|
|
|
New Air Safety Rules; Juror in Chief?; Katrina: We Are Not OK
Miles O'Brien, Soledad O'Brien, Jeanne Meserve, Kathleen Koch, Carol Costello
2 December 2005
CNN: American Morning
S. O'BRIEN: Charities count on getting about half their donations this time of year, but with the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Pakistan, donations are way down. So in our "Extra Effort" today, a way to help, replacing the usual holiday gifts with donations to charities.
Lauren Young is a personal business editor for "Businessweek."
Nice to see you.
LAUREN YOUNG, "BUSINESSWEEK": Nice to se you.
S. O'BRIEN: I think this is a terrific idea. People talk about Katrina fatigue, just that no one's -- that you hear too much about the tragedy at some point. Do you think there's donor fatigue in the same way, people just cannot think about donating anymore?
YOUNG: There is donor fatigue. People opened up their wallets earlier this year, and this is the crucial time for most charities. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is when they get about half of all their donations.
S. O'BRIEN: So just those five weeks?
YOUNG: Just those five weeks. About $70 billion is typically poured out to charities.
S. O'BRIEN: We were talking earlier about gifts for people you just don't know really what to get, so often you kind of just do a default, you just pick out something. I guess really donations to a charity are a great idea for those people and others.
YOUNG: I think it's a really good way to give something. Who needs more stuff, right? But it's a way of acknowledging that person, and at the same time doing good. And you get the tax break. You get the tax break for writing the check.
S. O'BRIEN: Right. So win, win, win all around.
YOUNG: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's get to some of the Web sites. The first one we want to talk about is JustGive.org, which is a really easy name to remember. What do you find there?
YOUNG: This is a really good site, especially if you don't know the person that well, because they help you identify charities. For example, I have a sister-in-law who is a vegetarian. I can go and look on animal rights and maybe match up and find the right organization to give for her. And they also have a lot of background information on the charities, too.
S. O'BRIEN: CharityChecks.us. What's that?
YOUNG: I love this site, because you can just give a charity check, and then the person gets to go and pick the charity. So instead of putting the onus on you, I think this is a really good idea because people, then, they get to sit down and think about it.
S. O'BRIEN: They can spend your money in a charitable way.
YOUNG: I love it when other people spend my money.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Do they take a percentage out?
YOUNG: They take a small fee typically for this. It's a $5 processing fee at JustGive.org. It's not so big, but they are -- they have to pay for their rent and to keep the lights on, too. So you're not paying a lot, but you are paying a little bit.
S. O'BRIEN: You have some sites that I think are great for kids, because I think this is the time of year when it's really good to get kids involved, you know, in remembering those who are less fortunate.
So let's start with this one, AltGifts.org for kids.
YOUNG: I like this site a lot, because you actually pick something that you're going to give. For example, for $5 you can buy five chicks (ph) for a family in Nicaragua. So it's something very tangible that the kids can understand. Or a tire for a healthcare worker in Africa.
So you let the kids sit down and decide. And I think it's really important. They don't need any more battery-operated toys. And no assembly required is really good for parents.
S. O'BRIEN: And in $5 increments, it really is money that kids can actually give their own money if they had some saved up.
YOUNG: And I would encourage that, too. I mean, maybe even encourage them just the way -- and this is important -- if your company matches when you're writing out these checks, double check on that. But maybe you should be asking your children to be matching a donation, too.
S. O'BRIEN: Mommy and daddy match.
YOUNG: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Secret Santa?
YOUNG: I love Secret Santa because this matches you up with toy drives in your neighborhood. All you have to do is plug in your zip code. So I had fun doing that last night. But you -- all over the country you can go on and find a toy drive, and then you can actually go to the site and deliver those toys.
S. O'BRIEN: And that's at secretsanta.org.
How about these, guidestar.org, charitynavigator.org and give.org?
Let's start with guidestar.org. What's there?
YOUNG: These are the crucial Web sites to do the background checks on the charities. Guidestar has a ton of information on charities all across the country. They let you know how they're spending your money, if they're spending a lot of money sending out those mailers as opposed to programming.
S. O'BRIEN: So the percentage of your money that's actually being spent to the charitable cause.
YOUNG: And it's really important, because you want to be giving to groups where your money has an impact and it's not being spent just to send out another mailing and give you those free labels that you probably put on your envelopes when you're sending out your...
S. O'BRIEN: So that's guidestar -- why am I having trouble saying that? Guidstar.org.
CharityNavigator -- let's put that one up as well -- .org. And give.org. These are all good sites to do a little background check.
YOUNG: Great sites for background checks, and a great way to give.
S. O'BRIEN: All right. Lauren Young, nice to see you, as always. Thank you very much for some great advice.
YOUNG: Happy Holidays, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you. Likewise.
|
|
