Charities that provide returns
We all know that donating to a charity can be tax deductible, whether it is $2 or $2,000 you can claim it against your tax providing you keep your receipts. Tax deductions are great but donating isn’t always an option for everyone but have you ever thought about donating to a charity that provides a return?
Change a Life
I’m sure you have all lent money to a friend or paid for their lunch because they were short with the reply of ‘I’ll pay you back next pay day’. Well why not lend money to people that can change their lives. There are certain charitable organisations that use your donation to help better the lives of others, and then those you have helped pay you back.
By lending money to others through these charitable organisations, your money is helping to make someone’s life a whole lot better. You’re not losing any money; you are simply lending it for a period of time. This kind of thing isn’t like a sponsor child where you are locked in for a certain amount each year until your child is 18, you can do it at anytime as much or as little as you want.
100% Return
One of the biggest organisations that provide returns is Kiva. This organisation aims to help people in third world countries start their own businesses and all it costs you is roughly a $25 loan. You will be paid back progressively once the person, or group you have donated to has started earning income. With Kiva you get the opportunity to read stories of the people you could help and personally choose who you’d like the money to go. This way you aren’t just contributing to a large organisation to distribute it how they want, you get to choose what ALL of your money goes to. With this kind of thing of course there is never a 100% guarantee that you will get all your money back BUT, when do you ever have a 100% guarantee no matter who you lend it to?
Kiva
Kiva’s website (www.kiva.org) has all the details on what it involves and how it operates, but here are some quick facts (current as at the time of this post) … Since Kiva was founded in 2005 (1):
- 601,877 people have lent money to Kiva
- $231 million dollars have been raised in loans
- 98.79% repayment rate
So for those of you who think you can (or even those who think you can’t) afford to lend $25 or any amount for that matter for a good cause, think about what that money means to you and think about how it would impact on someone else’s life. If you get that $25 back which you were willing to part with for a time, why wouldn’t you donate it again? It’s only $25 to you, which over the years you can relend to many people and change so many lives.
We are lucky to live the lives we do in our beautiful country; billions of people don’t get what we get.
It’s easy; help somebody else help themselves!
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