Sharing Season
The Foolanthropy Charity Drive has selected five charities dedicated to finding real-world solutions to real-world problems. They are focused on giving people a chance, not a handout. If you want to feel good about the charity you support, take a look at the five organizations that the Foolish Community selected to support this year.
By Ann Coleman (TMF AnnC)
December 4, 2000
'Tis the season to be generous.
I like The Motley Fool. I like the people who work here and the people in the community that has built up around the company. But right now, I not only like them, I'm proud of them. Thrilled to be a part of such a group, in fact.
Our Foolanthropy Drive launched last week and that's what is making me so proud. But it's not the money part. Of course I am proud of the way the community has come together to raise money for charity.
It's the charities that have been chosen by the Foolish Community that I find so... so... (oh go ahead and spit it out!)... inspiring. There, I said it and I'm glad. These are inspiring organizations with generous souls, and I think it says a lot about the Foolish Community that it picked them.
I will have quite a bit to say about the Foolish Four later this week. We are coming into renewal season and there is much to be discussed, including the results of the CRSP study. (Yes, it's done! Results are coming soon. This time, soon means within a week.) But today, let's take some time to be very Foolish and think a bit about just how fortunate we really are. I don't care if you are losing your shirt in the markets at the moment. You've got lots of shirts. Let's think about the folks that don't.
Foolanthropy is The Motley Fool's annual drive to share some of our wealth with those who lost the birth lottery. The charities chosen by our community are not household names. You're unlikely to see them on television or in magazine ads. They are too busy doing the work that needs to be done. They all have some very "uncharitable" characteristics in common.
1) They teach people to fish. No fish handouts.
Grameen Foundation USA funds loans, often for less than $100 each, that enable the poorest of the poor to start their own businesses. For these people, "capital expenditures" means buying a used sewing machine and some cloth.
Heifer Project provides farm animals for poor families, and those animals, properly cared for, provide milk, labor, and offspring. Heifer gives trees, bees, and gardens, too.
Lifewater digs wells providing clean water, which is the single most cost-effective way to improve the health of anyone whose water supply isn't pure. (It's hard to start your own business if you're suffering from schistosomiasis.)
America's Second Harvest feeds the hungry but puts some of them to work in their community kitchens preparing the food (and developing job skills while they are at it).
Ashoka seeks out natural leaders all over the world and gives them financial backing to develop their unique ideas for improving local conditions. No foreign "experts" need apply.
2) They are cost-effective.
Typically, almost all of the money raised goes directly to the people who need it. These groups aren't organizing monthly galas or spending a fortune on mass mailings or TV ads. That may be why you haven't heard of them. They would rather get the job done than dress up in black tie and talk about what great people they are at fancy dinners. (America's Second Harvest might be at the dinner, though, to "rescue" the unserved food.)
3) They encourage the recipients to give back.
Heifer Project families must pass along the first female offspring of their animals to another family. Grameen borrowers must pay back their loans and help others in their group to repay their loans. Ashoka is all about helping people give back to their community. Lifewater trains local residents to drill their own wells and then move on to neighboring villages.
Giving back is so important. Not just because it magnifies the gift but because it creates pride. The beneficiaries of these charities know that they aren't getting handouts; they are getting a chance. They can blow the chance, or they can rise to the challenge. In a way, giving someone an opportunity to meet a challenge, to prove to themselves that they are capable of better things, to create something of lasting value for themselves and their children... that's the best gift of all.
Cue the violins.
I don't do the schmaltzy stuff very well. That's probably why these guys appeal to me. They are focused on practical, real-world solutions. If that appeals to you, check out our Foolanthropy area where you can learn much more about them. And, while you're there, share your shirts. You've got too many, anyway.
Fool on and prosper!
