Planned giving, or every little bit counts....
I found doing my taxes to be very illuminating this year. It's probably because this is the first year in my life that I had an actual, stable income that enabled me to live in a relative degree of comfort. I'm not rich by any means, but this was the first year that I was able to pay down large portions of debt, maintain a car and buy grown up stuff for my apartment.
I have RRSPs and health benefits and a low level of debt.
I also managed to spend over $2,000 on classes last year. I took 5 classes in the space of one year, while working full-time. I also managed to promote a book, go on tour for said book, and write my first novel. When I think about all this, my head starts to spin, even though it didn't seem like that much at the time.
One thing that I noticed was that I had NO charitable donations last year. This really bothered me, so I decided to go something about that.
I have now signed myself up for planned giving with the Cooperative Development Foundation. Each month, CDF will take a small sum out of my bank account.
The Cooperative Development Foundation is the charity of the Canadian Cooperative Association. Funds from this charity go to co-operative development projects overseas. I had a chance to see a CDF project on my trip to the Philippines. The Association of Differently Abled Persons multipurpose coop, which gave employment and livelihood opportunities for the disabled in the Philippines, was a CDF sponsored project. If you were following my adventures through the Philippines and remember some of the details of my trip, this was the cooperative where I had a massage by a blind man, visited the chair factory and met Janine Soliva, the 23-year-old woman who was born with only one arm, who is now a spokeswoman for women with disabilities on her home island.
I am not giving a large sum of $, but I still feel good about what I am planning to give. This may mean foregoing a movie, video rentals or a supper out for me, but it could mean a big difference for someone else.
If I have more $ at a later date, I'll increase my donation, or find another charity to donate to. It will likely be something to do with breast cancer, I'm thinking.
I'm not writing this to say "hey, look at me, I give to charity", it's just something that I've been thinking about for a long time. I don't have a lot, but there are people out there that have a lot less. I want to remember that.
I have RRSPs and health benefits and a low level of debt.
I also managed to spend over $2,000 on classes last year. I took 5 classes in the space of one year, while working full-time. I also managed to promote a book, go on tour for said book, and write my first novel. When I think about all this, my head starts to spin, even though it didn't seem like that much at the time.
One thing that I noticed was that I had NO charitable donations last year. This really bothered me, so I decided to go something about that.
I have now signed myself up for planned giving with the Cooperative Development Foundation. Each month, CDF will take a small sum out of my bank account.
The Cooperative Development Foundation is the charity of the Canadian Cooperative Association. Funds from this charity go to co-operative development projects overseas. I had a chance to see a CDF project on my trip to the Philippines. The Association of Differently Abled Persons multipurpose coop, which gave employment and livelihood opportunities for the disabled in the Philippines, was a CDF sponsored project. If you were following my adventures through the Philippines and remember some of the details of my trip, this was the cooperative where I had a massage by a blind man, visited the chair factory and met Janine Soliva, the 23-year-old woman who was born with only one arm, who is now a spokeswoman for women with disabilities on her home island.
I am not giving a large sum of $, but I still feel good about what I am planning to give. This may mean foregoing a movie, video rentals or a supper out for me, but it could mean a big difference for someone else.
If I have more $ at a later date, I'll increase my donation, or find another charity to donate to. It will likely be something to do with breast cancer, I'm thinking.
I'm not writing this to say "hey, look at me, I give to charity", it's just something that I've been thinking about for a long time. I don't have a lot, but there are people out there that have a lot less. I want to remember that.