This week I am Donating My $52 to the Blue Monarch, a "Life-Recovery" program for Abused Women.
This organization is right in my backyard, so to speak, and has a partnership with a wonderful coffeeshop/bakery/restaurant/gift shop/foodmarket called "The Blue Chair", which is right behind the restaurant where I work. We use the same dumpster, I think. I have donated to the Blue Monarch before, in the form of buying muffins from the Blue Chair (They are Really Fantastically Good Muffins, too! You should try them if you ever find yourselves in Sewanee), but I had not given money directly to the Blue Monarch program before.
No matter What your political, religious, or philosophical leanings, I am relatively sure you can join with me on this point: Women should not be getting beaten up. Period. When a Man starts beating up on a Woman who is either physically, financially, or emotionally weaker than him, something very wrong is happening.
If you have ever known a woman who has had this terrible fortune befall her, then you know what I mean when I say that recovery from such abuse is difficult in the best of cases, and can often leave scars that can never be undone. The Blue Monarch Program helps women who have been through horrible trials, over the course of a year, to reclaim their lives as their own. The Program puts these women to work, teaches them, coaches them, encourages them, and trains them, so that when they exit the program, they are no longer victims, and unlikely to ever be again.
Plus, their Blueberry Muffins are seriously out of this world. Really. They're great. (I'm getting hungry...)
But I didn't stop there!! No, no! Continuing on the theme of Violence against Women, I also made a donation to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network. (Just for the record, I am against Violence against Men, too. Especially when it's against me)
These folks have a lot of various support programs for women (and girls) who have been victims, or feel they might soon be. They also have a lot of preventative educational programs, particularly on college campuses, where it can be hard for young co-eds to tell exactly where the line between "drunken making out" and "date rape" is. (Hint: if you avoid the drunkenness, this line is much clearer for both parties involved)
Education and Prevention Before the Fact, and Support, Care and Counseling After the Fact, are both great reasons to support these folks. The girl you save might be your own, or one close to you.
Showing posts with label Charitable Giving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charitable Giving. Show all posts
Friday, April 4, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Two More Charities - Sorta...
I Honor Of My Painiversary, I am Donating This week's $52 to B.A.D.D., Bikers Against Drunk Driving. I Started to Donate To M.A.D.D. as well, (I'm a little Behind on the donations, in case anyone didn't notice), but I was Surprised to find that they were rated surprisingly low by Charity Navigator.
The more I look around Charity Navigator, The less Sense their ratings make to me, but looking over the info there, I was informed that the current CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving... is named Charles A. Hurley! I hope That none of my Readers have a Mother named Charles, but in my opinion, that is a lousy name for a mother to have.
I Know, "Mothers And Fathers (And Also Childless People) Against Drunk Driving" doesn't make as nice an Acronym (It's M.A.F.(A.A.C.P.)A.D.D., by the way),but still, Come On! "Hi, I represent Millions Of Mothers across The Nation, And My Name is Charles"? Maybe it's Sexist to say that Charles, or Steve, or Joseph, can't be president of the National Organization of Women, or Daughters of The American Revolution, or NAMBLA, (oh, well, I guess that one's OK.), but that's just where I stand on this.
Anyway, I Gave My 52 Bucks this week to Bikers Against Drunk Driving, who are not mothers, and don't claim to be. (Except maybe "Bad Mutha's" in the "Shaft"-ian sense -ShutYo'Mouth! Hey, I'm Just Talkin' 'Bout Shaft!) They Don't Accept Online Donations, which is kinda silly, considering it's pretty much the easiest way in the world to accept funds. (See my "Donate" button over in the sidebar? It's Easy!) So I will be mailing them an antique, Made-out-of-dead-Trees Check, made out for $51.51 (That 49-cent stamp doesn't buy itself, y'know!).
Over the last three weeks I gave away 52 bucks to motorists who showed up at the Gas Station where I work the late shift. On three separate occasions, I had people who had either poorly planned a trip, and run out of money before reaching their destination, or people whose plastic perpetual-money cards had abandoned them halfway through their trip. I gave each of these three parties enough money to get them either to their destination, or in one case, at least a little bit further down the road. Each of the three people swore that they would return to repay me. I told them each not to worry about it, but they each said, no, they would, for sure, come back and repay me, and boy did they really appreciate it. I was a lifesaver.
To date, none of them have repaid me. I didn't expect it, obviously, but it is a little annoying, as I write this, recalling how insistently they lied at the time.
So, Motorists, both two wheeled and four-wheeled, get covered in today's Charity Disbursement. Got any pet projects that you would like me to Donate to and/or Feature? Have you donated to any of my past charitable selections, and want to brag about it? Comment away below, if you feel like it.
Last Week
The more I look around Charity Navigator, The less Sense their ratings make to me, but looking over the info there, I was informed that the current CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving... is named Charles A. Hurley! I hope That none of my Readers have a Mother named Charles, but in my opinion, that is a lousy name for a mother to have.
I Know, "Mothers And Fathers (And Also Childless People) Against Drunk Driving" doesn't make as nice an Acronym (It's M.A.F.(A.A.C.P.)A.D.D., by the way),but still, Come On! "Hi, I represent Millions Of Mothers across The Nation, And My Name is Charles"? Maybe it's Sexist to say that Charles, or Steve, or Joseph, can't be president of the National Organization of Women, or Daughters of The American Revolution, or NAMBLA, (oh, well, I guess that one's OK.), but that's just where I stand on this.
Anyway, I Gave My 52 Bucks this week to Bikers Against Drunk Driving, who are not mothers, and don't claim to be. (Except maybe "Bad Mutha's" in the "Shaft"-ian sense -ShutYo'Mouth! Hey, I'm Just Talkin' 'Bout Shaft!) They Don't Accept Online Donations, which is kinda silly, considering it's pretty much the easiest way in the world to accept funds. (See my "Donate" button over in the sidebar? It's Easy!) So I will be mailing them an antique, Made-out-of-dead-Trees Check, made out for $51.51 (That 49-cent stamp doesn't buy itself, y'know!).
