Giving Tuesday 2021: Matching Donations and Finding The Right Charity

November 29, 2021 By Jonathan Ping 4 Comments
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givingtuesdayTuesday, November 30th is Giving Tuesday 2021, an international day about giving support through charities and nonprofits by donating money or volunteering your time. In case you aren’t inundated with mailings already, this time of year is a big deal for charities, with 40% of donations occurring in the last six weeks of the year. Here are some ways you can “double your impact” with a matching donation.

Facebook Match (good toward any charity that accepts donations via Facebook). Starting at 8am Eastern on 11/30, Facebook will match $8 million in donations to U.S. nonprofits – up to $100,000 per nonprofit and $20,000 per donor. Donations will be matched for the first $2M, 10% for the next $6M.

For example, give directly with the donate button on the The Humane Society Facebook Page. You can also start your own fundraiser here or simply post up a donate button to support your favorite charity.

Double Up Drive. Check out the high-quality, spotlighted charities at Double Up Drive where your donation up to $10,000 can be matched dollar-for-dollar:

At Double Up Drive, we believe that public giving influences greater generosity and that resulting donations carry more impact. We raise money and awareness for highly effective charities by hosting matching drives that collect up-front pledges from large donors, to provide 1:1 matches for smaller contributors.

Check for an employer match. Try this lookup tool from DoubleTheDonation. Most of these programs don’t require you to actually give on a specific day, but you may want to start the process today so you don’t forget in the holiday rush.

Individual charities. Many charities are organizing their own matching program for #GivingTuesday. Here are some large charities have organized their own matches in the past, but I would check to make sure.

Also check with your favorite local community nonprofit. GivingTuesday.org has some additional ideas.

Having trouble deciding where to give? Here are some charity comparison sites that will help you pick where to send your help.

  • CharityNavigator – Largest and well-publicized charity rating site, provides a 4-star rating based primarily on financial criteria.
  • GiveWell – Tries to identify the best charities, not rate them all. Focused primarily on charities working internationally that “save or improve lives the most per dollar”. Examples are treating malaria and parasitic infections in developing countries.
  • GreatNonProfits – Allows clients, volunteers, and funders to post personal reviews based on their experiences. Lots of reviews of smaller, local charities.
  • GuideStar – Tries to be a one-stop shop for both financial data and in-depth analysis of charities. Must register (free) to see a lot of things, and pay a subscription fee for premium data (aimed at industry insiders).

Looking to volunteer your time? Check out Feeding America and VolunteerMatch to find a volunteer opportunity near you.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Giving Back
Last updated: November 30, 2021
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards, and may receive a commission from card issuers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned. MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Daffy: Fintech Donor Advised Fund For Flat $3 a Month

October 24, 2021 By Jonathan Ping 2 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards and may receive a commission. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

A donor-advised fund (DAF) helps you manage the timing of your charitable giving while also maximizing your tax benefits (allowing you to give more). You get the tax break at the time of contribution, which means you might give more when your income and tax rates are higher.

DAFs also let you contribute things like appreciated stock shares and appreciated cryptocurrency and avoid the taxes on unrealized capital gains. Here are some examples of the potential tax advantages of donating appreciated stock. Your contributions can then be invested to grow a tax-deferred manner until you decide to make a grant to the charities of your choice.

Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab all have donor-advised funds that can accept such donations, but they both charge an administrative fee of 0.60% of assets (usually with $100 minimum). If you put in the minimum $25,000 that Vanguard requires, that works out to $150 a year. (Fidelity and Schwab have no minimum contribution requirement.)

Daffy is a new DAF startup that starts at only $3 a month, or a flat $36 a year regardless of asset size. However, upon closer inspection, you have to upgrade to their $20 a month “Benefactor” tier to donate appreciated stock or cryptocurrency.

