charity donation - Stuff Parents Need

As we close in on the final months of the year, the opportunities to make donations to worthy causes is going to increase significantly. I know I always receive requests from organizations I support annually to make my standard donation (0r to consider increasing my donation) before December 31, which is the deadline for it to count for this year’s tax deductions.

In additions to these requests, which I anticipate, I also receive new solicitations for support. Some of those are local, but MANY of them are national or even international. I typically receive these requests via email or even from Facebook. And it is becoming increasingly common to read online about particular individuals or families who are enduring some sort of crisis and who could use some financial assistance. Those posts, in particular, tend to tug at heart strings. And I would venture to say that the vast majority of them are true. But you would be wise to take just a few minutes to do your homework before you open up your Paypal account, or even worse, get out your credit card information. There are some red flags to watch for to make sure your identity is not about to get stolen.

First and foremost, I want to discourage you from making a donation over the phone, ESPECIALLY to an organization who called you. Unless you have caller ID that can trace the source of the call back to the organization, you really don’t know for sure that the person is calling from that organization. Additionally, even if the request is small (maybe just $5), the intention is not to collect much money from you during that call, but rather, to get your personal information so that your identity can be stolen later. It’s very risky to donate money this way, and if you have never donated to the organization before, steer clear of this “opportunity.”

I would say the same thing for anyone who shows up at your doorstep requesting donations for an organization. Basically, any time you are handing over your personal information to an individual, who has the potential to copy that information for their own personal use, take extra precautions.

Any reputable charity that seeks a donation from you will not pressure you to make a donation on the spot and will welcome the opportunity for you to do your research prior to giving. The Better Business Bureau can be a great resource for checking out how legitimate a nonprofit actually is.

As the holidays approach, please do continue to be generous to the causes you care about, by all means. Just take measures to ensure you are smart about where you give and HOW you give. Volunteering your time instead of your money is a great way to ensure that your identity is protected, so that’s one option to keep in mind. You can also make in-kind donations. For example. my church is having an auction in November to raise money and my family is donating several items that attendees can bid on and that should bring in some money for the organization. We clear out some clutter and the church raises funds. Win-win!

Another option is to simply make sure you have identity theft protection in place so that as you make a donation online, you can do so with confidence. LifeLock does a fantastic job of alerting members to possible threats to identity. And should you find yourself in the unfortunately position of having your identity compromised, LifeLock will be on hand to help you sort everything out and get back on track as quickly as possible. As someone who has been through this situation MULTIPLE times, I can say that having someone have your back is HUGE and will relieve much of the stress!

In 2011, 11.6 million Americans were victims of identity theft. The threat is so, so real. And unfortunately, opportunities to make donations are one of the ways that information does get stolen. Please do keep your security in mind as you are approached for donations this year. Be smart and don’t give out your information to just anyone!

This month the LifeLock for Life sweepstakes on the LifeLock Facebook page also deals with issues related to making donations online. Remember that you can play every single week to win fantastic prizes (this month 5 winners will get a$100 donation to the charity of their choice, and 1 winner will get $1,000 to the charity of their choice! Woo hoo!). You’ll also learn some very useful information about ways to protect your identity (that’s one of my favorite things about the game…it teaches me something every time!).

I am a compensated ambassador for this brand. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Today I want to talk about the joy that can come from giving to others. The South has recently been afflicted with one of the worst storms we have ever encountered in our known history. EVER.

The day of the storms, my family took cover 3 separate times as we heard information that multiple tornadoes were on the ground in our area. MULTIPLE. And this turned out to be over 300 in the entire storm area that crossed Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.

The devastation is widespread. Hundreds of people lost their lives. And thousands of people who knew those individuals lost people they love, which is heartbreaking. And beyond that, thousand of people lost everything they own. EVERYTHING.

Just try to imagine for a moment suddenly having nothing but the clothes on your back, and having to start over. It’s difficult to wrap your head around, I think. But this is the reality for so many people throughout the South. It is the reality that faces anyone when they lose their homes in fires, which happens all over the country every single day. It is the reality of a woman who decides to leave an abusive relationship, and this also happens every day. The needs of this world are very great; really overwhelming when you stop to think about. But please don’t get overwhelmed by the need and decide that there’s nothing you can do that will make a difference!

Today I’m partnering with Pampers who has launched Little Miracle Mission. The campaign kicked off at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York by providing gift baskets to families with babies in the NICU. These parents are beyond stressed out, and having people reach out to them and show they care really means a lot. Please check out the Pampers Facebook page for more information on this fantastic campaign aimed at celebrating little miracles and reaching out to the families who support them in their time of need, whatever it may be.

Pampers sent me a $50 Visa gift card to spend on a little miracle in my own community, in whatever way I saw fit. I agreed to do this campaign just days before the tornadoes came through, and I knew as soon as it happened that I would want to find a family with a baby who had been impacted. I was made aware of a family who completely lost their home to the tornadoes and who had a 15 month old baby boy. My heart was particularly touched since this family had a son so close in age to my daughter. I tried to imagine not having diapers or snacks or….ANYTHING that I needed to keep my daughter healthy and happy, and it really broke my heart.

I took my gift card, along with some coupons I had, to a few drugstores and came back with this:

Yes, I would have loved to have bought the family some cloth diapers, but honestly, this is really not the time to push my own diapering preferences on someone. Diapers is what the parents especially needed, so I used coupons to buy them as much as possible. I also bought them wipes and diaper rash cream, and then realized that they probably don’t have any baby shampoo, so got some of that, as well (again, I wish I could have bought more eco-friendly options, but I don’t know how much help this family will get, so I decided that I needed to stretch my dollars as far as possible). Finally, I saw those two cute stuffed animals marked 75% off, so I snagged them so that the little boy could have a few buddies.

Overall, I got quite a bit for $50! But I didn’t feel satisfied with it. So I raided my linen closet (where all our toiletries are kept) and found unused deodorants, razors, soap and toilet paper to add to the gift basket. Later that day, while I was reading to Darah, I thought of this family…they don’t even have books to read to their child, now. So I pulled a few from Darah’s shelf to give. She won’t miss them, and they will make a big difference to a family with nothing.

While I originally didn’t think I had much to offer those in need, simply because I personally don’t have much money to give, I quickly realized that I was wrong. When I think about having nothing, and when I think about that through the eyes of a mother, I suddenly saw many things in my own home that could be put to better use elsewhere. I felt so blessed to be able to give.

Win it!: So now it is your turn to celebrate a little miracle in your own community! Pampers wants to offer one lucky Stuff Parents Need reader a $50 Visa Gift Card, with the idea that you will pay-it-forward and extend some kindness to a family who is expecting a baby or who currently cares for one. I’ll randomly select one winner on May 19th at 11:59pm EST using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

REMEMBER, YOU MUST BE A PUBLIC FOLLOWER OF THIS BLOG VIA GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT (FOUND ON THE SIDEBAR) TO QUALIFY FOR ANY GIVEAWAYS

Mandatory entry: Simply tell me your idea for how you will use the money to make a positive difference in the life of a baby or babies in your community. Please be specific with your ideas! Comments that are really vague such as, “I’ll give it to someone” won’t count! Let’s all inspire each other right now with our ideas!

Additional entries:

1. Sponsor love: “Like” Pampers on Facebook

2. Blogger love: Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need by email or RSS

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my homepage.

Here’s a great video to get your inspired!