Over the last three weeks I gave away 52 bucks to motorists who showed up at the Gas Station where I work the late shift. On three separate occasions, I had people who had either poorly planned a trip, and run out of money before reaching their destination, or people whose plastic perpetual-money cards had abandoned them halfway through their trip. I gave each of these three parties enough money to get them either to their destination, or in one case, at least a little bit further down the road. Each of the three people swore that they would return to repay me. I told them each not to worry about it, but they each said, no, they would, for sure, come back and repay me, and boy did they really appreciate it. I was a lifesaver.
To date, none of them have repaid me. I didn't expect it, obviously, but it is a little annoying, as I write this, recalling how insistently they lied at the time.
So, Motorists, both two wheeled and four-wheeled, get covered in today's Charity Disbursement. Got any pet projects that you would like me to Donate to and/or Feature? Have you donated to any of my past charitable selections, and want to brag about it? Comment away below, if you feel like it.
Last Week
Monday, March 10, 2008
Two Charities, and a Software Parable.
I said when I started this that I dreaded starting a "regular" feature, because of the likelihood that it would actually be a rather irregularly occurring feature. Sometimes I hate being right.
My 5th featured charity is arguably not a charity. However they do a lot of good in the world, and they give stuff away for free, which is pretty charitable, if you ask me. My 52 dollars for LAST week (actually it was 32 Euros, which worked out to just over $50) went to OpenOffice.Org , a community based, free and open-source alternative to Microsoft's suite of Office Software Products.
I have been using OpenOffice's Word Processing and Spreadsheet products for years now, but I had been using the outdated version of both, up until last month, when I upgraded to their Version 2.3, which works even better than the old version, which I was plenty happy with anyway. The new version's file format is compatible with Google Documents and Zoho Writer, both of which I use occasionally. They are all interoperable with the "Brand Name" programs, so if your boss sends you an Excel-formatted spreadsheet, you can open it, edit it, and save it (as an Excel-formatted document, if you wish) with the OpenOffice software.
If you have a computer with no Office Productivity Software, and you don't want to shell out the $400 (YIKES!) for the standard full version of Microsoft's flagship Office suite, visit OpenOffice.org, and get a spreadsheet program. Or a Word Processor, or a Presentation program. (Think "Powerpoint") Or a Vector graphics program, a la CorelDraw. Or a Database Front-end program, for whatever the heck you might need that for. I only have the first two, but they are all available, and they are all free. No strings attached, no catches, no gimmicks, they won't sell your e-mail address and demographic information to Nigerian e-mail scammers... It's Just FREE. Period. The Nicest Price of All.
But Free Software, in the case of OpenOffice and other organizations like them, means more than just "Doesn't Cost Money". Free Software is also Free in the sense of "Unconfined", "Unbound", or "Uncaged". It has to do with who is allowed to tinker with the software.
Say you buy two software products, let's say MP3 Player Programs, for $50 each. One of the Programs is By ConGlomoSoft, and the other is by WizzleSoft. They both come in a slick cardboard box, they both are on the same shelf at the mall electronics store. They both cost 50 bucks, and they both play MP3's on your computer, and let you organize playlists and libraries and all that good stuff. Maybe they do some other stuff too, because 50 bucks is a serious ripoff for a program that only plays MP3's. But I'm keepin' it simple here, OK? So bear with me.
There is one major difference between the two products, though. The WizzleSoft product comes with, either packaged in the box or made available in some other way, the Source Code for the program. OK, Non Geeks, think of the source code as a book manuscript, printed on paper, in a ring binder, double spaced. The main thing you are after, though, the thing that will actually run on your computer, is the Binary form of the program. Think of the Binary as a book-on-CD, an audio recording of the book.
The ConGlomoSoft product is distributed in Binary form only. You don't have access to the source code. They wrote the program the way they wanted it, recorded it, and sold you the result. To go back to our book metaphor, they say "You don't need to see how the words are spelled, or how things are punctuated, to enjoy the book! Just sit back and listen to the story, the way we wrote it."
The first problem with this is, what if they made a mistake? What if in our book, the hero's name is "Biff" at the beginning of the book, but then it switches to "Boff", halfway through the book? How Distracting! If you you had the book manuscript, you could get out a little bottle of White-out, and a pen, and fix the Boffs, so they match the Biffs! Or Change the Biffs to Boffs! or change ALL the Biffs AND Boffs to Steves! You have the Manuscript, It's yours; go crazy! If you don't like the way Biff/Boff/Steve slays the Dragon, Change it! You might need a lot more white-out, but you can do whatever you like! You have the manuscript. You can add little doodles in the margins, or add in steamy sex scenes, or whatever you want! It's yours!
To complete our analogy, though, you have a friend name Jonny Compiler, who is a professional voice actor. To get the Book-on-CD (That's the Binary, remember?), you hand your new, altered manuscript to Mr. Compiler, and he records you a new Binary Recording of the book, only without the distracting Biff-Boffery that the original writers accidentally included. Then when you play it again, later, the book will play the way you want it to, because your changes are still there.
If you only got the binary in the first place (from ConGlomoSoft), you are stuck with any biffboffery you get, because you can't edit the CD, like you can the manuscript.
Probably, you don't want to change your software right away though. Probably your MP3 playing software works just fine. You add songs, you play songs, all's well in the world.
Until some jerk goes and invents HIGH DEFINITION MP3's.
Immediately, everyone stops using regular, Boring "Low Def" MP3's overnight. Now all the new songs you get come in this new format, and a few months later you now have a mix of 20% HD-MP3's, and 80% regular MP3's.
ConGlomoSoft has a new $100 program that plays both formats, but wouldn't it be great if you could just "tweak" the software you had, and not have to move all your song libraries and preferences and everything over to a new program? This one works pretty well, and you know it, and like it (and it's already been paid for), so why not see if your friend, the computer genius down in Apartment F-30, can modify your program to be able to read the new HD-MP3's.
Well, if you have the source code, he might. But without it, you're screwed. Your ConGlomoSoft program is unmodifiable in it's binary form, and even if you had acquired the source code from somewhere, it turns out it is Copyright-protected, and if you modify it, in any way, you are breaking the law! Legally, the only way you can update your ConGlomoSoft program, is to buy the new version from them.