Here are Daffy’s minimum contribution requirements:

At sign-up, you can commit to the Daffy Pledge or make a minimum one-time contribution of $100. For the Daffy Pledge, the minimum contribution is either $10 per week or $25 per month. The minimum stock contribution is $1,000 and the minimum crypto contribution is .001 BTC (10,000 Satoshis).

We require Daffy members to make at least one donation recommendation of at least $25 per year.

Members may recommend an unlimited number of donations in any given month. The minimum donation recommendation is $20.

At the base $3 a month tier, you can still invest in one of 9 preset portfolios that include standard, ESG, and crypto focuses. Their primary pitch appears to be one of convenience: Simply decided how much you want to give, and Daffy will help make the rest a little easier. Set up a regular monthly donation via credit card and Daffy will cover the transaction fees. Now you don’t need to keep a stack of receipts. You can also give more anonymously without ending up on a bunch of mailing lists.

I’ve had a Fidelity Charitable DAF for a couple years now, and it has been a good experience even though I am a small fry customer. I primarily wanted to be able to donate appreciated assets occasionally and then give most of it away. I don’t maintain an exceptionally large balance, so the fees incurred aren’t very high (currently the $100 a year minimum). At $3 a month, I was hoping Daffy would save me some fees, but it would actually cost me more at the $20 a month tier since I donate appreciated stocks. Perhaps you can downgrade and/or upgrade only during the times when you need the extra features.

If you don’t plan on donated appreciated assets, then Daffy is the lowest-cost DAF that I am aware of that lets you manage the timing of your charitable contributions and invest it tax-free until you decide to make a grant.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Giving Back, Investing
Last updated: October 24, 2021
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards, and may receive a commission from card issuers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned. MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

What Percentage of Income Do People Really Donate to Charity?

February 22, 2021 By Jonathan Ping Leave a Comment
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Giving to charity has the double taboo of being both about money and your generosity to others. Double the chance for judgment, at least!

“And once again, tithing is 10 percent off the top, that’s gross income, not net. Please people, don’t force us to audit.” -Rev. Lovejoy, The Simpsons

How much do people really give to charity? Since nobody talks about it, I had no idea until I read this NBER paper Generosity Across the Income and Wealth Distributions by Meer and Priday. The authors examined the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the “longest running longitudinal household survey in the world” with data from over 10,000 US households between 2001 and 2017. This Economist article summarized the results into a nice chart (click to enlarge):

The general conclusions:

  • The higher the income, the more likely you are to donate at all.
  • The higher the income, the higher the amount given (total dollars).
  • The higher the income, the amount given as a proportion of income (percentage) tends to stay roughly the same.

People across all income levels gave between 1% and 2% of their incomes to charity on average, after adjusting for effect of outliers. This is not to say that this number is the “right” amount to give for any specific household. The paper argues that previous studies which found lower-income households gave a higher percentage than higher-income households were skewed due to outliers (older households with temporarily low incomes but high net worth), and so they used the statistical method of “windsoring” to adjust for extreme outliers.

Found via Abnormal Returns and Benningfield Advisors.

Filed Under: Giving Back
Last updated: February 22, 2021
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards, and may receive a commission from card issuers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned. MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Giving Tuesday 2020: Double Your Impact With Matching Donations

December 1, 2020 By Jonathan Ping Leave a Comment
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards and may receive a commission. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

givingtuesdayTuesday, December 1st is Giving Tuesday 2020, an international day about giving support through charities and nonprofits by donating money or volunteering your time. In case you aren’t inundated with mailings already, this time of year is a big deal for charities, with 40% of donations occurring in the last six weeks of the year. Here are some ways you can “double your impact” with a matching donation.

Facebook Match (good toward any charity that accepts donations via Facebook). Starting at 8am Eastern on 12/1, Facebook will match $7 million in donations to U.S. nonprofits – up to $100,000 per nonprofit and $20,000 per donor. Donations will be matched for the first $2M, 10% for the next $5M.

