Early this morning I went to a fundraising breakfast for Metrocrest Services. According to its website, it serves five Dallas suburbs and specializes in helping individuals, families and seniors who are going through a crisis situation stabilize their lives for a brighter future. It offers a wide range of services including emergency financial assistance, financial coaching and education, a food pantry, employment coaching and job readiness, senior services to help seniors age in place and seasonal programs focused on children, including holiday gifts and food for the summer. We heard some heartwarming testimonies of those who have been helped by this organization. In addition, I have volunteered at North Dallas Shared Ministries teaching English as a Second Language. It provides a food pantry, clothes closet and income tax assistance plus a medical and dental clinic. Today I also went to a Rotary meeting where we packed Easter baskets for Hope Supply Co. which meets the needs of homeless children. Charitable organizations are everywhere. Let’s learn more about them.
According to Wikipedia, a charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being e.g., educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good.
The legal definition of a charitable organization and of a charity varies between countries and in some instances regions of the country. The regulation, the tax treatment and the way in which charity law affects charitable organizations also vary. Charitable organizations may not use any of their funds to profit individual persons or entities. However, some charitable organizations have come under scrutiny for spending a disproportionate amount of their income to pay the salaries of their leadership.
Financial figures — e.g., tax refund, revenue from fundraising, revenue from sale of goods and services or revenue from investment — are indicators to assess the financial sustainability of a charity, especially to charity evaluators. This information can impact a charity's reputation with donors and societies, and thus the charity's financial gains.
Charitable organizations often depend partly on donations from businesses. Such donations to charitable organizations represent a major form of corporate philanthropy.
In order to meet the exempt organizational test requirements, a charity has to be exclusively organized and operated. In order to receive and pass the exemption test, a charitable organization must follow the public interest and all exempt income should be for the public interest. For example, in many countries of the Commonwealth, charitable organizations must demonstrate that they provide a public benefit.
History
Early systems
Until the mid-18th century, charity was mainly distributed through religious structures such as the English Poor Laws of 1601, almshouses — charitable housing provided to people in a particular community and bequests from the rich. Christianity, Judaism and Islam incorporated significant charitable elements from their very beginnings and dāna or alms-giving has a long tradition in Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. Charities provided education, health, housing and even prisons. Almshouses were established throughout Europe in the Early Middle Ages to provide a place of residence for poor, old and distressed people; King Athelstan of England who reigned 924-939 founded the first recorded almshouse in York in the 10th century.
Enlightenment charity
In the Enlightenment era, charitable and philanthropic activity among voluntary associations and rich benefactors became a widespread cultural practice. Societies, gentleman's clubs and mutual associations began to flourish in England, and the upper classes increasingly adopted a philanthropic attitude toward the disadvantaged. In England this new social activism was channeled into the establishment of charitable organizations; these proliferated from the middle of the 18th century.
This emerging upper-class fashion for benevolence resulted in the incorporation of the first charitable organizations. Captain Thomas Coram, appalled by the number of abandoned children living on the streets of London, set up the Foundling Hospital in 1741 to look after these unwanted orphans in Lamb's Conduit Fields, Bloomsbury. As the first such charity in the world, it served as the precedent for incorporated associational charities in general.
Jonas Hanway, another notable philanthropist of the Enlightenment era, established The Marine Society in 1756 as the first seafarer's charity, in a bid to aid the recruitment of men to the navy. By 1763 the Society had recruited over 10,000 men; an Act of Parliament incorporated it in 1772. Hanway was also instrumental in establishing the Magdalen Hospital to rehabilitate prostitutes. These organizations were funded by subscription and run as voluntary associations. They raised public awareness of their activities through the emerging popular press and were generally held in high social regard; some charities received state recognition in the form of the royal charter.
Charities also began to adopt campaigning roles, where they would champion a cause and lobby the government for legislative change. This included organized campaigns against the ill treatment of animals and children and the campaign that eventually succeeded at the turn of the 19th century in ending the slave trade throughout the British Empire and within its considerable sphere of influence. This process was however a lengthy one, which finally concluded when Saudi Arabia abolished slavery in 1962.