Your WizzleSoft program, however, is not copyrighted, but "copylefted", under something called the GNU General Public License (GPL, for short). The reason you got the source code for free with your WizzleSoft program, is because the GPL said they had to! When you acquired the program it came with a set of rights, and a set of responsibilities.
The rights included are free access to the source code, and rights to modify the program however you want. So if your Buddy in Apt. F-30 can tweak your program to accept the new format, you have the right to do it! You also have the right to give him a copy of the new program for his troubles! You even have the right to SELL copies of your new, Super MP3 Player to other people!
BUT... You are legally required to give them the same chance you got. You are NOT allowed to build your new program based on the hard work of the folks at WizzleSoft, and then get all Gollum-My-Preciouss about it. You have to share the source code to your new work, and include a copy of the GPL with each new copy. Then when SUPER-High definition MP3's come out a year later, your customers don't end up in the same bind that ConGlomoCorp's junky Copyrighted program left you in.
So Last week's 32 Euros went to OpenOffice.Org, and this week, my 52 bucks goes to the Free Software Foundation.(FSF, for short) The FSF fights against the ConGlomoSofts of the world when they try to restrict and control software to protect their interests.
Chances are Really Good that you are benefiting from some form of free, community developed software right now, while you are reading this. Are you using Mozilla Firefox? That's Free Software, under a GPL license. Are you using a Mac from this decade? At the core of OS X is a bit of Free Software called Darwin, which is distributed under Apple's own Public Source License.
The ConGlomoSoft-type companies out there can afford really good lawyers, and current patent and copyright laws allow them to get away with some pretty heavy-handed stuff. As more and more of our world goes digital, the fights over File-sharing, copy-protection, and a host of other issues are going to be fought and re-fought, with more and more at stake. A contribution to the Free Software Foundation helps ensure that someone in the fight is looking out for us consumers.
My 5th featured charity is arguably not a charity. However they do a lot of good in the world, and they give stuff away for free, which is pretty charitable, if you ask me. My 52 dollars for LAST week (actually it was 32 Euros, which worked out to just over $50) went to OpenOffice.Org , a community based, free and open-source alternative to Microsoft's suite of Office Software Products.
I have been using OpenOffice's Word Processing and Spreadsheet products for years now, but I had been using the outdated version of both, up until last month, when I upgraded to their Version 2.3, which works even better than the old version, which I was plenty happy with anyway. The new version's file format is compatible with Google Documents and Zoho Writer, both of which I use occasionally. They are all interoperable with the "Brand Name" programs, so if your boss sends you an Excel-formatted spreadsheet, you can open it, edit it, and save it (as an Excel-formatted document, if you wish) with the OpenOffice software.
If you have a computer with no Office Productivity Software, and you don't want to shell out the $400 (YIKES!) for the standard full version of Microsoft's flagship Office suite, visit OpenOffice.org, and get a spreadsheet program. Or a Word Processor, or a Presentation program. (Think "Powerpoint") Or a Vector graphics program, a la CorelDraw. Or a Database Front-end program, for whatever the heck you might need that for. I only have the first two, but they are all available, and they are all free. No strings attached, no catches, no gimmicks, they won't sell your e-mail address and demographic information to Nigerian e-mail scammers... It's Just FREE. Period. The Nicest Price of All.
But Free Software, in the case of OpenOffice and other organizations like them, means more than just "Doesn't Cost Money". Free Software is also Free in the sense of "Unconfined", "Unbound", or "Uncaged". It has to do with who is allowed to tinker with the software.
Say you buy two software products, let's say MP3 Player Programs, for $50 each. One of the Programs is By ConGlomoSoft, and the other is by WizzleSoft. They both come in a slick cardboard box, they both are on the same shelf at the mall electronics store. They both cost 50 bucks, and they both play MP3's on your computer, and let you organize playlists and libraries and all that good stuff. Maybe they do some other stuff too, because 50 bucks is a serious ripoff for a program that only plays MP3's. But I'm keepin' it simple here, OK? So bear with me.
There is one major difference between the two products, though. The WizzleSoft product comes with, either packaged in the box or made available in some other way, the Source Code for the program. OK, Non Geeks, think of the source code as a book manuscript, printed on paper, in a ring binder, double spaced. The main thing you are after, though, the thing that will actually run on your computer, is the Binary form of the program. Think of the Binary as a book-on-CD, an audio recording of the book.
The ConGlomoSoft product is distributed in Binary form only. You don't have access to the source code. They wrote the program the way they wanted it, recorded it, and sold you the result. To go back to our book metaphor, they say "You don't need to see how the words are spelled, or how things are punctuated, to enjoy the book! Just sit back and listen to the story, the way we wrote it."
The first problem with this is, what if they made a mistake? What if in our book, the hero's name is "Biff" at the beginning of the book, but then it switches to "Boff", halfway through the book? How Distracting! If you you had the book manuscript, you could get out a little bottle of White-out, and a pen, and fix the Boffs, so they match the Biffs! Or Change the Biffs to Boffs! or change ALL the Biffs AND Boffs to Steves! You have the Manuscript, It's yours; go crazy! If you don't like the way Biff/Boff/Steve slays the Dragon, Change it! You might need a lot more white-out, but you can do whatever you like! You have the manuscript. You can add little doodles in the margins, or add in steamy sex scenes, or whatever you want! It's yours!
To complete our analogy, though, you have a friend name Jonny Compiler, who is a professional voice actor. To get the Book-on-CD (That's the Binary, remember?), you hand your new, altered manuscript to Mr. Compiler, and he records you a new Binary Recording of the book, only without the distracting Biff-Boffery that the original writers accidentally included. Then when you play it again, later, the book will play the way you want it to, because your changes are still there.
If you only got the binary in the first place (from ConGlomoSoft), you are stuck with any biffboffery you get, because you can't edit the CD, like you can the manuscript.
Probably, you don't want to change your software right away though. Probably your MP3 playing software works just fine. You add songs, you play songs, all's well in the world.
