One Back

I read today that the American Cancer Society just received a $10 million dollar gift by AstraZeneca PLC, a pharmaceutical company.  That’s impressive, even for a corporation.  The article notes that the American Cancer Society recieves around $1 Billion each year as grants and donations, but only 2% of that comes from corporations!  So good for AstraZeneca.  But the interesting part was that the largest gift in the Society’s history was a $13 million private estate gift from an undisclosed donor.  Most of us are not concerned with donating incredible sums of money to deserving charities however.  Donating to charity is such a personal thing.  I know people who give to others, but prefer it be a subtle event without records or formalities.  And for many of us, choosing the charity is sometimes difficult- often it can be a spur of the moment decision when something appeals to our emotions.  From a planning viewpoint, I try to focus on “the most bang for the buck.” In other words, which charitable organizations are going to use the donation most effectively after administrative costs?  I personally focus on financial donations to organizations that have less than 20 % overhead, and prefer less than 10%.  Sometimes however, it is the small spur-of-the-moment event that can be the most significant.  Not to our karma, or ego, or self-esteem… but simply feeling something deeply within where we recognize in some way that we can make a difference.  Every little bit can help.  For me that was during a car wash years ago… $20 bucks brought a smile and sincere gratitude that I won’t ever forget.  I like to think that it made a difference, even for a day.

Filed under: Purpose