The Whole Point Of Donating
We often live day to day doing what we need to survive and thrive. No harm in that, for sure. But within ourselves, we know there is more to life than just surviving. We want to make life better for not just ourselves, but for everyone.
I am blessed to be living a wonderful, interesting and fun life. Every day's a wonder. Some of us fellow humans, however, do not have that luxury. That's why I am doing what I am doing. It's a challenge, for sure, but challenges are the joys of living and being alive.
When I tell people I am helping the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to raise funds, the first thing people ask is why I am doing this. As if doing this requires a reason. Isn't doing it reason enough? It seems that people want to only donate to entities that they have a passion about. If I'm not suffering from leukemia, then I don't have the gravitas or passion to ask for donations. Dude, I'm not begging here. I'm trying my best to help people who are suffering from leukemia.
So here are the two main points on why I am doing this and why you should donate as well.
* You might snidely comment, "Eric, you must have some gain from this!" Well, financial gain, no. Indeed, I will expect financial loss. I do expect to gain key network and networking skills, gain some insight and knowledge into the whole fund raising sphere, and I don't plan to squander that knowledge afterwards. But my gain is primarily knowledge and experience. Valuable, but not easily quantifiable.
** In reality, we don't get solicited everyday for donations. Yes, there is a distinct level of "give me money" noise that is out there. We tune those out because they're just advertisements. A real solicitation, as the one I am conducting, occur rather infrequently. Outside of your immediate circle of charitable organizations: your church, kids' schools, your alma mater, and perhaps one or two arts organization you frequent, you rarely get asked by other organizatio. My step-son is Type 1 diabetic. I don't get a ping from the JDRF asking for a donation. My mother had breast cancer. Susan G Komen doesn't send me an email. So to claim that we're all awash in requests for donations is just selective perception.
I am blessed to be living a wonderful, interesting and fun life. Every day's a wonder. Some of us fellow humans, however, do not have that luxury. That's why I am doing what I am doing. It's a challenge, for sure, but challenges are the joys of living and being alive.
When I tell people I am helping the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to raise funds, the first thing people ask is why I am doing this. As if doing this requires a reason. Isn't doing it reason enough? It seems that people want to only donate to entities that they have a passion about. If I'm not suffering from leukemia, then I don't have the gravitas or passion to ask for donations. Dude, I'm not begging here. I'm trying my best to help people who are suffering from leukemia.
So here are the two main points on why I am doing this and why you should donate as well.
- The real point of donating
Blood cancer affect millions of people around the world. But if we were to ask only those affected and their immediately friends and family to seek out funding, the level of research and medical advances now would be equal to what we had in the 1980s. We can't just ask the people who are directly affected to help out. We need to ask people, like you and me, who are unaffected, dispassionate about this disease to help out. That's why I took on this challenge to raise funds for the LLS. I have no dog in this hunt -- at least I hope I don't, and hope that I never will -- but that doesn't mean I should ignore a genuine request to help.
But why Leukemia & Lymphoma? Well, because they asked me. When JDRF comes knocking at my door, or when MDA or others knock, I will consider. Blood cancers affect people indiscriminately. There's no lifestyle or dietary root causes. It's not due to promiscuity or racial heritage. Wham! One day, you got it. Back in the 60s, when I was a kid, if you got leukemia, you're asked to write out your last will and testament. Five year survival rate was around 3%. Now, due very much to the work of the LLS in funding research and advocating treatment, that rate has quadrupled. Survival from Hodgkin Lymphoma has doubled in the same period, from 40% to 86%. LLS does produce results.
Funding can't come just from people who are affected by it. Even now, with current funding from so many sources such as us, treatment can go into the millions of dollars before a person is cured or has the cancer in remission. Imagine asking them to not just foot the bill for the treatment, but to also pay for the research to provide that treatment. Slightly fewer than 1% of US citizens have leukemia, about 300,000. Even if you were to quadruple that number to include family and friends willing to help, that's only 1.2 million people. Each one has to chip in a $1000 a year to fund just the research. They won't even get anywhere close to paying for treatment. That's why we spread the cost to everyone.