Until some jerk goes and invents HIGH DEFINITION MP3's.
Immediately, everyone stops using regular, Boring "Low Def" MP3's overnight. Now all the new songs you get come in this new format, and a few months later you now have a mix of 20% HD-MP3's, and 80% regular MP3's.
ConGlomoSoft has a new $100 program that plays both formats, but wouldn't it be great if you could just "tweak" the software you had, and not have to move all your song libraries and preferences and everything over to a new program? This one works pretty well, and you know it, and like it (and it's already been paid for), so why not see if your friend, the computer genius down in Apartment F-30, can modify your program to be able to read the new HD-MP3's.
Well, if you have the source code, he might. But without it, you're screwed. Your ConGlomoSoft program is unmodifiable in it's binary form, and even if you had acquired the source code from somewhere, it turns out it is Copyright-protected, and if you modify it, in any way, you are breaking the law! Legally, the only way you can update your ConGlomoSoft program, is to buy the new version from them.
Your WizzleSoft program, however, is not copyrighted, but "copylefted", under something called the GNU General Public License (GPL, for short). The reason you got the source code for free with your WizzleSoft program, is because the GPL said they had to! When you acquired the program it came with a set of rights, and a set of responsibilities.
The rights included are free access to the source code, and rights to modify the program however you want. So if your Buddy in Apt. F-30 can tweak your program to accept the new format, you have the right to do it! You also have the right to give him a copy of the new program for his troubles! You even have the right to SELL copies of your new, Super MP3 Player to other people!
BUT... You are legally required to give them the same chance you got. You are NOT allowed to build your new program based on the hard work of the folks at WizzleSoft, and then get all Gollum-My-Preciouss about it. You have to share the source code to your new work, and include a copy of the GPL with each new copy. Then when SUPER-High definition MP3's come out a year later, your customers don't end up in the same bind that ConGlomoCorp's junky Copyrighted program left you in.
So Last week's 32 Euros went to OpenOffice.Org, and this week, my 52 bucks goes to the Free Software Foundation.(FSF, for short) The FSF fights against the ConGlomoSofts of the world when they try to restrict and control software to protect their interests.
Chances are Really Good that you are benefiting from some form of free, community developed software right now, while you are reading this. Are you using Mozilla Firefox? That's Free Software, under a GPL license. Are you using a Mac from this decade? At the core of OS X is a bit of Free Software called Darwin, which is distributed under Apple's own Public Source License.
The ConGlomoSoft-type companies out there can afford really good lawyers, and current patent and copyright laws allow them to get away with some pretty heavy-handed stuff. As more and more of our world goes digital, the fights over File-sharing, copy-protection, and a host of other issues are going to be fought and re-fought, with more and more at stake. A contribution to the Free Software Foundation helps ensure that someone in the fight is looking out for us consumers.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Charity-A-Week #4 - Goods 4 Girls
In today's post, more than you probably ever wanted to know about...
**You can't actually Donate money directly to the "Protecting Futures" program. (Except by buying their overpriced name-brand at the supermarket, of which "A Portion" will go to this program.) You can donate to their Partner Charity, The UNA-USA "Hero" program, but I would not recommend it. A Charity Navigator Search reveals that less than 80% of your dollar will go to program expenses, the rest of it being used for Promotions, and a wildly out-of scale CEO pay.
And it gets worse! The USA-UNA has no privacy policy for their donors. Not even an "opt-out" policy, which is fairly common. This means the likelihood of your mailing and personal info being sold to other companies is very high, and I have a real strong hunch that a gift to the "Hero" program will plug your addess right into "Targeted Marketing Efforts" by corporo-giant P+G, setting you up for a steady stream of mailings designed to play on your heartstrings for their profit. If you contribute to UNA-USA (and the "Business Council for the United Nations"), brace yourself for a Smeat-storm!
Menstruation! There, I Said It!
I apologize in advance to those who are “ick”ed out by today's topic, but the schooling of thousands of girls could be helped by our attention to it.
I, of course, am a guy. I have never had to think about this (And hope to not think about it much more for a while, thank you very much!) For me, the phrase "Feminine Protection" refers to the fact that I am the one who goes into the kitchen at night with a baseball bat to investigate any unusual noises.* And if I need any "Feminine Protection", it means that I have made a female very angry, and she is trying to hurt me. (Survival tip: Distract them with Chocolate.)
It seems that Procter+Gamble (not those old Satanists from the 80's, but the new and improved Satan-Free P+G) has been raising awareness of the need for their sanitary absorbent products in the 3rd World. It seems that a lot of organizations, municipal and charitable alike, are doing their darnedest to provide schools for African Kids, only to have the post-pubescent girls (young women, technically) miss out on a few days of that education, every single month, because they are experiencing one of the most euphemised processes in the universe, and they don't want to ruin their school uniform, or be made fun of, or both, because of their “Girl Problems”. This adds up, and girls end up getting less educated than their male classmates., which can help lead to even more inequality down the road.
(That was totally a joke about the Satanist thing, just to be perfectly clear. This is the internet, after all, and confusion abounds, despite our best efforts!)
Well, Procter+Gamble has looked into this problem, and wants to draw attention to it, and help. I applaud this. If you want to help them help, then the program is called “Protecting Futures” and you can find out more here.**
But that's not where my 52*** dollars went this week. I gave to a different organization, called Goods 4 Girls, which takes the good that P+G is doing on the "People" side of the Responsibility Pyramid, and tacks toward the "Planet" Side, as well, getting closer to the Win-Win-Win situation at the top or the pyramid. (I am not sure where the economics comes in, but I am sure it factors in somewhere.)
This program (Started By Blogger "Crunchy Chicken", and brought to my attention by my increasingly frequent co-bloggers over at Tiny Choices), Goods 4 Girls provides, not disposable "Feminine Protection" products, but reusable, cloth pantiliners (Yeesh! I still can't believe I am blogging about this subject...) that will protect girls from embarrassment and keep them in school, without getting them "hooked" on an imported, expensive product produced in North America (One of the only things made here, it seems), and shipped on a fuel sucking barge all the way to the shores of Ethiopia, Namibia, South Africa, and Zambia. (Goods for Girls is based in Kenya and Uganda, so they are not "competing" with the Procter+Gamble program. If this cause really appeals to you, and you really want to cover your bases, you can support both programs, but see footnote 2 before you sign anything.)
