I think we all need to do our due diligence when deciding which charitable cuases to support. Just because a cause is "all the rage" on Twitter, doesn't necessarily mean that it aligns with my beliefs or philosophy toward givnig.
That being said, I think just about anything that can be done to increase awareness about nonprofits is worthwhile. I'm glad to see more and more groups engage social media. In Orlando, the Coalition for the Homeless recently entered the world of social media. Last week, it was abnormally cold here and they needed more blankets. They tweeted the request, which was retweeted by 20 different people. The result was a noticeable uptick in blanket donations thanks to social media.
Generous people who are looking for causes to support need to do their homework and make sure they're supporting the right cause. In this challenging time, there's no shortage of worthy organizations that would benefit from a few extra dollars. I just hope that people don't get caught up in helping the latest trendy nonprofit -- but rather help the ones that are really making a difference.
Thanks for this thought-provoking post.
Heather (@prtini)
hidama
· 10 months ago
I agree with this, and your questioning tweets. When donating money to an organization there should be research involved. One should know the goals and operations of the organization, and if you can find out, it would be beneficial to know how much of your donation goes towards the cause (ie. Charity - what % goes to actually making wells) and how much remains with the company for upkeep and advertising. In some cases, just because it's popular or a large organization, does not mean your donation is mostly going for the cause.
Also, I feel that at Twitter's current development, people expect honesty from each other. If someone ways "this is a good cause - donate!" I think most of us have the tendency to believe it's a trustworthy source - even if it's a retweet.
That's why it's utterly refreshing to have journalists on Twitter who are asking questions and finding the first source of tweets/passed on information.
In other words, "thank you!"
Nicole
· 10 months ago
I'm a big fan of http://www.charitynavigator.org/ for research. Because they require 4 years of 990 forms they often don't have data on newer charities. While I think it is important to encourage new non-profits I will admit I tend to support ones where I am confident my donation isn't going straight to administrative costs (for example). It would be very helpful for those of us who like to know where our money is going to be able to easily find this information and too often its not.
All Comments
I think we all need to do our due diligence when deciding which charitable cuases to support. Just because a cause is "all the rage" on Twitter, doesn't necessarily mean that it aligns with my beliefs or philosophy toward givnig.
That being said, I think just about anything that can be done to increase awareness about nonprofits is worthwhile. I'm glad to see more and more groups engage social media. In Orlando, the Coalition for the Homeless recently entered the world of social media. Last week, it was abnormally cold here and they needed more blankets. They tweeted the request, which was retweeted by 20 different people. The result was a noticeable uptick in blanket donations thanks to social media.
Generous people who are looking for causes to support need to do their homework and make sure they're supporting the right cause. In this challenging time, there's no shortage of worthy organizations that would benefit from a few extra dollars. I just hope that people don't get caught up in helping the latest trendy nonprofit -- but rather help the ones that are really making a difference.
Thanks for this thought-provoking post.
Heather (@prtini)
Also, I feel that at Twitter's current development, people expect honesty from each other. If someone ways "this is a good cause - donate!" I think most of us have the tendency to believe it's a trustworthy source - even if it's a retweet.
That's why it's utterly refreshing to have journalists on Twitter who are asking questions and finding the first source of tweets/passed on information.
In other words, "thank you!"
Well stated dude.