Philanthropy- How You Can Achieve It?

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’ ” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Philanthropy has been talk of the town globally.  The urge to do for others is not only limited to rich and wealthy now as many small income earners wish to contribute to their society. The reasons are not unexplained. India has probably the largest population in the world and so it has to deal with many issues. The disparity between poor and rich is increasing as we are progressing. The poverty is surely on higher side and disabled are not able to get the required assistance. Unless the realm of poverty and other issues such as those of disabled are addressed it’s difficult for a country to march towards a real progress. However, this cannot be achieved by the government alone unless as a country we contribute to our causes.

In our country slowly but steadily individuals with any amount of income are willing to contribute for the betterment. Within their capacity they are coming forward to donate part of their income to ensure someone needy is being taken care. This also gives a satisfaction that you have contributed your share for  the development of your surroundings.

Having said that’s individuals with smaller income have to get associated with charitable organizations to donate for their cause. Unlike riches, they do not have a capacity to start something of their own or hire professionals to take up the job.  But even then one can take few steps to ensure the money donated to any organization is meeting the right objectives. Based on my personal experience and association with NGOs here is what you can do when you decide to donate your share to the causes of society:

1. Decide The Amount

There are no fix criteria on how much you should be donating. Based on your income level you can decide an amount you wish to donate. In general 5-10% of income is what many people decide. The other criteria can be on the basis of actual requirement. For example if you are associated with a school for children from BPL families the expense of any child in a year can be the amount of donation for you. This amount of charity may increase as you move ahead in your career and the amount you wish to set aside can be decided on basis of your income and expenses.

2.  Finding The Donee

You need a bit of homework if you are starting afresh. A more viable option is to get yourself associated with a charitable organization in your location. Visit it regularly to see what is the work organization is doing  and how they are functioning. You can even volunteer for some work as per your availability. Once you are associated with such organization for some time you will have a good understanding and so the donee will be there for you. This will also help you in identifying the specific cause where you can actually make your contributions..

3. How You Should Donate?

In general donation is easy. You give the amount to the organization which they utilized for their charitable cause. But many a times the question comes to our mind  “Is the money actually reaching the needy”. The answer to this question get resolved when you get yourself associated with the charitable organization. For example if you are associated with a school for special children or disabled , you can know the requirement for these needy children. The requirement can be a wheelchair, books, stationary, Almira’s etc… which the school is short off and so in need .  Knowing the requirement you can direct the school to purchase these items and you will foot the bills. If tax benefit is not a consideration then you can even pay directly to the vendor. But that rarely happens and so you can pay the amount to the school. Post purchase you can visit and see that the requirement has been met. In another situation most schools are run for poor families who do not have capacity to pay high education cost of their disabled child. You can even bear the expense of a child fee whose parent doesn’t have resources to do so. There can be other means which you may come across while being associated with any organization.

4. Donating For An Immediate Cause

At times donation becomes the objective of achieving tax benefit and so you don’t bother much on end use. But there are many immediate cause which will come across to you demanding your contribution. Here you need to be cautious and do not fall prey to fake calls which demand immediate help. Rather tragedies like Uttarakhand and Jammu & Kashmir flood are non-forgettable. It brings a huge disaster to people living in these areas and they need financial support for their living. If you have funds available donate towards these causes.

Philanthropy is a noble cause. Our country cannot progress if the disparity between rich and poor keep on increasing. Globally world has realized the need of working towards the betterment of society. Legend like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Azim Premji and now Rakesh Jhunjhunwala are donating their huge wealth for many causes. It is not enough. Each one of us has to contribute within our capacity. Many have understood this and have started contributing. Its time you too start donating but take steps above to ensure the money fulfills the cause.

Are you associated with any charitable organization? Have you volunteered anywhere?

Share your views in the comments section…