Once the girls are adults, and out of school, their feminine needs will persist, but the free supplies will not. You can bet that they will be very "brand loyal" customers, and will be as acclimated to disposables as most westerners are now. As a matter of fact, most women reading this probably can't imagine using anything other than whatever (probably disposable) product they are using now. Moms who are eco-conscious enough to not put their babies in disposable diapers may still recoil at the thought of doing away with their own disposable products. There are plenty of more planet-conscious alternatives out there, although I won't go into them here. Crunchy Chicken has quite a bit more info for you ladies. Men, If you are still reading, don't follow the above link. Seriously. Don't.
Goods 4 Girls is a modest step in the right direction, and while there is certainly room for improvement and growth in their organization, I am happy to support their efforts.
Feetnotes....
**You can't actually Donate money directly to the "Protecting Futures" program. (Except by buying their overpriced name-brand at the supermarket, of which "A Portion" will go to this program.) You can donate to their Partner Charity, The UNA-USA "Hero" program, but I would not recommend it. A Charity Navigator Search reveals that less than 80% of your dollar will go to program expenses, the rest of it being used for Promotions, and a wildly out-of scale CEO pay.
And it gets worse! The USA-UNA has no privacy policy for their donors. Not even an "opt-out" policy, which is fairly common. This means the likelihood of your mailing and personal info being sold to other companies is very high, and I have a real strong hunch that a gift to the "Hero" program will plug your addess right into "Targeted Marketing Efforts" by corporo-giant P+G, setting you up for a steady stream of mailings designed to play on your heartstrings for their profit. If you contribute to UNA-USA (and the "Business Council for the United Nations"), brace yourself for a Smeat-storm!
***Actually, It was 54, because you can't currently donate directly to G4G, either. (Late Update: yes you can! but by paper check only.) Buying 10 pads (Actually 12, with the Buy-4-Get-1-Free deal) put me just slightly over my self-imposed 52 dollar a week target.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Weekly Charity O' The Week #3 - Happy Spay Day!
Happy Spay Day!*
Spay Day USA is a Fake Holiday in the Fine Tradition of Fake Holidays, thought up by the nice folks at The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), as a day to promote the neutering of pets. Their cute tagline this year is : It's Not Just Rabbits that Breed Like Rabbits.
Neutering domestic animals is something I feel VERY strongly about, and 5 out of 6 of the animals in my care have been neutered. The lone exception is Toot, our little "Crack Baby", whose previous life trauma seems to have made spaying unnecessary.
First, A Linguistic Quibble:
We use the phrase "Spay Or Neuter" all the time, but it is redundant. "Neutering" is the rendering sterile of an animal by surgical means. The process for neutering a male animal is called "Castration" (or "gelding"). The process for neutering a female animal is called "Spaying".
So Bob Barker Should have been reminding us, for all those years, to have our animals "Spayed or Castrated", or just to have them all, regardless of gender, "Neutered".
The Danger of Smeat:
I went to the Spay Day Website, prepared to donate, then found out that my donation to Spay Day was really a donation to the HSUS. I have a serious problem with the type and amount of correspondence I get from the HSUS.
After I responded to their URGENT ACTION NOTICE to write the NFL about Michael Vick's Canine Atrocities back in July, and gave them my email address (so that they could send an email on my behalf), I have gotten an URGENT ACTION NOTICE in my e-mail inbox every time a restaurant anywhere wants to kill and cook a non-free-range chicken. (Like killing and cooking a happier chicken is Humane? It's tasty, but not Humane.)
As you may be aware, Charities are exempted from the Federal "No-Call" list, and while I don't know for sure, I am relatively certain when the federal "Can SPAM Act" was passed (yes, that is the name of a real law!), they got a similar exemption. So the junk correspondence that charities
send, is sort of not technically SPAM. So I am calling it Smeat. As I donate to more and more charities this year I will keep you posted with warnings of particularly Smeaty organizations as I encounter them.
Smeat cuts into a charitable organization's efficiency, big time, and it also just ticks me off. I found it interesting that the Spay Day website touts the HSUS "4 star rating" with Charity Navigator, with a link you can follow to see that a whopping 13.8% of its expenses (Over $11M!) go to fundraising. The average for their sector is only 10%. The American Red Cross, a much larger organization, has fundraising expenses of only 2.5% ($140M), and The League For Animal Welfare, a smaller organization, and Spay Day-related charity, has fundraising expenses of only 6.6%.($0.35M)
Obviously if you spend no money on fundraising, you are going to have no funds sooner or later. But 11 million dollars is going to hassling me about causes I don't particularly care about. I do care about the living conditions of livestock (I am placing a deposit on a Free Range Turkey this week), but I draw a distinction between torturing dogs for entertainment, and limiting the freedom of birds destined for extra-crispy breading and a side of cole slaw. The "Urgency" is just not the same on those two items. I don't wear fur, but I do wear leather, and don't see the difference.
If you are vegan, and want to donate to HSUS, then today, on Spay Day, is as good a day as any to do so. However my 52 dollars this week** is going to my Local Humane Society, the Franklin County(TN) Humane Society, where my money is needed more, and where they stick to rescuing animals that I don't eat. Or wear. If you started a Network For Good account back at Charity #1, and want to keep things simple for tax purposes, then I will recommend the League For Animal Welfare mentioned above. Just click on the "Network For Good" button over on the left, and you will be good to go.
*since it is a presidential election year, it is actually Super Spay Day.
**actually, I am only giving $50 to The Franklin County Humane Society, Because I have already given $54 to Charity #4. It all evens out.
Spay Day USA is a Fake Holiday in the Fine Tradition of Fake Holidays, thought up by the nice folks at The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), as a day to promote the neutering of pets. Their cute tagline this year is : It's Not Just Rabbits that Breed Like Rabbits.
