Giving Bootcamp: Giving ideas that won't affect your bank balance

Tough times call for creative measures. Here are 10 ways to maximise your impact without writing a huge cheque.

It’s the “ tough times triple-whammy ” for not-for-profits: costs go up; demand on services goes up; and donations go down.

Whilst we have officially avoided the worst of the global recession, Australians are still nervous about the economy; some have lost their jobs , others have had their superannuation slashed. Many are wondering whether they can continue the level of giving they managed when times were flush.

The good news is that there are smart ways to benefit worthy causes without digging into your bank account.

•  De-clutter your home
Aunt Dorothy’s hall stand, your 60s wedding dress ... cleaning out your cupboards or garage and donating what you don’t need to an Op Shop is a win-win situation. Op Shops sell low-cost goods and clothing to people with limited resources whilst donating profits to specific causes in the local community. Go to GiveNow for a list of all the Op Shops in your area.

•  Enter competitions
Lots of companies run competitions where the prizewinner can nominate the beneficiary of the prize – usually a community group or school. If you have good creative writing skills, buy up all the magazines you can find, enter every competition and make a point of donating a percentage of your winnings (preferably 100%!).

•  Do what you do best – donate professional know-how
It’s helpful to staff a phone for a telethon or wield a ladle at a soup kitchen, but most organisations could benefit more from your professional skills. If you're an accountant, volunteer to be the treasurer on the board, if you’re a publicist offer to organise a campaign.

•  Organise a swap-meet.
So simple and so much fun … swap-meets are a great way to encourage recycling and raise money at the same time. Find a space (a home or hall) and invite everyone you know. Make sure that you make full use of all social networking sites to get the word out there. Everyone should bring along four items of good quality clothing. Once they have paid the $20 entrance fee and handed over the four items in exchange for four tokens, they can start browsing. Everyone leaves with a refreshed wardrobe and a renewed sense of community spirit.

•  Give Shares
In Australia, it is estimated that around $80 million is currently held in “less than marketable” parcels of shares - i.e. those with a total value of less than $500. If you own a small parcel of shares that generates a ton of mail and nothing in the way of dividends, you may want to complete a share sale donation form and allow ShareGift Australia to organise for the shares to be sold and for the cash proceeds to be distributed to eligible Australian organisations. The transaction is free of brokerage fees - meaning 100% of the value of the share donation will be used to generate social returns for the community. Go to GiveNow to find out how.

•  Suggest your favourite cause for a company project.
When it comes to team-building exercises, many companies have jettisoned rope courses and trust capers in favour of having employees spend time working together on a not-for-profit project or devoting company resources to a cause.

Beaton is a management consultancy firm. The firm’s pro bono program has two key elements. The first is a zero fee “consultancy” project for a community-based organisation where the firm can apply its skills and resources to make a big impact.

The second aspect of the Beaton’s pro bono program is a research study for community benefit. Each year, staff are asked to either nominate a potential skills-based “consultancy” project or a ‘volunteering’ project; examples include assisting with the homeless, planting carbon-absorbing trees or orientating refugee migrants. Joel Barolsky , Principal of Beaton and co-ordinator of the firm’s pro bono program, said a key measure of the success of a pro bono project was the number of staff that got involved. “We have a pro bono program because it gives all our professional and support staff an opportunity to work together on a high impact community-based project,” he said.

A commitment to social philanthropy is the firm’s primary motive but Barolsky notes that there are secondary benefits as well. These benefits relate particularly to building referrer networks as well as staff training, development and engagement.

•  Rethink your gift list.
You don’t have to throw a lavish party like Geoffrey Edelsten’s wedding to request donations instead of gifts. Nominate your favourite causes on GiveNow.com.au and request that instead of gifts, guests go online and donate in your honour . It’s a great way of impressing your values on your friends and they will appreciate the ease of the gift-giving.

•  Let your feet do the talking
It may be three decades since you last participated in a walkathon, but it's never too late to raise money with a little physical endurance. Ask people you know to sponsor you – maybe start with $5 for every kilometre you walk (or a lump sum for completing the entire challenge).

•  Do some matchmaking
Recruit a friend who has the perfect skills to help out your cause. You never know, that friend may embrace the challenge and become a dedicated contributor to your favourite not-for-profit organisation.

•  Organise a party to remember

David’s ‘ stoopid ’ birthday party : One birthday boy, 120 guests, a school a nd loads of goodwill and effort

When David Opat turned 40, his wife Debbie begged him to have a normal party. But David was determined to use his birthday as an opportunity to make a difference. A child psychologist and an educator, David has spent his professional life caring about kids and pulling together a working party to help underprivileged kids was the perfect way to express his values.

When David approached the Ardoch Youth Foundation, they identified West Richmond Primary School in Victoria as a school in desperate need of improvement. David met with the school’s principal and immediately gained his support.
A landscape gardener friend helped come up with a viable plan to revamp the school’s play areas. Together they created five specific projects that would hold some appeal for their “party guests”.

“Once the invitations went out, the work really kicked in,” said Debbie. Instead of presents, David asked his guests to make a donation to the school through the Ardoch Foundation. But because he couldn’t estimate how much people were going to donate, they needed to get all the materials donated or significantly discounted. ‘There was a lot of planning and a lot of running around. But everyone we approached was so taken by the idea and so generous that we were very motivated and excited.”

One friend donated all the wood. Then they approached a garden supplier - by an amazing coincidence, his father had attended that school and so he donated all $5000 worth of sand and soil. As a gift, David’s sisters decided to prepare all the food for the days’ festivities.

“When we arrived at the school that morning, there were birthday cards for David from every single student, in all different languages. It was incredible,” said Debbie. “It was an amazing day. Everyone worked bloody hard, even the kids.”

“The vibe was great,” said David. “There was music blaring, there were 120 people of all ages working hard from 10am right through until 6pm. Everyone came begrudgingly thinking my idea was ‘ stoopid ’ but left with a real feeling that they had participated in something special.”

The money that was gifted covered the cost of the event and there was $1500 left over which was given to the school to buy more plants, paint for the children to decorate the new totem poles and seeds for the students to create a vegie garden in the fresh garden beds. “They really did end up doing all of those things, which is just brilliant,” said Debbie.

David’s Five Projects

•  SIGNAGE
Wooden letters dye cut as signage for the entrance. The kids painted the letters in bright primary colours.

•  A MURAL
An art teacher friend designed a mural and everyone spent the day painting it.

•  WOODWORK – BENCHES AND TABLES
All the woodwork was sanded and painted.

•  THE SANDPIT
The sandpit area was restructured and filled with fresh sand, it was painted and planted and logs were erected as totem poles which were left blank for the schoolkids to decorate themselves

•  THE GARDEN BEDS
The Garden beds were very overrun with old shrubbery and bushes. It was cleared and fresh soil was laid. Money was given to the school for seeds to plant a vegie garden.