How to do charity: what to do and who to help

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Why help people, how to distinguish honest funds from scammers, and why small regular payments are better than one-time, but large ones. We understand together with the Citymobil taxi aggregator and the "" project.

Why is it important to do charity work?

Short: each of us may need help at a difficult moment.

There are many people in Russia who need support: orphans, homeless people, people with serious and incurable diseases, lonely pensioners. Each of them needs help, but not all receive it - the state's resources are always lacking.

Charitable foundations take on a part of the work: they look for money for expensive treatment, buy the necessary equipment in clinics, interact with officials and try to make the system of compulsory medical care more effective. Such foundations live off donations. If there is no money, they will not be able to work and thousands of people will be left without help.

How to choose whom to help?

Short: find a specialized fund, study the site and find fresh reports on the funds spent.

Requests for help come from everywhere: emotional posts on social networks, donation boxes in supermarkets, volunteers on the streets. In order not to give your money to scammers, it is better to help through large charitable foundations. These are professionals in the field of charity who know who needs help and know how to provide it in a systematic way, and not in a targeted manner. Think about who you would like to help - seriously ill children, single elderly people or orphans - and find a suitable organization.

Foundations regularly report on the money spent and publish the results of their activities, so it is easier to check them for fraud than a random person on the Internet. To do this, go to the official website of the organization and see information about the funds spent. Be wary if there are no reports or they have not been published for a long time.

If you've never done charity before, start with small, regular transfers. For example, Citymobil and Dobro Mail.ru recently launched a project called "" to enable people to donate when paying for a taxi ride. It's easy and not time-consuming, and the money will definitely go to charity.

To participate in "", order a taxi through the "Citymobil" application. You choose how much money to donate to charity: 3, 5, 7, 10 or 25% of the cost of the trip.

Good deeds should be rewarded. For regular donations, you receive gifts: free trips from Citymobil, sweatshirts by designer Katya Dobryakova and discounts from project partners. Surprises were prepared by Perekrestok, Amediateka, Qlean.ru, Ozon, Skyeng, Okko, Friday!, Liters, Bringo 24/7, Grow Food and BE ‑ KIND.

On the project website you can see how many “good kilometers” Citymobil clients have already donated to the funds. The more routes and donations there are, the more streets are painted on the interactive map of Moscow.

At the end of the project, Citymobil will choose the kindest district of the capital. Anyone who has made at least one donation will receive a discount on travel from the area during the month.

To make it easier to get started, for the first five trips Citymobil gives a 10% discount according to the promotional code CITYHACKER*.

But this is only a few rubles. What is the use of such small payments?

Short: charity is not about large payments, but about many small, but regular ones. If 20 million people transfer just one ruble per month, the fund will raise 20 million per month and 240 million rubles per year.

Don't wait for the perfect moment to start helping - it doesn't require a lot of free money or huge income. Connect small but regular auto payments. For example, transfer 10 rubles each to two or three funds whose activities are close to you.

Example. Anya takes a taxi five times a week, the average cost of a trip is 300 rubles. Anya participates in "" and transfers 5% to charity - 15 rubles per trip. For a week she will donate 75 rubles - less than the cost of a coffee to go, for a month - 300 rubles, and for a year - 3,600 rubles. 15 rubles is a waste, invisible for Anya's budget, but a significant help for the funds.

Regular transfers help charities better budget and manage funds efficiently. For example, if it is known that 1 million donors donate 10 rubles every month, then the fund counts on 120 million rubles at the end of the year and can make an order in advance for the supply of equipment from abroad.

Are there those who do not need help?

Short: Yes. Not always a sincere desire to help will be a boon for those who need help.

• Don't give money to homeless people and beggars on the street. Sometimes they are just scammers, sometimes they are people who really need it. If so, it is better to ask than to help: buy food and hot tea, provide warm clothes, or find a place to sleep.
• Do not transfer money to strangers on social media. Most of the posts asking for help are the work of scammers. They can spread someone's appeal on their behalf by adding their own transfer details. In addition, people often raise money for treatment without consulting their doctors. It can be ineffective and ineffective.
• Do not repost if you are not sure of the author's honesty. Even if the post says: “Help! Urgently!" Check the facts and don't let your emotions get the better of your mind. If you want to help spread the word, repost records of charitable foundations that you have no doubt about.

Can I help with deeds and personal participation, not money?

Short: Yes. If you have the desire and free time, offer your help to charities or do good deeds yourself.

Such actions are valued no less than monetary donations - foundations are always short of working hands. There are many options: take the patient to the hospital, deliver the goods, help with the development of the website, take pictures of the children from the orphanage, organize an event, provide legal assistance. People in hospices, orphanages, and nursing homes lack lively human interaction, so they will be glad if you just come to visit or write letters to them.

In addition, you can do good deeds on your own: donate blood, help a lonely grandmother who lives next door, or donate unwanted clothes to a thrift store.

How to become a volunteer?

Short: determine who you want to help, find a foundation and find out what help is needed.

It is impossible to help everyone at once. Do you want to socialize with children in a hospice, walk dogs from a shelter, help nursing staff take care of seriously ill patients, extinguish fires, or become a mentor for a child from an orphanage? You should be pleased to do good deeds. If you don't like an activity, there is a chance that it will be abandoned soon.

When you have decided on a direction, find a specialized fund or organization. Find out what tasks volunteers are needed for and at what time. If the schedule of events does not coincide with your work schedule, you will not be able to help.

Be prepared to drive to the other side of the city and spend a few hours on a weekend. Volunteering, although voluntary, requires responsibility. You can't just not come or not do what you promised - you will let other people down. If you are not yet sure that you can handle it, start small - small good deeds or the same regular donations.

* The promotion is valid in Moscow, Moscow region, Yaroslavl, Samara, Togliatti and Kazan only when ordering through a mobile application. Organizer: City-Mobile LLC. Location: 117997, Moscow, st. Architect Vlasov, 55. OGRN: 1097746203785. The term of the promotion is from 7.03.2019 to 31.12.2019. Details about the organizer of the action, about the rules of its conduct, can be found on the organizer's website at www.city-mobil.ru.