Non-Profits Need Your Help

One of the sectors that has been hit extremely hard by the declining economy is the non-profit industry. Prior to the economic downtown, most non-profits generated over forty five percent of their funding and donations from the private corporate sector. However, as a result of the large number of corporate mergers and company layoffs, non-profit donations have decreased by almost fifty percent. This decrease includes donations and contributions which previously came directly from corporate employees.

Now that their main source of funding has decreased, many non-profits are now looking for alternative ways to attract volunteers and generate money. This has included appealing directly to individuals in their local communities.

If there is a local non-profit organization in your community, chances are it is in need of funding and volunteers. If you can’t make a large donation, consider donating ten to twenty dollars. This may not sound like much, but you will be surprised how far a non-profit can stretch a dollar.
If you belong to a community group or professional organization, then consider asking some of the other members to make donation as part of a group initiative. Remind them that all monetary donations are tax deductible, which should help you attract more donations.

Another way you can contribute to a local non-profit organization, is by donating your time. So many non-profits are in need of volunteers to help them with things like packing boxes and re-stocking shelves. This is especially the case at local area food banks, which have recently seen a dramatic increase in food requests.

Speaking of local food banks, if you can’t afford to give a monetary donation you can also donate food. The types of things they usually need are canned food items such as fruit and beans, boxes of cereal and bags of rice. These are usually the types of things you already have in your kitchen pantry. Just make sure that the food has not expired and that the outside packaging is in good shape.

Most local community non-profit homeless shelters are always in need of personal care items like shampoo and conditioner, combs and brushes, deodorant, sanitary napkins, diapers, baby formula, sheets, towels, underwear, toothbrushes, toothpaste and hand lotion. Just make sure that the underwear is newly wrapped, and that the towels and sheets are clean.

Along with monetary donations and food supplies, many non-profit organizations also need volunteers with specialized skills such as bookkeeping, calligraphy, art animation and computer design. In addition, many small non-profits also typically need volunteers with grant writing skills. Most depend heavily on grants to help fund their operation.


Regardless of your personal situation, there is always something you can do to help a non-profit organization.