Photo by Dani Simmonds

1. Grocery stores’ loyalty cards. Many grocery stores and food warehouses allow you to register your store savings or rewards cards to benefit local non-profits. The non-profit signs up to be a partner, then asks its members to take a few minutes to register their cards online so that a portion of each of their grocery purchases goes toward the non-profit, at no cost to the members! Here in California the stores with community programs include Albertsons, Ralphs, Valu+ and Vons. This idea takes a little effort initially but pays off handsomely over time as the rewards trickle in. Groups should keep in mind that the stores often require patrons to re-register their cards each year. Also, some stores allow patrons to divide their reward contributions among several organizations so they do not have to choose between benefiting their local elementary school or their breastfeeding support group — they can benefit both!

2. eScrip. Organizations that directly support the education of youth can register with eScrip. The eScrip concept is similar to the grocery loyalty programs above but works for several additional types of stores and restaurants.

3. Amazon affiliate program. Sign up to be an Amazon.com Associate and earn anywhere from 4-15% commissions on the purchases people make after clicking through your affiliate link on the web! This program is particularly helpful for groups that have a website. (By the way, if you don’t have a group you want to benefit, you could always benefit your (for-profit) blogger by clicking through one of the book links in her gift giving guide whether or not you buy one of the listed books!)

4. Restaurant nights. Several fast food and family restaurants will donate a percentage of profits from one or more nights to a nonprofit. The group distributes a flyer announcing the day and time of the benefit and patrons must show the flyer at the time of purchase for the percentage to be applied. This activity also builds a sense of community as people dine together for the event!

5. Community garage sale. Supporters who might not be willing or able to donate cash are often willing to donate gently used items for a group garage sale. In kind donations to a nonprofit are tax deductible.

6. Silent auction. Individual supporters and local businesses might also be willing to donate items to be sold at a silent auction. Hold a potluck dinner or a cookie exchange or an open house, and people can browse and bid on the auction items.

7. Gift basket raffle/drawing. Movie night, chocolate, gardening, baby shower, day at the beach, gift card tree: these are all popular themes for gift baskets that can be raffled off. Solicit donations of new or gently used items for the baskets and sell tickets for a drawing. Just be sure you comply with state and local regulations about running a “raffle” or “drawing.”

8. United Way. In addition to asking for direct donations to your group, apply to your local United Way for admission as an official United Way member agency. Invite your supporters to specify your non-profit for any United Way contribution.

9. Sponsored walk/bike ride. At a local school, park, or trail, hold a walk or bike ride and solicit sponsorships per lap or mile. Contact local police to notify them of your plans and to obtain any necessary permits for the gathering. In conjunction with the event, why not also hold a silent auction and/or gift basket raffle?

10. Grants from stores. Many local businesses will honor requests for donations of cash, gift cards, or gift baskets to raffle. Some have simple grant applications while others can be approached in person, by telephone, or by letter. Make your plea for support and you might just be surprised by the response! Be sure to follow up with a thank you note from your group and ask your supporters to mention your group when they shop at that store.

11. Gift card sales. Instead of offering the grocery loyalty card savings discussed above, some stores sell gift cards tied to rewards. For example, some offer a refillable gift card. When you use the card to purchase items at the store, a portion of the receipt goes to benefit the non-profit. When all the money on the card has been spent, the card can be refilled either at the cashier station or at the customer service counter. Other stores offer discounts on large amounts of gift cards. One Whole Foods Market I know offered $500 worth of gift cards (in $25 and $50 denominations) for $475 when purchased by a nonprofit. If enough people in your group are interested in gift cards you can make $25 on each purchase of $500.

12. Holiday gift wrapping. During the weeks leading up to Christmas major stores such as Borders Books and Sport Chalet allow charity volunteers to set up a table at the store to wrap customers’ gifts for a donation (usually a $1 or $2 per package). The store provides the boxes. wrapping paper and tape. All you supply are the people to staff the table! Call at least a few months in advance to reserve your time slots as the popular ones go quickly. Be prepared to have two to three people volunteer to fill each time slot.

13. Ideablob. If your non-profit has a big new project that requires funding, try submitting your idea to Ideablob. Ask your supporters to vote for your idea online and you just might win one of the $10,000 monthly giveaways. That’s how the Mothers’ Milk Bank of New England won $10,000 for new milk processing and storage equipment!