Neutering domestic animals is something I feel VERY strongly about, and 5 out of 6 of the animals in my care have been neutered. The lone exception is Toot, our little "Crack Baby", whose previous life trauma seems to have made spaying unnecessary.
First, A Linguistic Quibble:
We use the phrase "Spay Or Neuter" all the time, but it is redundant. "Neutering" is the rendering sterile of an animal by surgical means. The process for neutering a male animal is called "Castration" (or "gelding"). The process for neutering a female animal is called "Spaying".
So Bob Barker Should have been reminding us, for all those years, to have our animals "Spayed or Castrated", or just to have them all, regardless of gender, "Neutered".
The Danger of Smeat:
I went to the Spay Day Website, prepared to donate, then found out that my donation to Spay Day was really a donation to the HSUS. I have a serious problem with the type and amount of correspondence I get from the HSUS.
After I responded to their URGENT ACTION NOTICE to write the NFL about Michael Vick's Canine Atrocities back in July, and gave them my email address (so that they could send an email on my behalf), I have gotten an URGENT ACTION NOTICE in my e-mail inbox every time a restaurant anywhere wants to kill and cook a non-free-range chicken. (Like killing and cooking a happier chicken is Humane? It's tasty, but not Humane.)
As you may be aware, Charities are exempted from the Federal "No-Call" list, and while I don't know for sure, I am relatively certain when the federal "Can SPAM Act" was passed (yes, that is the name of a real law!), they got a similar exemption. So the junk correspondence that charities
send, is sort of not technically SPAM. So I am calling it Smeat. As I donate to more and more charities this year I will keep you posted with warnings of particularly Smeaty organizations as I encounter them.
Smeat cuts into a charitable organization's efficiency, big time, and it also just ticks me off. I found it interesting that the Spay Day website touts the HSUS "4 star rating" with Charity Navigator, with a link you can follow to see that a whopping 13.8% of its expenses (Over $11M!) go to fundraising. The average for their sector is only 10%. The American Red Cross, a much larger organization, has fundraising expenses of only 2.5% ($140M), and The League For Animal Welfare, a smaller organization, and Spay Day-related charity, has fundraising expenses of only 6.6%.($0.35M)
Obviously if you spend no money on fundraising, you are going to have no funds sooner or later. But 11 million dollars is going to hassling me about causes I don't particularly care about. I do care about the living conditions of livestock (I am placing a deposit on a Free Range Turkey this week), but I draw a distinction between torturing dogs for entertainment, and limiting the freedom of birds destined for extra-crispy breading and a side of cole slaw. The "Urgency" is just not the same on those two items. I don't wear fur, but I do wear leather, and don't see the difference.
If you are vegan, and want to donate to HSUS, then today, on Spay Day, is as good a day as any to do so. However my 52 dollars this week** is going to my Local Humane Society, the Franklin County(TN) Humane Society, where my money is needed more, and where they stick to rescuing animals that I don't eat. Or wear. If you started a Network For Good account back at Charity #1, and want to keep things simple for tax purposes, then I will recommend the League For Animal Welfare mentioned above. Just click on the "Network For Good" button over on the left, and you will be good to go.
*since it is a presidential election year, it is actually Super Spay Day.
**actually, I am only giving $50 to The Franklin County Humane Society, Because I have already given $54 to Charity #4. It all evens out.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Charity #2 - Shar-Pei Rescue of Tennessee
My charity for last week, the second week of February, was Shar-Pei Rescue of Tennessee, which is a part of the Ralston Purina Rally to Rescue Network.
I was headed to the library last Saturday with an unusual amount of free time, when I passed signs for an "adoption event" happening at Sewanee's American Legion Hall. I popped in about ten minutes before the first dogs showed up, but within a half-hour, I was surrounded by Shar-peis of varying size, shape, color, texture, and temperament.
I spent the first part of the afternoon with the first three arrivals, Stewie, Bella, and Dinky. Then in the second batch came Lovey, Synda, Scooby, Thurston, Herbie, and Bonzai. Also in attendance were MuMu and Sybil and Savannah, who was not a Shar-pei, but a very large and lanky Boxer Mix, who looked entirely out of place. I volunteered to take Synda, a champion Face-Licker, off of the hands of one of the event organizers, and ended up holding her leash for most of the afternoon. She was adorable, and I wished I could adopt her.
I won a door prize - a pair of pink-and-blue knit doggie-toboggans, but refused the well-intentioned prize on the grounds that my dogs would never in a million years enjoy wearing a baby hat on an elastic chin-strap. I was given an embroidered beer coozy instead, and a pair of Purina-branded Tennis Balls... I'm sorry, correction, a pair of Purina-branded "Felt Fetch Toys", which, for some bizarre reason, came in a pressurized, airtight, canister. Do tennis ba.. er.. Felt Fetch Toys go stale if you leave them out?
Maybe Shar-peis aren't your breed of choice, and/or maybe you don't live in Tennessee. But at the Rally for Rescue Directory page, you can choose your state, and find a list of different small rescue operations, that need your support. I will reiterate, these are , for the most part, SMALL organizations - maybe just a family, or an individual, with a passion to care for castaway animals. The more help they get, financially, the more animals they can help, so your donation goes a long way.
I took a lot of pictures at the adoption event, but have lost my memory-card reader, so, for now, I can't get my pictures off my phone, and onto the interweb. I hope to find or replace the gizmo soon, so look for photographic cuteness in the near future.
I was headed to the library last Saturday with an unusual amount of free time, when I passed signs for an "adoption event" happening at Sewanee's American Legion Hall. I popped in about ten minutes before the first dogs showed up, but within a half-hour, I was surrounded by Shar-peis of varying size, shape, color, texture, and temperament.
I spent the first part of the afternoon with the first three arrivals, Stewie, Bella, and Dinky. Then in the second batch came Lovey, Synda, Scooby, Thurston, Herbie, and Bonzai. Also in attendance were MuMu and Sybil and Savannah, who was not a Shar-pei, but a very large and lanky Boxer Mix, who looked entirely out of place. I volunteered to take Synda, a champion Face-Licker, off of the hands of one of the event organizers, and ended up holding her leash for most of the afternoon. She was adorable, and I wished I could adopt her.