The Enlightenment also saw growing philosophical debate between those who championed state intervention and those who believed that private charities should provide welfare. The Rev. Thomas Malthus (1766-1834), a political economist, criticized poor relief for paupers on economic and moral grounds and proposed leaving charity entirely to the private sector. His views became very influential and informed the Victorian laissez-faire attitude toward state intervention for the poor.
Growth during the 19th century
During the 19th century a profusion of charitable organizations emerged to alleviate the awful conditions of the working class in the slums. The Labourer's Friend Society, chaired by Lord Shaftesbury in the United Kingdom in 1830, aimed to improve working-class conditions. It promoted, for example, the allotment of land to laborers for "cottage husbandry" that later became the allotment movement. In 1844 it became the first Model Dwellings Company — one of a group of organizations that sought to improve the housing conditions of the working classes by building new homes for them, at the same time receiving a competitive rate of return on any investment. This was one of the first housing associations, a philanthropic endeavor that flourished in the second half of the 19th century brought about by the growth of the middle class. Later associations included the Peabody Trust originating in 1862 and the Guinness Trust founded in 1890. The principle of philanthropic intention with capitalist return was given the label "five percent philanthropy."
There was strong growth in municipal charities. The Brougham Commission led on to the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which reorganized multiple local charities by incorporating them into single entities under supervision from local government.
Charities at the time — including the Charity Organization Society established in 1869 — tended to discriminate between the "deserving poor" who would be provided with suitable relief and the "underserving" or "improvident poor" who were regarded as the cause of their own woes through their idleness. Charities tended to oppose the provision of welfare by the state, due to the perceived demoralizing effect. Although minimal state involvement was the dominant philosophy of the period, there was still significant government involvement in the shape of statutory regulation and even limited funding.
Philanthropy became a very fashionable activity among the expanding middle classes in Britain and America. Octavia Hill (1838-1912) and John Ruskin (1819-1900) were an important force behind the development of social housing, and Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) exemplified the large-scale philanthropy of the newly rich in industrialized America. In “Gospel of Wealth” in 1889, Carnegie wrote about the responsibilities of great wealth and the importance of social justice. He established public libraries throughout the English-speaking countries, as well as contributing large sums to schools and universities. A little over ten years after his retirement, Carnegie had given away over 90% of his fortune.
Towards the end of the 19th century, with the advent of the New Liberalism and the innovative work of Charles Booth on documenting working-class life in London, attitudes towards poverty began to change, which led to the first social liberal welfare reforms, including the provision of old age pensions and free school meals.
Since 1901
During the 20th century charitable organizations such as Oxfam established in 1947, Care International and Amnesty International greatly expanded, becoming large, multinational, nongovernmental organizations with very large budgets.
Since the 21st century
With the advent of the internet, charitable organizations established a presence in online social media and started, for example, cyber-based humanitarian crowdfunding such as GoFundMe.
10 of the Best Charities Everyone’s Heard Of
According to the article “10 of the Best Charities Everyone’s Heard Of” at charitynavigator.org, these 10 charities work throughout the country and the world. They are large, complex organizations with budgets exceeding $100 million and at least $65 million in net assets. They became household names in part because of their exceptional financial management — no easy feat considering the scope and size of their operations. Charitable givers should feel confident that these national institutions put their donations to good use.
1. Direct Relief
Santa Barbara, California
Direct Relief is a humanitarian organization, active in all 50 states and more than 80 countries, with a mission to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies. Nongovernmental, nonsectarian and not-for-profit, Direct Relief assists people and communities without regard to politics, religion, ethnic identities or ability to pay. Direct Relief's assistance programs — which focus on emergency preparedness and disaster response and the prevention and treatment of disease — are tailored to the particular circumstances and needs of the world's most at-risk populations. Direct Relief honors the generosity of its donors by following a firm policy of full transparency in all of its operations. This tradition of transparent, direct and targeted assistance, provided in a manner that respects and involves the people served, has been a hallmark of the organization since its founding in 1948 by refugee war immigrant William Zimdin.
2. Enterprise Community Partners Inc.
Columbia, Maryland
Its mission is to make home and community places of pride, power and belonging, and platforms for resilience and upward mobility for all. It envisions a country where home and community are steppingstones to more. To date, Enterprise has created nearly 662,000 homes, invested $52.9 billion and touched millions of lives.
