DALLAS — There have been a lot of sales recently, so I have been shopping a bunch. Yet, I have not added many gifts underneath the Christmas tree. I plan to very soon. But most of what I have bought so far has been for myself.
This might be part of the reason that when I am asked what I want for Christmas, I reliably answer that I do not want or need anything. People hate that answer.
So, a few years ago I came up with a different answer: Donate in my name to one of several charitable organizations. To my surprise people hated that answer, too.
But seriously, a card telling me about a donation someone made in my name last year to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was the best gift I got for Christmas. Because I asked for it, money had gone to help children who have cancer! If people in your life want a donation to be their gift…or if you want a donation in your name to be your gift, I say do it.
And now is a good time to give. For many nonprofits, December is crucial. There are different estimates of just how important the month is for different non-profits. The numbers show that between about 18 percent and 30 percent of annual giving occurs just in this one month.
You may be missing out on ways to multiply your donations
We don’t have the numbers yet for 2023. But last year, the Associated Press reported that charitable giving had dropped when compared to the prior year and that it was only the fourth time in 40 years that had happened
Admittedly, I didn’t help the numbers as much as I could have in 2022 or 2023. I did give. But it didn’t look that way when I was researching, and I looked at my donation history over the past couple of years specifically in my employee portal. I could have been requesting employer charitable matches for many of the donations I made, but I didn’t think about it.
That makes me partially responsible for the $4 billion to $7 billion in matching gift funds that go unclaimed each year, according to Double the Donation. You may be part of that missed opportunity as well because the organization says more than 26 million of us work for companies with matching gift programs.
Texas giving
Maybe it will make us all think about giving a little more, which could also make Texas look a little better. WalletHub recently ranked Texas as just the 24th most charitable state. Forbes, which also factors in volunteering, was ironically even less generous to Texas in its rankings, listing the state as 41st out of 50 for giving.
Also, a look at a geographic report by Fidelity Charitable, which helps donors maximize their giving, reveals no Texas cities made the donation leaderboards for giving in the sweeping categories of arts and culture, education, environment and animals, health, human services, international affairs, or society benefit. Only in the religion category did Houston and D-FW make the list of metros that give the most to houses of worship.
One other bright spot: The latest annual giving report is out from crowdfunding site GoFundMe. For whatever reason, Spring, Texas is number one in the country for donations per capita. Reviewing the same annual report for most generous cities in 2022, 2021, and 2020, Spring can now boast it has come in first place or second place for four years in a row.
Spotlight on charities
I recently emceed a great annual event for the Texas Lawyers for Children’s Child Protection Connection, where we raised many thousands of dollars to help advocate for children in the foster care system in Texas. They do amazing work.
It got me thinking that I should do a monthly Right on the Money episode on different charities and how they are using donations to do remarkable things. We will start that series in January 2024.
Here and here, you can find valuable resources for vetting the charities to which you are considering making donations.
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