from charitable giving. No matter what the gift, there will be someone who can benefit from it. A church's local food pantry could benefit from a case of spaghetti noodles and jars of peanut butter. A children's hospital could benefit from handmade teddy bears. Provision of paint and supplies to a homeless shelter makes possible many needed repairs on their building to keep them in the business of helping others. All of this is considered charitable gift giving.

While some are only be able to offer money, this help can be far more useful to some organizations who need specific items or have to pay for things like utilities to run their facilities. Monetary charitable gift giving is now easier than ever with the Internet. Donations can be made to goodwill causes online via credit card. These donations can also be made by mailing checks and money orders or by giving cash in person for charitable giving.

When searching for a charity to offer goodwill gifts, the giver won't have much trouble. On television, many charities can be found asking for donations. Before calling to make a contribution, make sure that the organization is legitimate and sanctioned by the Better Business Bureau. There are websites available that will rate non-profit organizations and even break down their financials so the giver can see where their donations are spent. Unfortunately, these websites cannot offer information about religious non-profits. Donors will have to do some extra legwork to find out how these groups spend the funds. Don't be fooled by non-profits that seem legit when it comes to charitable gift giving or one will be sorely disappointed to find that even "Christian" charities and ministries are wasting money or using it for themselves and not the causes they stand for. Dig deep for the truth, and then draw from personal stores for charitable giving with discretion and not pride. "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Matthew 6:3-4)

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