3. MAP International
Brunswick, Georgia
MAP International is a Christian organization providing life-changing medicines and health supplies to people in need. In times of disaster, MAP provides immediate humanitarian assistance and relief aid including medicines and health supplies to those left homeless and without access to basic services. Founded in 1954, MAP International is one of the nation's 100 largest nonprofit organizations, serving 10 million people annually in more than 100 countries. To date, it has provided more than $6 billion in medicines and medical supplies globally. MAP serves all people, regardless of religion, gender, race, nationality or ethnic background.
4. Rotary Foundation of Rotary International - Evanston, Illinois
The Rotary Foundation’s mission is to advance world understanding, goodwill and peace. Rotary Foundation grants promote peace, fight disease, provide clean water and sanitation, sustain mothers and children, improve education and strengthen local economies. The Foundation is a worldwide leader in the efforts to eradicate polio through its partnership in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative or GPEI. Since 1988, Rotary and its partners in GPEI have immunized over 3 billion children, reducing the incidence of polio by 99.99% and eradicating it from all but two countries. Rotary has contributed more than $2.1 billion and thousands of volunteer hours to eradication efforts. The Foundation also funds the training of peacemakers through the Rotary Peace Center Program. Most recently, Rotary’s disaster response grants are making it possible for Rotary members to respond effectively to local recovery efforts as they unfold, and COVID-19 was recently added as an eligible activity.
5. Matthew 25 Ministries
Cincinnati, Ohio
Matthew 25 Ministries or M25M is an international humanitarian aid and disaster relief organization helping the poorest of the poor locally, nationally and internationally regardless of race, creed or political persuasion. By rescuing and reusing products from major corporations, manufacturers, hospitals and individuals, Matthew 25 Ministries provides basic necessities, skill development and disaster relief across the U.S. and worldwide. Since its founding in 1991, M25M has shipped more than 170,000,000 pounds of aid across the U.S. and into more than 60 countries worldwide.
6. CDC Foundation
Atlanta, Georgia
The CDC Foundation is an independent nonprofit and the sole entity created by Congress to mobilize philanthropic and private-sector resources to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's critical health protection work. It is a catalyst for unleashing the power of collaboration between CDC and philanthropies, private entities and individuals to protect the health, safety and security of America and the world. By aligning diverse interests and resources and leveraging all parties' strengths, its focused collaborations with private and philanthropic partners help create greater impact than any one entity can alone.
It has launched approximately 1,000 health protection programs and raised more than $740 million to support CDC's work over the past two decades. To keep people healthy, safe and secure, it managed over 300 CDC-led programs in the United States and in 130 countries.
7. Wikimedia Foundation Inc.
San Francisco, California
Wikimedia Foundation Inc. is dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free multilingual content, and to providing the full content of these wiki-based projects to the public free of charge. The Foundation operates some of the largest collaboratively edited reference projects in the world, including Wikipedia, the fourth most visited website in the world. In collaboration with a network of chapters, the Foundation provides the essential infrastructure and an organizational framework for the support and development of multilingual wiki projects and other endeavors which serve this mission.
8. Vitamin Angels
Goleta, California
Vitamin Angels mission is to help at-risk populations in need — specifically pregnant women, new mothers and children under five — gain access to lifesaving and life-changing vitamins and minerals.
8. World Resources Institute
Washington, D.C.
Founded in 1982, World Resources Institute or WRI is a global research organization that spans more than 50 countries, with offices in the United States, China, India, Brazil, Indonesia and more. WRI’s mission is to move human society in ways to protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations. WRI’s more than 450 experts and staff work closely with leaders to turn big ideas into action to sustain our natural resources — the foundation of economic opportunity and human well-being. Its work focuses on six critical issues at the intersection of environment and development: climate, food, forests, water and cities and transport.
10. Feeding America
Chicago, Illinois
Feeding America® is the largest hunger relief organization in the United States. Through a network of more than 200 food banks, 21 statewide food bank associations and over 60,000 partner agencies, food pantries and meal programs, it helped provide 6.6 billion meals to tens of millions of people in need last year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people it serves; brings attention to the social and systemic barriers that contribute to food security in the nation; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry.
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