When it comes to donating, many of us think only in terms of dollars given. And at Pinkaloo, we work hard to make donating to your favorite charities easier. But donating money isn’t the only way to you can give back to your community and the charities you care about. When it comes to having the most impact, you should focus your efforts on the three T’s of giving: Time, Talent, and Treasure.
Treasure
Donating our “treasure”, or money, is what usually comes to mind when we think about donating to charities and it’s kind of a big deal for us at Pinkaloo. Though it’s the first thing we think of when it comes to charities, the process wasn’t very intuitive. We wanted to build a better way to give our hard-earned dollars to the causes we cared about most and know that it was having a real impact. So we created our Modern Giving account. Donating your treasure shouldn’t be an afterthought, it should be something you plan for and feel good about so setting a giving budget and researching the charities that support your interests are key. By making it easy to find charities you care about and give a little, or a lot, we want to make it possible for philanthropy to be something everyone has access to.
Time
So what can you do if you’ve maxed out your giving budget, but you still want to get involved? That’s where donating your time comes in. While most non-profits employ full- or part-time staff to keep things running, many of them rely on volunteers to accomplish their initiatives. Your local soup kitchen, animal shelter, and even library can’t run smoothly without the time donated by volunteers. But like with donating money, you want to make sure that your valuable time is being spent on a cause you care about and having a real impact in the community. Resources like Volunteer Match or United Way can help you find volunteer opportunities tailored to the causes you want to support, the amount of time you have to give, and what kind of volunteer work you want to do.
Talent
When we think of donating, Talent is probably the last thing that comes to mind, and if it does, most people usually group it under giving Time. But giving your talent is a special kind of donation that can make a valuable impact. When we focus in on our individual talents and use them to support our communities, we can truly change the world. Maybe you’re a business owner who can sit on the board of a non-profit or a website designer who helps your local animal shelter showcase adoptable pets online. Or, you could simply be an extrovert who uses her talent for making friends to recruit volunteers for a community development project. We all have our personal strengths that charities we love can put to good use.