BeCause

National Philanthropy Day, Every Day

• Call out a few top organizations large and small, as well as some individuals, who really “get it right” when it comes to volunteering and performing wondrous deeds for their own cause or the industry at large.
  • Open Avenues Foundation empowers adults with disabilities by providing employment education, life skills training and meaningful work.
  • Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with 2.7 million youth members and over 1 million adult volunteers. Since its founding in 1910 as part of the international Scout Movement, more than 110 million Americans have been members of the BSA.
  • Safe House Denver serves victims of domestic violence and their children through both an emergency shelter and a non-residential Counseling and Advocacy Center. All of the women, children and youth who come to SafeHouse Denver have access to a full range of bilingual programming, including individual counseling, group sessions, advocacy and safety planning.
  • Catholic Charities represents those living in poverty, calling for more effective and efficient poverty relief solutions and convening thought leaders from across the public, private and nonprofit sectors to identify pathways out of poverty.
  • Paul Clolery is the journalistic voice of the philanthropy industry,  responsible for developing, assigning and editing all content at NPT Publishing Group including the NonProfit Times, Exempt, five E-newlsetter and nptimes.com. His staff has received more than two dozen reporting and writing awards—eight of which were awarded to Paul himself.
• Provide you with some ideas to celebrate Philanthropy Day in your own way such as:
  • Use the day to reach out to donors to help them PLAN their giving. Donations take on maximum impact when the giver takes a little time to determine which organizations and when/how much to give.
  • Encourage those involved with your cause to ask for donations to this cause instead of birthday and other holiday gifts.
  • Help event organizers get new folks onboard by offering up great ideas for events and auction items.
  • Try to particularly appeal to young people – studies show the earlier kids get involved with philanthropy, the more likely they are to continue their involvement as they grow older.
  • Finally, recognize someone special in your or someone else’s organization with a note, flowers, invitation to lunch or other way to say “job well done.”