Giving Back

I actually just wrote and scrapped a whole blog post because as writing so often does, it inspired me to write another one. One I hope you'll give me feedback on.

I'm reading Raising More Money a la my boss, Bonnie. Great read. Highly reccommend.

One of the first chapters discusses how people tend to give to the same organizations year in and year out. (Interesting tid-bit, 75% of American households have at least one donor living in them.) This got me thinking, yup, I'm consistent.

I've been a girl member, camp counselor, volunteer, donor and finally, staff with Girl Scouts.

Every time a closet is cleaned out, the goods go to Goodwill.

I'm working on my fourth fundraising event with the American Cancer Society.

Ah but that opened a new door. I'm a donor/volunteer with the ACS. (Fabulous organization.) But I've also been at least a little active with a lot of other cancer organizations: MD Anderson Cancer Center (best Xmas cards money can buy), Jori Zemel Children's Bone Cancer Foundation, The Jimmy Fund, The Cancer Council Australia and Susan G. Komen.

So while we tend to give to the same organizations year after year, partly because it's easy I'm guessing, might we also just be addicted to a cause? How many of us make a point of supporting a particular cause and are just as happy to do it through almost any organization with that mission?

Do you tend to give to the same cause regularly or do you give to the same specific organization regularly? In either case, who do you give to and why?