You might think, "well, how do I benefit from this?" Well, I want you to un-think that. I want you to have zero concern about how YOU benefit from donating to this cause, or any other cause. You should just donate. I could, perhaps, sketch out the economic impact of having healthy people, how that might come back to you in terms of increased markets or additional prospects for your business or for the company you work for. Or, if your stock portfolio includes health care sector stocks, that a positive research outcome might help raise the value of that stock. But really, bottom line? It's not going to make a whit of difference to you. So just donate and consider it as that: a donation. If you want a beneficial return for yourself, then it's not a donation: it's a purchase. You trade cash for a beneficial product or service. Well, I'm here to tell you that there's no direct beneficial product or service, so that you giving up that cash is a donation.
People don't seem to donate to things they have little attachments to. People get asked to donate to their church, their kids' schools, their own alma mater, and certainly to medical research in fields that directly affect them. I can understand that. But what you're doing is not really donating. You're purchasing something: either salvation, a better education for your kids, or medical advances to help yourself. To donate really means to just give the money away. So donate!* - Whom to donate?
Ok, so I've convinced you that donating really requires being dispassionate about the recipient of the money. I hope I've convinced you that donating, true donating, should expect no benefits. But there's a nagging feeling in the back of your mind about whom to donate to. Yes, it seems like we're inundated with hundreds of requests for donations every day**. It's almost a droning noise. About half of the spam emails I get are donation requests. And it's hard to choose. Obviously, I don't expect anyone to donate to every possible charity out there. And furthermore, there are plenty of shady charitable organizations out there whose sole job is to ask for money.
So, if you have already donated this year, look a whom you donated to. Did it have some close benefit to you in terms of meeting your passion or meeting your needs? Then, as mentioned in point 1 above, you've bought something. You want to save stray dogs because you love dogs. Great, donate to the ASPCA and you bought life to something you're passionate about. But, it's not a donation. It's a purchase. You just bought something to make yourself feel good. I want you to donate. Give to something that doesn't make you feel good, other than in a karmic sense of feeling good because you did something good. So, have you donated to a charitable organization that you have no real attachment to? If not consider the LLS to donate to.
The second issue is of course, whether the charitable organization is an honorable one or not. That's a very big deal. I don't mind dropping a dime with some organization, as long as I know that the money will be well spent. There are a number of charitable organizations that have been in the news of late for being not so charitable in the use of the money they raised. No need to name names. Here's a hint: if they air radio ads with catchy jingles, or have you wear ribbons or band, or use some iconic color to get you involved, then these organizations are more about raising money through marketing skills. LLS use yokels like me: not very market-savvy and don't have a jingle to catch your ear.
Of course, that shouldn't settle anything. The bottom line should be, how does the organization spend the money it raises? LLS spends 78% of the money it raises on research, advocacy and treatment. The remaining 22% goes to administration. Is that good? Well a quick google gives us this wonderful link: http://seriousgivers.org/program-spending/ which says the sweet spot of a good charity is 60 - 80% of the funding they receive goes to programs, as opposed to administration. It's enlightening to note that spending more than 80% on programs is not necessarily a good thing. It indicates that not enough money is spent on administration, which means they might not be raking in money as much as they otherwise could. LLS's 78% is right there at the tippy-top of the sweet spot. That in itself should indicate that your donation is wisely spent on beneficial programs. Extra karmic points to you.
* You might snidely comment, "Eric, you must have some gain from this!" Well, financial gain, no. Indeed, I will expect financial loss. I do expect to gain key network and networking skills, gain some insight and knowledge into the whole fund raising sphere, and I don't plan to squander that knowledge afterwards. But my gain is primarily knowledge and experience. Valuable, but not easily quantifiable.
** In reality, we don't get solicited everyday for donations. Yes, there is a distinct level of "give me money" noise that is out there. We tune those out because they're just advertisements. A real solicitation, as the one I am conducting, occur rather infrequently. Outside of your immediate circle of charitable organizations: your church, kids' schools, your alma mater, and perhaps one or two arts organization you frequent, you rarely get asked by other organizatio. My step-son is Type 1 diabetic. I don't get a ping from the JDRF asking for a donation. My mother had breast cancer. Susan G Komen doesn't send me an email. So to claim that we're all awash in requests for donations is just selective perception.