For example, give directly with the donate button on the The Humane Society Facebook Page. You can also start your own fundraiser here or simply post up a donate button to support your favorite charity.

Check for an employer match. Try this lookup tool from DoubleTheDonation. Most of these programs don’t require you to actually give on a specific day, but you may want to start the process today so you don’t forget in the holiday rush.

Individual charities. Many charities are organizing their own matching program for #GivingTuesday. Here are some large charities have organized their own matches in the past, but I would check to make sure.

Also check with your favorite local community nonprofit. GivingTuesday.org has some additional ideas.

Having trouble deciding where to give? Here are some charity comparison sites that will help you pick where to send your help.

  • CharityNavigator – Largest and well-publicized charity rating site, provides a 4-star rating based primarily on financial criteria.
  • GiveWell – Tries to identify the best charities, not rate them all. Focused primarily on charities working internationally
  • GreatNonProfits – Allows clients, volunteers, and funders to post personal reviews based on their experiences.
  • GuideStar – Tries to be a one-stop shop for both financial data and personal reviews of charities. Must register to see a lot of things, and pay a subscription fee for premium in-depth data.

Looking to volunteer your time? Check out FeedingAmerica.org and find a volunteer opportunity at a food bank near you.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Giving Back
Last updated: December 1, 2020
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards, and may receive a commission from card issuers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned. MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Upsolve: Nonprofit Helps You File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy For Free

November 24, 2020 By Jonathan Ping Leave a Comment
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards and may receive a commission. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

Upsolve is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that helps anyone file for bankruptcy on their own behalf. They are not a legal service, but more of a free self-service software tool and step-by-step guide. Essentially “TurboTax for Bankruptcy”, given that both are overly complex (although TurboTax is definitely for-profit while Upsolve never asks for payment). Users can also interact with each other on a Facebook group, although no lawyers are involved. Found via Time’s Best Inventions of 2020.

Upsolve focuses on Chapter 7 bankruptcies, which are generally involve less-complex situations and households with below-median incomes. Chapter 7 can generally discharge unsecured debts, including credit card debt and medical bills. According various sources, the average cost to pay an attorney for file Chapter 7 is about $1,500. Now, that might be worth it if you have a more complex situation (and the ability to pay), but perhaps those with a simple situation might want to take a shot at representing themselves.

In 2019, Upsolve got 80% of their funding from government funding and charitable contributions, and 20% from accepting payments from private independent attorneys that pay to be mentioned for a free consultation if you require professional assistance. You can also support them by making a tax-deductible donation. They are very young so they are not rated by Charity Navigator or Guidestar.

I admittedly know very little about this process, but I figure it’s good to spread the word about free assistance offered to those with limited resources during these difficult times.

Filed Under: Debt, Giving Back
Last updated: November 24, 2020
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards, and may receive a commission from card issuers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned. MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Giving Tuesday Now – May 5th, 2020 #GivingTuesdayNow

May 4, 2020 By Jonathan Ping Leave a Comment
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On the Tuesday after each Thanksgiving and Black Friday, Giving Tuesday is an international day about giving support through charities and nonprofits by donating money and goods or volunteering your time. The same organization has created Giving Tuesday Now on Tuesday, May 5th, 2020 in response to the global threat of COVID-19.

On the last GivingTuesday, December 3, 2019, the global giving day generated $2 billion in giving, just in the United States, and inspired millions of people worldwide to volunteer, perform countless acts of kindness, and donate their voices, time, money, and goods. The additional giving day planned for May 5, 2020 is being deployed in response to needs expressed by communities and leaders around the world.

People can show their generosity in a variety of ways during #GivingTuesdayNow–whether it’s helping a neighbor, advocating for an issue, sharing a skill, or giving to causes, every act of generosity counts.

