You, as a student in the 21st century, are more aware of the world and its problems, now that advances in communication have allowed you to access that kind of information. With this information comes the social responsibility of contributing in some way to the betterment of those less fortunate. Given the lack of time and ability to commit to a long-term volunteering project as an engineering student (with co-op), the first inclination would be to donate a small amount of your purchasing power to a charity. If you’re fortunate enough to have that spending ability as a student, then it is also imperative that you thoroughly research your options before committing yourself to a cause.
A not-for-profit organization (or NPO) is a body that uses its economy to achieve its purpose rather than distributing it as profits or dividends. NPOs are allowed to make a surplus revenue but must be retained within the organization for the purposes of self-preservation, expansions, and to achieve the goals set out by the body. Most NPOs do have a large paid staff but also have a number of volunteers who do work for free or for a token amount. Some types of NPOs include charities, services, trusts (being a specific type of charity), co-operatives, supporting organizations and foundations. For simplicity, the charity and the foundation will be focused on as it is most relevant to the engineering populace.
A charity is an NPO that revolves around philanthropy and social well-being as its main purpose. Financially, charities are eligible for complete exemption of taxation. In Canada, a charity must be registered with the Canada Revenue Agency to acquire this status. A few well-known charities include the Red Cross, the United Way, and the Salvation Army. When looking into donating to a charity, there are a couple of things that you should look for. For one, do the necessary research to find out how much of the donation actually goes to the cause and how much is used for other purposes. For instance, a recent event to learn from is the investigation into Wyclef Jean’s misuse of charitable funds from the Yele Haiti charity. He was accused of using the funds to pay the expenses of Jean-owned production houses, paying for luxury travel, accommodations as well as food, and employing people for exorbitant amounts. Especially in times of crisis, like the 2006 tsunami and the Haitian earthquake, a number of charitable organizations (both real and fake) will arise. Even more prominent are websites that are made to duplicate those of existing organizations. Your best bet is to research the organization thoroughly, look up the organization in the Charities Listings under the Canada Revenue Agency, or if all else fails research-wise, donate through CanadaHelps (a foundation that runs an online donation site to any registered charity). I’ve found that Charity Intelligence Canada and list.moneysense.ca are great references when researching a charity.
A foundation is different from a charity in that it donates funds or support to other NPO bodies and provides funding for its own charitable purposes. They can be considered as both public or private of which a private foundation is set up by an individual, a family, or group of people for a philanthropic purpose. The difference is that a private foundation will not solicit funds from the public while its counterpart would. They also aren’t subject to the same number of tax exemptions as charities. It may be useful to donate to foundations as they distribute their funds to the entities that are most promising in fulfilling the goals of the organization. However, there is no choice into what exactly you are donating to when doing so through a foundation so it may be better to invest directly into the philanthropic cause of choice. Personally, it may be better to invest in foundations if the cause is of a larger scale (like a cure for cancer) while a charity might be better for something smaller (like the Food Bank). The benefit of this type of investment is the fact that the money goes where its most promising since charities and organizations can fail before reaching their goals. Of course, one of the largest foundations currently in operation is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations which boasts roughly $38 billion in its endowment which is then donated to organizations like the Global Health Program, Global Development Program, and United States program.
If you are thinking of giving to charity, don’t do so without conducting thorough research first. While it may be nice to have someone take care of your philanthropic causes, the only way to be truly satisfied as a worldly person in society is to invest your time and your money in tangible purchases rather than giving money itself. In this way, you are sure of what is going and how much of it is going to help others. For example, I would much rather pay for someone’s school fees, books, uniforms, etc. myself than give it to someone to use it for those means. While giving is something that is fulfilling, doing so the right way and with as much control over it as possible ensures that your investment, as such, is giving you the best return possible.
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