“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” Dale Carnegie
VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES
United Way of King County brings caring people together to give, volunteer, and take action to help people in need and solve our community’s toughest challenges.
VolunteerMatch strengthens communities by making it easier for good people and good causes to connect. The organization offers a variety of online services to support a community of nonprofit, volunteer and business leaders committed to civic engagement. Our popular service welcomes millions of visitors a year and has become the preferred internet recruiting tool for more than 91,000 nonprofit organizations.
Catchafire provides talented individuals with meaningful pro bono experiences in order to build capacity for social good organizations.
A Billion + Change is a national campaign to mobilize billions of dollars of pro bono and skills-based service by 2013 to address core issues our communities face across the country and around the world. Together we will transform how businesses leverage their employees to make a lasting impact on society by engaging, inspiring and mobilizing professional talent to build the capacity of non-profit organizations to better meet community needs.
DO SOMETHING loves teens. They are creative, active, wired…and frustrated that our world is so messed up. DoSomething.org harnesses that awesome energy and unleashes it on causes teens care about. Almost every week, they launch a new national campaign. The call to action is always something that has a real impact and doesn’t require money, an adult, or a car. With a goal of 5 million active members by 2015, DoSomething.org is one of the largest organizations in the US for teens and social change.
NONPROFIT DIRECTORIES
Global Greengrants Fund is a public charity that seeds environmental action through small grants. We support change from the ground up by channeling donations to local projects and grassroots campaigns for justice, primarily in the developing world and emerging economies. We are a bridge between passionate people seeking social justice and environmental sustainability. From the neighborhood organizer in Ghana’s mining region to the Chicago donor advocating for global environmental rights, we are a network of changemakers.
The Seattle Foundation‘s mission is to create a healthy community through engaged philanthropy, community knowledge and leadership. We inspire informed and generous giving to make our community—local, national and international—a vital and healthy place to live.
The Greater Tacoma Community Foundation fosters generosity by connecting people who care with causes that matter, forever enriching our community.
Wiser Earth is a global village for sharing and kinship-building for people who believe in a more just and sustainable world. Specifically, Wiser.org’s mission is to help the global movement of people and organizations working toward social justice, indigenous rights, and environmental stewardship to connect, collaborate, share knowledge, and build alliances.
For something a little different, these are two sites that support individuals through seed funding and loans. Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects.
Kiva is a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.
NONPROFIT RATINGS AND REVIEWS
Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance
Guidestar’s mission is to revolutionize philanthropy and nonprofit practice by providing information that advances transparency, enables users to make better decisions, and encourages charitable giving.
TOOLS AND EDUCATION FOR AN INFORMED PHILANTHROPIST
Harvard Business Review article, Get Ready to Be A Changemaker
Bolder Giving‘s mission is to inspire and support people to give at their full lifetime potential. Also see their older website, More Than Money.
In Flow Funding, donors entrust their money to social innovators and visionaries to give away. Flow Funding is a way to empower numerous new philanthropists to place strategic grants that are heartfelt and effective.
Inspired Legacies helps donors, advisors, and nonprofits collaborate for inspired outcomes for self, family and society. See also Tracy Gary’s book, Inspired Philanthropy
The Soul of Money Institute provides transformational and educational programs that inspire and empower individuals, organizations, and institutions to:
• Align the acquisition and allocation of their financial resources with their most deeply held values.
• Move from an economy of fear, consumption, and scarcity, to an economy of sufficiency, sustainability, and generosity.
• Generate an expanding flow of resources toward the affirmation of life and the common good.
See also Lynne Twist’s book Soul of Money
Seeds For Change Network is a non-profit training and support co-op helping people organise for action and positive social change. The network started in 2000 with informal co-operation between people who were doing workshops in their spare time.
Generation Waking Up is igniting a generation of young people to bring forth a thriving, just sustainable world
Giving What We Can is an international society dedicated to eliminating poverty in the developing world. Our members come from many different walks of life, but are united in the belief that global poverty is one of the most important problems in the world today, and in the desire to do something about it. We see that our comparative wealth can prevent a significant amount of suffering if only we allow it to do so, and thus we have each taken the Pledge to Give: we will give at least 10% of our incomes to wherever we think it will do the most to relieve suffering in the developing world.
The Funding Exchange is a social justice foundation working toward “Change not Charity”, and serves as the national hub of a network of regionally-based foundations. (it seems they have decided to close operations and redirect to another site, No Small Change)
PledgeBank allows users to set up pledges and then encourages other people to sign up to them. A pledge is a statement of the form ‘I will do something, if a certain number of people will help me do it’.
Changing The Present offers gifts that change the world. Browse causes to find gifts that make a difference, or search for your favorite nonprofit to make a donation. You can share these gifts with your friends and family, or use them for your own nonprofit giving.
EDGE Funders Alliance addresses the systemic nature of the social, economic and ecological crises threatening the future of our planet.
Align your giving with the UN’s millennium goals.
Network for Good makes it possible to Unleash Generosity! Whether you are a nonprofit raising money for your good cause, a corporation giving back to your communities or an individual raising funds for your favorite charity with family and friends, we can help.
GIVING CIRCLES
Donor Circle PDF from the Women’s Funding Network
Giving Circles Network seeks to assist Giving Circles and other individual donors in making their contributions more meaningful.
Women’s Funding Alliance builds leadership and drives financial investments to make change on the most pressing issues facing women and girls in Washington State. They provide resources and opportunities for donor circles on a local level.
HAVING ENOUGH / SIMPLICITY
Vicki Robin is my go-to inspiration on this topic. Read her book Your Money or Your Life or visit the website . Another off shoot of this work is the website Financial Integrity.
The Center for a New American Dream is inspiring, engaging, and challenging Americans to re-examine their cultural values on consumption and consumerism and initiating a new national conversation around what “the good life” and the “American dream” mean.
Four great blogs that I follow on the topic of simplicity and minimalism:
Be More With Less
Minimalist Woman
Rowdy Kittens
The Minimalists
GENERAL BOOKS AND BLOGS
- Think, Lisa Bloom
- The Gifts of Imperfection and Daring Greatly, Brene Brown
- Nicole Bouchard Boles writes about being an everyday philanthropist at http://www.nicolebouchardboles.com/
- To get the gratitude juices flowing visit Help Others, the portal dedicated to small acts of kindness.
- Philip B. Cubeta, morals tutor to America’s wealthiest families, writes on his blog Gift Hub about all manner of philanthropic topics.
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