I looked over the various charity comparison websites to see if they had any COVID-19 updates. GiveWell recommends to keep giving to their same top charities as before. GreatNonProfits has updated their top-rated guide for 2020, but it’s not COVID-specific. CharityNavigator does have a section on “highly-rated nonprofits providing relief and recovery to communities impacted by the pandemic”. You can also donate directly to the COVID-19 Response Fund of Feeding America, or they also have a tool to find a local food bank near you. I ended up donating to this last one.

(We recently set up a Fidelity donor-advised fund for this, but the value dropped so we mostly gave from our usual funds until the balance came back up.)

Hopefully, your favorite nonprofit has a special donation page and maybe even a match going on that you are able to support. Alternatively, they might be organizing special activities where you can donate some of your time. Many people have already spending their time and energy giving back in various ways and it has been great to see.

Filed Under: Giving Back
Last updated: May 5, 2020
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards, and may receive a commission from card issuers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned. MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Fidelity Charitable Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Opening Process Review

December 8, 2019 By Jonathan Ping 5 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards and may receive a commission. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

It took me an extra year to get around to it, but it only took me about 15 minutes to actually open and fund my new Fidelity Charitable Donor-Advised Fund (DAF). I even donated stocks instead of just cash, but the donating appreciated securities were from an existing Fidelity taxable brokerage account. Here’s a brief review of the process.

Step 1: Create Fidelity account. Provide personal details, including name, address, and Social Security Number. Similar to opening a new bank or brokerage account. They need this information for tax purposes. If, for example, you make 20 donations of $100 all to different charities, you will only have one $2,000 tax receipt at the end of the year. If you already have a Fidelity account log-in, it links easily.

Step 2: Contribution selection. If donating from a Fidelity brokerage account, they have a special tool that searches for tax lots with the largest unrealized gains. This maximizes the tax advantage of your donation. This ability to find specific lots is neat and overrides your usual default setting for tax lots (ex. First-in, First-out). You can also enter you desired donation amount and it will tell you how many shares you should donate to approximate that amount (final number will depend on market price). For now, I chose to donate enough to satisfy the minimum opening amount of $5,000. Here’s a screenshot:

Step 3: Investment selection. Pre-packaged or customized allocation. One of the benefits of a DAF is that you can invest your money in between the time of initial contribution and eventual distribution. I did not spend a lot of time agonizing over this choice, as I don’t plan on keep a large amount of funds in there. We are not talking about an obscene amount of money here, so I feel better about distributing it sooner and helping out now. I am mainly using the DAF for the bonus tax savings and thus making my effective contribution larger.

Still, I was happy to see that I could create a custom allocation using low-cost index fund choices, including a Total US Stock Market Index at 0.015% annual expense ratio and US Bond Index at 0.025% annual expense ratio. Keep in mind there is also a 0.60% annual administrative fee (minimum $100). I mostly hope that the market gains will more than offset the maintenance fees.

Step 4. Confirm and Submit. The overall user experience was smooth and my choices were summarized in a clear and concise manner. The actual sale of my shares will take a few business days. It is made clear that this is an irrevocable charitable contribution. This means I am eligible to take an itemized deduction for this contribution immediately.

You can also choose to donate stocks from an outside brokerage account, but that process will take more time (and possibly more work). I plan on trying this out later, to test out that experience.

Filed Under: Giving Back, Investing, Reviews
Last updated: December 8, 2019
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards, and may receive a commission from card issuers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned. MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

The Double Tax Advantage of Donating Appreciated Stocks Directly

December 4, 2019 By Jonathan Ping 5 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards and may receive a commission. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

If you own stocks in a taxable brokerage account and make charitable donations, consider donating your stocks this year instead of just writing a check. Why? Given the all-time market highs, your stocks, mutual funds, and/or ETFs probably have unrealized capital gains. When you donate an appreciated security that you’ve held for at least a year, you’ll both avoid paying long-term capital gains tax AND get a tax deduction for the full current market value.