I won a door prize - a pair of pink-and-blue knit doggie-toboggans, but refused the well-intentioned prize on the grounds that my dogs would never in a million years enjoy wearing a baby hat on an elastic chin-strap. I was given an embroidered beer coozy instead, and a pair of Purina-branded Tennis Balls... I'm sorry, correction, a pair of Purina-branded "Felt Fetch Toys", which, for some bizarre reason, came in a pressurized, airtight, canister. Do tennis ba.. er.. Felt Fetch Toys go stale if you leave them out?
Maybe Shar-peis aren't your breed of choice, and/or maybe you don't live in Tennessee. But at the Rally for Rescue Directory page, you can choose your state, and find a list of different small rescue operations, that need your support. I will reiterate, these are , for the most part, SMALL organizations - maybe just a family, or an individual, with a passion to care for castaway animals. The more help they get, financially, the more animals they can help, so your donation goes a long way.
I took a lot of pictures at the adoption event, but have lost my memory-card reader, so, for now, I can't get my pictures off my phone, and onto the interweb. I hope to find or replace the gizmo soon, so look for photographic cuteness in the near future.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Charitable Giving: Better Late Than Never!
Anybody remember that $52 a week I was going to give to charity?
No? Good. Forget I mentioned it.
Oh, you do remember, eh? You didn't want to hassle me about it and seem like a nag or anything, but you were wondering if I was going to follow through? You thought I had forgotten all about it?
Well you were half right. I hadn't forgotten all about it, but I hadn't actually done it either. This blog exists, to a large degree, to keep me accountable. I have reneged on a number of promises already (including the ones mentioned in the two links above), and failed myself as well as my readers.
But the time has come to get back up off the mat, dust myself off, and get back on the saddle/wagon/bicycle again, depending on your preferred mode of metaphorical transport.
(side note: I just opened up my cellphone to see how many weeks have already passed this year, and it took me a while to figure out that my phone thinks it's 1980. If it were 1980, my cellphone would be the size of an outboard motor, and it certainly wouldn't be the first place I looked for a calendar! Although maybe it still shouldn't be!)
Apparently 5 weeks have passed in this Non-1980 year, So I am 4 donations behind. Why not 5? Because one of those weeks I donated to a political candidate, and I have striven valiantly to keep my fiery, passionate political perspective out of this blog lest it cause any of you to share yours with me. I am, of course, like anyone who claims a political affiliation, a closed-minded ideologue, incapable of accepting alternative ideas without shouting them down. Better for us all if I just keep it to myself.
I may donate to this candidate again, or maybe to another one in the general election. If this happens I will simply advise everyone to give to whichever candidate they support. (Unless, of course, it's the WRONG one! Just kidding. You can support the wrong candidate if you want to. It's still wrong, though.)
See why I keep (mostly) mute on this subject?
Well today's Donation, for the 1st week in February, is going to The American Red Cross. Glad I did that research, are you? You could never have learned about the Red Cross otherwise, right? I mean they are such a small, unheard of group, right?
Well the Tornado Victims in the American Southeast right now are being helped by the Red Cross, and by the other Huge Name in Charity, the United Way. As a matter of fact a search for "Tornado" at Charity Navigator comes up with only one result. So I have given to The Red Cross this week, through the "Network for Good" button at Charity Navigator.
If you are going to be matching me in donating to the 52 different organizations I find this year, I recommend using the Network for Good, because at the end of the year, you will get a single tax document cataloging your donations, so that you may make Uncle Sam aware of your generosity with a minimum of fuss. You will need to sign up for membership to use these services, but it beats writing, stamping, and mailing 52 checks, and/or receiving 52 separate Form-1080's in the mail in 2009.
No? Good. Forget I mentioned it.
Oh, you do remember, eh? You didn't want to hassle me about it and seem like a nag or anything, but you were wondering if I was going to follow through? You thought I had forgotten all about it?
Well you were half right. I hadn't forgotten all about it, but I hadn't actually done it either. This blog exists, to a large degree, to keep me accountable. I have reneged on a number of promises already (including the ones mentioned in the two links above), and failed myself as well as my readers.
But the time has come to get back up off the mat, dust myself off, and get back on the saddle/wagon/bicycle again, depending on your preferred mode of metaphorical transport.
(side note: I just opened up my cellphone to see how many weeks have already passed this year, and it took me a while to figure out that my phone thinks it's 1980. If it were 1980, my cellphone would be the size of an outboard motor, and it certainly wouldn't be the first place I looked for a calendar! Although maybe it still shouldn't be!)
Apparently 5 weeks have passed in this Non-1980 year, So I am 4 donations behind. Why not 5? Because one of those weeks I donated to a political candidate, and I have striven valiantly to keep my fiery, passionate political perspective out of this blog lest it cause any of you to share yours with me. I am, of course, like anyone who claims a political affiliation, a closed-minded ideologue, incapable of accepting alternative ideas without shouting them down. Better for us all if I just keep it to myself.
I may donate to this candidate again, or maybe to another one in the general election. If this happens I will simply advise everyone to give to whichever candidate they support. (Unless, of course, it's the WRONG one! Just kidding. You can support the wrong candidate if you want to. It's still wrong, though.)
See why I keep (mostly) mute on this subject?
Well today's Donation, for the 1st week in February, is going to The American Red Cross. Glad I did that research, are you? You could never have learned about the Red Cross otherwise, right? I mean they are such a small, unheard of group, right?
Well the Tornado Victims in the American Southeast right now are being helped by the Red Cross, and by the other Huge Name in Charity, the United Way. As a matter of fact a search for "Tornado" at Charity Navigator comes up with only one result. So I have given to The Red Cross this week, through the "Network for Good" button at Charity Navigator.
