The Amateur Financier

Now, as they say, for something completely different.  While there is much discussion in personal finance media about making money, saving money, and investing money, there is sometimes a decided lack of concern and discussion regarding charities.  (The exception tends to be in personal finance blogs; as with many other issues that get neglected by the financial media, there are more than a few bloggers who are passionate about charities and sharing their favorite ones.) It’s an issue that I’ve taken to heart, and wrote about more than once in the past about some of my favorite charities.

So, what better subject to cover than some of the great charities that are out there?  The list will be far from comprehensive, of course; there’s just too many charities out there that do good work for me to cover all of them.  But this list should provide a pretty good idea of some worthwhile charities that are out there (and could certainly use your support), and if you still need further ideas, check out my guide to finding good charities (and perhaps more importantly, verifying the legitimacy of said charities).  Now, some good charities:

1. The American Cancer Society - There are a lot of charities organized to fight diseases.  Illness is one of those things that can bring us together, drawing out our inner desire to help our fellow humans (and possibly make things a bit easier on ourselves in the future).  Most diseases with numerous suffers have organizations that have sprouted up to fight them; cancer, with so many people who are afflicted by it, is a particularly popular target.  While a donation to the American Cancer Society probably won’t be enough to end cancer forever and in all forms, you could be helping sufferers and giving help and hope to millions of people.  Not too shabby.

2. Boy Scouts of America - I’ll admit, I’m including this one mainly because I was a Boy Scout through most of my elementary, junior high, and even high school life.  While my troop wasn’t the most impressive and I didn’t accumulate a vast collection of merit badges, it did help to instill some rather admirable traits in me and thousands of other boys around the country.  While skills like surviving in the wild might seem a bit dated, the friendship and companionship is well worthwhile.

3. Girl Scouts of America - While we are on the subject of good youth organizations, let’s include the Girl Scouts, as well.  You might think that their sales of millions of boxes of irresistible cookies each year would be enough to ensure a continuous income stream, but girls cannot scout on cookies alone.  Again, I might be biased, as both my sisters were Girl Scouts (though neither stayed with it as long as I did with Boy Scouts), but it’s still a fine program for young girls.

4. Easter Seals - There are plenty of charities I haven’t been directly involved with; Easter Seals, which seeks to help people with disabilities to lead a normal, productive life, is just one of those.  It’s one of those programs that you’ve probably heard of throughout your life (I’ve passed one of their offices repeatedly when going to the nearest airport), but probably didn’t know what they did.  Now that you do, perhaps you’ll consider them worthy of a donation.

5. Heifer Project – I’ve discussed this charity back in the aforementioned Charity Spotlight series, but I think it’s worth repeating.  Heifer Project provides poor people in developing countries with livestock, allowing them to provide for themselves and their families and build up their finances, as well.  Any charity that tries to help people lift themselves up by their bootstraps by helping provide, well, boots with straps is alright in my book.

6. Red Cross - Ah, the Red Cross, always there to try to help when things go wrong.  When disasters happen, as they are wont to do, the Red Cross helps to provide disaster relief.  Given that hurricane season is practically upon us (and there are plenty of other disasters, both ones that people are still recovering from, and ones that are yet to come), you can be sure that your donation won’t be going to waste.

Now, I’m not just going to talk these charities up; I’m going to put my money where my mouth is, and donate $50 to each charity I have listed up there.  Please feel free to join me in donating, to these or other charities you find worthy.