David Usher’s “Love Will Save The Day” remains one my fave songs. I believe that “Love WILL Save the Day” but of course it isn’t enough totally on its own. Love can motivate people to act and THAT is what will save the day.
The question is not whether to do something … but what to do. So many choices.
You may not know this but it often takes nearly one dollar to raise one dollar for charity. The overhead is staggering.
I think in these times, we need to think about contributing to initiatives that multiply everything we do by 10? Huh? What does that mean? It means that every dollar that gets donated turns effectively turns into 10. Not literally but in terms of a final impact. Education, water, connectivity, motivating groups of volunteers, raising money for pennies for each dollar raised …
Since time and funds are limited though, I want to maximize the effort by focusing time and money where my effort will get multiplied many times over. I also don’t want to wait until I’m rich … that’s kinda like waiting till you’re ready to have kids. You’ll never feel ready … a strong desire and a bit of common sense is enough (the kids part takes a bit more of course 
.
So I need your help. I would really like to know what organizations you have chosen to work with to lend some help where you think your efforts are multiplied.
Here are some of the organizations I’ve been experimenting with or that I’m about to explore that I believe may have real value:
Kiva.com
Akoha.com
Givemeaning.com
TakingITglobal (www.tigweb.org)
www.freethechildren.com
Social Media for Social Change (http://www.sm4sc.com/ next event April 3 in NYC)
www.socialvibe.com
Plan Canada (plancanada.ca … trying to make up my mind about this one)
I also like guys like Adam Sherlip (http://hockeyvolunteer.blogspot.com/) that are going to remote areas around the world to teach kids the values of hockey (teamwork …), teaching them English and helping with major chores in the village (ex: checking power system such as solar panels).
Again, I’m not just looking for organizations that are doing good things … I’m looking for a multiplying effect. I would really like to know what you think about some of the organizations on my list. Are some of these not worthy? Note that I’ve left a few out intentionally for you to fill in …. so please share your thoughts.
Cheers,
Allan