If you are going to be matching me in donating to the 52 different organizations I find this year, I recommend using the Network for Good, because at the end of the year, you will get a single tax document cataloging your donations, so that you may make Uncle Sam aware of your generosity with a minimum of fuss. You will need to sign up for membership to use these services, but it beats writing, stamping, and mailing 52 checks, and/or receiving 52 separate Form-1080's in the mail in 2009.
Monday, November 26, 2007
What's The Point?
I'll tell you what the point is....
Not the point of anything, in particular, but a website called thepoint.com . A website that uses the organizing potential of the internet to get really big things done by lots of little people. (actually you can still get things done if you are a really big person, too. They don't discriminate against big people at The Point.)
Anyway, It works like this. As one little person, you figure you can't tell a big, multi-global corporation what to do. Or you can't achieve some really large accomplishment, like building a skatepark in your town, or raising a barn, buying a keg, whatever. So you look at the thing you want to get done, and think of how many people out there would need to get involved to get it done, or to make a real, substantive demonstration. Then you set your campaign to "tip" at the point when that many people sign up, pledging to take the specified action.
Then when users drop by to visit the site, they can sign up for your campaign, pledging to take action when enough other people have signed on. If your cause is hopeless, and nobody cares enough (for now) to get anything done, then you have saved yourself the time and effort of being a one man protest. (or a one-woman protest, whatever.) If your cause is shared, and taken up by enough other people in the world, then your campaign "tips", letting everyone who signed up know that the time for the designated action is NOW. If these people all make good on their pledges (a big "if", since they are unaccountable, anonymous, web users), then the action begins. (people begin boycotting, picketing, writing/phoning congresspersons, etc.)
Another method of using the site is to fundraise for things. You can set your sights higher, knowing that no-one is spending a dime, unless enough people pledge. If you can afford 90% of a project, nobody spends a dime. if you can afford 100% of a project, everybody ponies up their fair share. The awesome thing with this method of fundraising is that it really increases the giver's awareness of the need for their particular contribution. They see, in a very real way, that if they do not help this project, then this project will not happen.
Contrast this with NPR's semi-annual Pledge Drives. We give to these because we are guilted into it, not because we have any sense of real need for our particular contribution. I have given to NPR at some points in the last few years. Some seasons, though, I did not give any money to NPR, and you know what? The next week, when the pledge drive was over, NPR was still on the air! You don't, as a consumer get the idea that without your 35 dollars, NPR is going to have to pack up its broadcast tower and go home. With The Point, though, you see the total figure needed to make the campaign "tip", and if it is close to that point when you get there, then can't you go just a little further to be the one to make it happen?
Well, My first $52 charitable Donation has been pledged, via The Point, to their "Nothing But Nets" campaign, to send a shipment of 300 mosquito-killing bed nets to East Africa, protecting 300 families from malaria-spreading mosquitoes. I won't go into the specifics of NothingButNets here, but you can read all about them at the campaign page. To get there, go check out My Profile Page, and click on the campaign that I am a member of. If you create an account while you are there, add me as a contact; We could be buddies! A note of caution, though, before you pledge money. The money that you pledge today might not be charged to your card for months. For this reason I recommend using an open line of credit, rather than a check card/debit card, especially if you tend to ride close to the bottom edge of your checking account. You don't want your pledge of $100 to be honored when you only have $45 in the account. Being Overdrawn can lead to some very not-good things.
Not the point of anything, in particular, but a website called thepoint.com . A website that uses the organizing potential of the internet to get really big things done by lots of little people. (actually you can still get things done if you are a really big person, too. They don't discriminate against big people at The Point.)
Anyway, It works like this. As one little person, you figure you can't tell a big, multi-global corporation what to do. Or you can't achieve some really large accomplishment, like building a skatepark in your town, or raising a barn, buying a keg, whatever. So you look at the thing you want to get done, and think of how many people out there would need to get involved to get it done, or to make a real, substantive demonstration. Then you set your campaign to "tip" at the point when that many people sign up, pledging to take the specified action.
Then when users drop by to visit the site, they can sign up for your campaign, pledging to take action when enough other people have signed on. If your cause is hopeless, and nobody cares enough (for now) to get anything done, then you have saved yourself the time and effort of being a one man protest. (or a one-woman protest, whatever.) If your cause is shared, and taken up by enough other people in the world, then your campaign "tips", letting everyone who signed up know that the time for the designated action is NOW. If these people all make good on their pledges (a big "if", since they are unaccountable, anonymous, web users), then the action begins. (people begin boycotting, picketing, writing/phoning congresspersons, etc.)
Another method of using the site is to fundraise for things. You can set your sights higher, knowing that no-one is spending a dime, unless enough people pledge. If you can afford 90% of a project, nobody spends a dime. if you can afford 100% of a project, everybody ponies up their fair share. The awesome thing with this method of fundraising is that it really increases the giver's awareness of the need for their particular contribution. They see, in a very real way, that if they do not help this project, then this project will not happen.
Contrast this with NPR's semi-annual Pledge Drives. We give to these because we are guilted into it, not because we have any sense of real need for our particular contribution. I have given to NPR at some points in the last few years. Some seasons, though, I did not give any money to NPR, and you know what? The next week, when the pledge drive was over, NPR was still on the air! You don't, as a consumer get the idea that without your 35 dollars, NPR is going to have to pack up its broadcast tower and go home. With The Point, though, you see the total figure needed to make the campaign "tip", and if it is close to that point when you get there, then can't you go just a little further to be the one to make it happen?
Well, My first $52 charitable Donation has been pledged, via The Point, to their "Nothing But Nets" campaign, to send a shipment of 300 mosquito-killing bed nets to East Africa, protecting 300 families from malaria-spreading mosquitoes. I won't go into the specifics of NothingButNets here, but you can read all about them at the campaign page. To get there, go check out My Profile Page, and click on the campaign that I am a member of. If you create an account while you are there, add me as a contact; We could be buddies! A note of caution, though, before you pledge money. The money that you pledge today might not be charged to your card for months. For this reason I recommend using an open line of credit, rather than a check card/debit card, especially if you tend to ride close to the bottom edge of your checking account. You don't want your pledge of $100 to be honored when you only have $45 in the account. Being Overdrawn can lead to some very not-good things.
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