This HCR Wealth Advisors graphic shows the benefit using the example of donating $50,000 of stock to charity with an original cost basis of $30,000. It assumes the highest long-term capital gains tax rate of 23.8% (20% plus the 3.8% Medicare surtax for high-income earners).

Here is a similar graphic from Fidelity using the example of donating $50,000 of stock to charity with an original cost basis of $20,000.

The size of your benefit is your unrealized gain times your tax rate. This basic idea still applies if you’re only donating a smaller amount of stock at the lower long-term capital gains rate of 15%. If you bought a stock for $1,000 and it’s now worth $2,000, donating it directly will save you $150 to $238 in taxes ($1,000 x 15% or 20% or 23.8%). If someone didn’t know and simply changed the order (sell stock, then immediately donate the cash proceeds), that tax savings would disappear.

The problem is that not all individual charities are equipped to accept such stock donations. That’s where donor-advised funds (DAFs) come in handy. Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab all have donor-advised funds that can accept such donations, get you that tax deduction upfront, and allow you to make a cash grant to your individual charities. DAFs do charge for their services – an administration fee of about 0.60% of assets annually on top of investment expense ratios. There is also a minimum initial donation of between $5,000 and $25,000. You can then weigh the options of investing your donations for growth, or distributing it immediately to charities for immediate impact.

I am fortunate to have some appreciated stocks, so this year I plan to open an account with Fidelity Charitable. I chose them because they seem to have been in the game the longest and are also the most flexible with a $5,000 minimum initial donation, no minimum requirement for future donations, and a low $50 minimum grant size. Their administrative fees are also comparable with Schwab and Vanguard. I hope that I can finish the process by year-end.

Filed Under: Giving Back, Investing, Taxes
Last updated: December 15, 2019
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards, and may receive a commission from card issuers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned. MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Giving Tuesday 2019: Double Your Impact With Matching Donations

December 2, 2019 By Jonathan Ping Leave a Comment
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards and may receive a commission. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

givingtuesdayTuesday, December 3rd is Giving Tuesday 2019, an international day all about giving support through charities and nonprofits by donating money and goods or volunteering your time. In case you aren’t inundated with mailings already, this time of year is a big deal for charities, with 40% of donations occurring in the last six weeks of the year. Here are some ways you can “double your impact” with a matching donation.

Facebook Match (good toward any charity that accepts donations via Facebook). Starting at 8am Eastern on 12/3, Facebook and PayPal will match $7 million in donations to U.S. nonprofits – up to $100,000 per nonprofit and $20,000 per donor. Donations will be matched dollar for dollar on a first-come, first-served basis. All processing fees will be paid so 100% of your donation goes to charity.

For example, give directly with the donate button on the The Humane Society Facebook Page. You can also start your own fundraiser here or simply post up a donate button to support your favorite charity.

Check for an employer match. Try this lookup tool from DoubleTheDonation. Most of these programs don’t require you to actually give on a specific day, but you may want to start the process today so you don’t forget in the holiday rush.

Individual charities. Many charities are organizing their own matching program for #GivingTuesday. Here are some large charities have organized their own matches in the past, but I would check to make sure.

Also check with your favorite local community nonprofit. GivingTuesday.org has a local database.

Having trouble deciding where to give? Here are some charity comparison sites that will help you pick where to send your help.

  • CharityNavigator – Largest and well-publicized charity rating site, provides a 4-star rating based primarily on financial criteria.
  • GiveWell – Tries to identify the best charities, not rate them all. Focused primarily on charities working internationally
  • GreatNonProfits – Allows clients, volunteers, and funders to post personal reviews based on their experiences.
  • GuideStar – Tries to be a one-stop shop for both financial data and personal reviews of charities. Must register to see a lot of things, and pay a subscription fee for premium in-depth data.
  • Philanthropedia – Ranks non-profits based on opinions of experts, and groups them to mutual fund-like portfolios.

