How to give to charity without spending money
From sponsored sites that donate every time you click to giving charity shops the nice things that eBay rejected, you can help.
There’s nothing quite like doing something great for someone else to leave you feeling pretty good about yourself. It can be something as small as a favour for a friend, or it can be something big like donating money to charity. There are many of us out there who wish we could support charities, but don’t feel financially able to. Here is a list of ways we can be charitable even if our own pockets are empty!
Volunteer work
Volunteer work is probably the most obvious way to be charitable without actually donating money. There are plenty of things to do, whether it’s working in a charity shop or helping directly at a scene where charitable aid is needed. Mookychick has a great article about finding volunteer positions. If you want to get into volunteer work you could think about
Charity shops: From meBay to theeBay.
Donate things that eBay didn’t want (or even just things) to charity shops
Another obvious, yet often forgotten method of giving to charity without parting with your cash is to donate old possessions. Not making any money on eBay? Got things that you couldn’t make a profit from selling on eBay or at the car boot? Why not deliver your old possessions to your local charity shop instead? No, you won’t get any money back, but you know you’re earning money for a charity and that money is going to a good cause; someone who could use that extra couple of quid more than you.
Research charity websites. They’re full of ideas for helping
Check out the websites of particular charities to see if they demonstrate ways you can help. The charity Amnesty International is great for this: their website details many different causes you can contribute to without spending a penny. They have fact files on particular cases of human rights abuses and you can write letters, emails or even fill in a simple form then and there in order to get in contact with people in positions of authority to help emphasise how much certain situations need to change. You don’t even have to write the letter yourself, a lot of the time Amnesty International provides you with a sample letter so you can literally help make a difference with a few clicks. Of course, it’s the originally written letters that have the post impact, and letters you have to post that make more impact than sending in emails but either way, Amnesty International campaigns often have great success and you can be a contributing factor to that success.
Donate someone else’s money instead of yours
If you can’t donate your own money, why not donate someone else’s? Care2.com has the simplest way to donate money without spending money; you simply click a link on their webpage and money is donated to a specific cause. They do this because they have sponsors who promise to donate a set amount of money every time someone clicks the donate link. There are several links on the website that you can click on to donate for various different causes, so have fun clicking away! Care2 also has numerous petitions among other things you can do to help make a difference in something you feel passionate about.
Use your voice and keep the conversation going
Simply raise awareness of your cause. If you can’t help financially, someone else can. Whether you feel strongly about animal rights or you want more people to help fund cancer research, making people aware of a problem is always the best way to start getting people interested in donating their money. The rise of social media has made this exceptionally easy. You can Tweet links to useful websites, you can blog about certain issues, you can even set up your own page for money to donate to you if you decide to do something like bungee jump for charity. Using social media to spread knowledge about charities is an easy, cheap and excellent way to help.
Although in many cases, donating money is indeed a very significant act and can make a world of difference to someone’s life, there seems to be a largely Western perspective that you can fix just about anything by throwing money at it, and that’s not always the case. You can help make a difference before money even enters the equation. You don’t need to be rich to help, you just need to be ready and willing.
