Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The President’s Donations

President Obama’s announcement that he will donate his Nobel Prize money ($1.4 million) to 10 charities is terrific news. These are important charitable organizations which will use the money well.

We’re especially pleased that of the ten charities identified by the White House, five of them are part of the TisBest Philanthropy 250 charity list. Those are: Central Asia Institute, United Negro College Fund, American Indian College Fund, The Posse Foundation, and College Summit. 













That’s a pretty remarkable correlation, considering there are 1.2 million charitable organizations in the U.S.

To each of these organizations we say, “Congratulations!” You are very deserving.

Jon Siegel

Monday, March 8, 2010

Parade Magazine Survey: Americans giving generously despite recession.

A story in Sunday’s Parade Magazine titled, “Compassion Counts More Than Ever,” reports that even during this economic recession, Americans are giving generously to support the causes that are important to them. In addition, Americans in large numbers are donating their time to a wide variety of worthy causes.

It’s very encouraging to see that in difficult times – when it’s easy to focus on one’s own needs and difficulties –Americans are continuing to make sacrifices to meet great needs that exist in their own communities and around the world.

Parade asked 1,008 Americans what they’d do if given $100,000 to donate to charity. Of the 16 choices, the top five were:
  1. Food and shelter for the needy
  2. Research to cure disease
  3. Disaster relief
  4. Animal welfare
  5. 5. Youth programs
These results correlate very closely to the charities selected by recipients of TisBest Charity Gift Cards.

Thank you for your continued support of TisBest Philanthropy, and the hundreds of charities we work with. This Mother’s Day, I encourage you to consider supplementing those flowers with a gift of charity. Your Mom will love you for it!

If you would like to learn more about the Parade survey, take a few moments to watch this interview with the editor of Parade and two volunteers that aired Monday on the The Morning Show on CBS:


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Thanks for reading,
Jon Siegel, TisBest E.D.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

And yet another earthquake

Several major charities have taken flack in recent weeks for spending less than 100% of the donations they have received for Haiti relief. Yet the recent earthquake in Chile is a grim reminder that financial reserves are essential if we are to be prepared to respond to the next disaster. It appears that keeping some resources in reserve is prudent.

We tend to think that calamitous natural disasters happen every four or five years or so. At that pace, there’s time to breathe between moments of urgent financial need. But this time, we were fooled. The ninth strongest earthquake ever measured struck just weeks after Haiti received a devastating blow. Relief agencies which are already stretched and weary may need to open a second front in what feels like a war against nature.

We encourage you to continue to support the agencies and organizations that provide food, shelter, medical treatment, and other assistance during this difficult time in Haiti and Chile. It takes a steady flow of donations in the quiet times in order to be ready to jump when the next disaster strikes.

Thank you for your selfless support.
Jon Siegel

Image credit: www.cmalliance.org