Looking to volunteer your time? Check out FeedingAmerica.org and find a volunteer opportunity at a food bank near you.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Giving Back
Last updated: May 30, 2020
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards, and may receive a commission from card issuers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned. MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Giving Flowchart: How To Donate Wisely

December 5, 2018 By Jonathan Ping 3 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards and may receive a commission. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

If you are looking for some direction about donating your time and/or money, here is a nice infographic from the Bloomberg article These 27 Strategies Will Make Philanthropy an Effective Pursuit (click to enlarge):

givechart_full

It’s from last year, but everything still looks applicable. Also available as PDF.

Filed Under: Giving Back
Last updated: December 5, 2018
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards, and may receive a commission from card issuers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned. MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Giving Tuesday 2018: Double Your Impact

November 26, 2018 By Jonathan Ping Leave a Comment
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards and may receive a commission. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

givingtuesdayTuesday, November 27th is Giving Tuesday 2018. This time of year is huge for charities, with 40% of donations occurring in the last six weeks of the year. Here are some ways you can “double your impact” with a matching donation.

Facebook Match(good toward any charity that accepts donations via Facebook). Starting at 8am Eastern on 11/27, Facebook and PayPal will match $7 million in donations to U.S. nonprofits – up to $250,000 per nonprofit and $20,000 per donor. Donations will be matched dollar for dollar on a first-come, first-served basis.

For example, give directly with the donate button on the The Humane Society Facebook Page. You can also start your own fundraiser here or simply post up a donate button to support your favorite charity.

Check for an employer match. Try this lookup tool from DoubleTheDonation. Most of these programs don’t require you to actually give on a specific day, but you may want to start the process today so you don’t forget in the holiday rush.

PayPal (good toward any charity participates in the PayPal Giving Fund). “Make a donation using PayPal on Tuesday, November 27, 2018 (Giving Tuesday) and we’ll match every donation that you make to PayPal Giving Fund (“Offer”), for the benefit of your recommended nonprofit dollar for dollar, up to $500,000 in total matching funds.” You must use your PayPal account. As far as I can tell, you can link up any rewards credit card of your choice and use that as the funding source. Your donation will technically be given to the PayPal Giving Fund, an IRS-registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and then disbursed to your selected nonprofit. It will still be tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Individual charities. The following large charities have organized their own matches in the past, but check to make sure.

Check with your favorite community nonprofit. Many local charities may also have matching grants today.

Having trouble deciding where to give? Here are some charity comparison sites that will help you pick where to send your help.

  • CharityNavigator – Largest and well-publicized charity rating site, provides a 4-star rating based primarily on financial criteria.
  • GiveWell – Tries to identify the best charities, not rate them all. Focused primarily on charities working internationally
  • GreatNonProfits – Allows clients, volunteers, and funders to post personal reviews based on their experiences.
  • GuideStar – Tries to be a one-stop shop for both financial data and personal reviews of charities. Must register to see a lot of things, and pay a subscription fee for premium in-depth data.
  • Philanthropedia – Ranks non-profits based on opinions of experts, and groups them to mutual fund-like portfolios.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Giving Back
Last updated: November 26, 2018
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards, and may receive a commission from card issuers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned. MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

AirBnB Free Temporary Housing for California Wildfire Evacuees

November 14, 2018 By Jonathan Ping 1 Comment
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards and may receive a commission. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

airbnbThis is a reminder that AirBnB has a special disaster relief program that helps connect those in need of temporary housing with generous hosts that are willing to open their homes free of charge to evacuees or relief workers. You can open your current Airbnb listing or sign up as a new host with a spare bedroom. I believe Airbnb is waiving all fees through at least November 29th for those affected by both the Northern and Southern California wildfires.

All new Airbnb users can get $40 off their first stay of $75+ via referral link.

Buzzfeed News has some other ways that you can help.

Filed Under: Giving Back
Last updated: November 14, 2018
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and Credit-Land for selected credit cards, and may receive a commission from card issuers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned. MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

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