Philanthropy:  Deciding Where and How to Donate Your Money to Charity

Once you have made a fortune, it is a good deed to donate some of your money to worthy causes. But where should you donate your money and how should you go about doing it? The following are some suggestions:

Decide how much of your fortune you will give and/or continue to give out. After that, decide what proportion you want it to go to certain causes. For example, you may decide to spend 50% of your donated money to health (eg hospitals, research foundations), 30% to children's charities (UNICEF, homeless children), 10% for the food bank, and another 10% for miscellaneous. Remember not to give out more than you can afford. Account for disasters in your business or other aspects of your life where you may need the money. Just know that the money that you give out may never be returned back to you.

Remember to get tax credit for your philanthropic efforts. Many countries give certain forms of tax relief for donated money, so take full advantage of this. Since you are helping others out, it is quite reasonable for the government to help you out. Just check with the government or the agency to make sure that the organization that you want to donate to make you eligible for tax credit.

Be innovative in your donations. Be innovative in how you give out your money. Alfred Nobel set up an endowment fund and the money from his original fortune makes additional money that is given away. That way, it's a perpetual form of giving and benefits other enormously. Do not be shy to have certain privileges or rights given to you after donating your money. For example, if you would like your name or someone else's name on a building, feel free to ask for an arrangement like that. If the organization is not willing to give it to you, you can always donate elsewhere. This is not taking advantage of people, but just a gesture of good will on the other party's part that you have helped them a great deal. Besides, free money is always welcome and is not always easy to get, so having something named after you is not unreasonable if you would like that. Of course, many people prefer to work anonymously as a philanthropist, so if that is your style, that is fine too. Other places that often give you names are like scholarship funds, or room names in a certain part of a building that you help renovate.

Ask the charitable organization to be accountable. Unfortunately, there is a lot of mishandled money when money is given away. Therefore, it is quite reasonable to ask the charitable organization to give you a table of how they intend to spend the money, as well as a progress report on how it has been spent, and where any unused money will go to. You may decide to give out your money in installments contingent on what progress has been made up to a 
certain stage.

Study famous philanthropists. Study famous philanthropists either in your locale or in the world. Choose and pick what you liked about each of their forms of giving to the world. It should be a fun endeavor, but also one that you should be proud of after giving away the money. See what worked or did not work for those philanthropists, and also what forms of giving worked in terms of making society a better place.

It is a noble cause indeed to not hoard all the money you made and instead, to donate some of it to charities and for the public good.  Good luck and happy donating.

In summary, some hints on where and and how to donate your money are to:

A. Decide how much of your fortune you will give and/or continue to give.

B. Remember to get tax credit for your philanthropic efforts.

C. Be innovative in your donations.

D. Ask the charitable organization to be accountable.

E. Study famous philanthropists.

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