14. Squidoo. Sign up to be a Squidoo charity and your group can earn ad royalties and commissions from Amazon (if you are an affiliate as discussed above). Squidoo also occasionally runs charity giveaways and Squidoo charities can benefit from those as well!

Your Thoughts

If you’ve done fundraising for a non-profit, what worked for you? What was not so successful? Which idea has the best return for the least effort, or is the most fun? Leave a comment!

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

One of the best baby gifts Nicole and I received was a donation in our honor to La Leche League by Tanya, Sinead, Andi, and Jennifer. I was touched by the thoughtful gift, and pleased that one of my favorite charities would benefit.

Gift Matching for Donations to La Leche League

If you are thinking of making a year-end donation to charity this year, give to La Leche League now and your tax-deductible gift will be doubled by generous donors! Long-time supporters and La Leche League International (LLLI) Board and staff will match your donation dollar-for-dollar, up to $50,000, between now and December 31, 2008!

Where Will My Contribution Go?

LLLI has several exciting new projects to support for 2009. Your donation will be used to (1) create “new mother packets” of breastfeeding information for “Baby-Friendly Hospitals” in the United States, (2) develop informational breastfeeding videos, (3) translate, print, and distribute LLLI materials, and (4) update The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, and create pocket guides for that book and The Breastfeeding Answer Book.

How Do I Make a Donation?

To make your gift now and have it doubled, click here!

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Squidoo is giving away $80,000 to charity. In order to decide the mix of beneficiaries, Squidoo invites people to visit its website and vote for an organization to receive $2. That will continue until the entire $80,000 has been allocated or until October 15, 2008, whichever comes first. On the list of beneficiaries is La Leche League. It’s so easy and fast to vote — no registration is required, just the click of a button! So head on over to the $80,000 Squidoo Charity Giveaway ASAP, scroll down the list (which at first appears alphabetical but is not) until you eventually find La Leche League and give it your vote! Spread the word!

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Blog Action Day is an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. Our aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.

As of today nearly 5,000 blogs with 10,000,000 readers have signed up to participate!

The unifying theme this year is Poverty. So for the carnival we are looking for submissions on breastfeeding as it relates to poverty.

Potential subjects include:

- Trends in breastfeeding by economic classes
- Value of breastfeeding in the fight against poverty
- Cost-effectiveness of breastfeeding
- WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children in the United States) and breastfeeding
- How to promote breastfeeding among impoverished cultures or families

If you would like to submit your own carnival post on Poverty and Breastfeeding for Blog Action Day, email me your submission by October 11, 2008, for consideration for the carnival on October 15, 2008. Be sure to register your site for participation in Blog Action Day as well.

As a reminder, here are the guidelines that will increase the chances a post will be selected for inclusion:

– A well-written, grammatically correct post
– Thoughtful commentary directly on point for the carnival subject
– Overall quality of the rest of your blog and whether the general subject matter is something of interest to our readers (breastfeeding, parenting)

If your post is selected for inclusion, you will be asked on the day of the carnival to edit your post to link back to each of the other participants in the carnival.

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1. Donate pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and parenting books to your local La Leche League library. LLL groups have free lending libraries, usually allowing mothers to check out books for a month at a time. If you’re not sure whether a book is on the approved LLL list, pass it on anyway and the leaders will either put it in the library, sell it as part of a fundraiser, or pass it on in another appropriate way.

2. Donate them worldwide through LLL’s Lucy Shares project.

3. Donate new books to add to your local public library’s catalog, or used books for the library’s used book sale fundraisers.

4. Pass books on directly to an expecting or new mother.

5. Release books “into the wild” on a park bench, at the pediatrician’s office, or at a coffee shop, and register them through BookCrossing.com to see where they go!

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I am walking in support of every woman I know, and in memory of a friend who was younger than I am now when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. She found her second recurrence herself (which her doctors first told her was just scar tissue) when she was pregnant with her second son. They waited until 6 weeks before his due date so the baby was healthy enough to induce labor so she could start chemotherapy again. I watched her endure another battle with chemo with a toddler and a newborn baby, always with strength and dignity, providing as “normal” an environment as possible for her family. We lost her at age 38, brilliant, beautiful and strong until the very end. Stacey was my mentor and friend, and I miss her terribly.

You can help fight breast cancer too by making a donation to benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and National Philanthropic Trust. Click here to donate. I’ll be sure to let you know how much Jill raises and how the walk goes!

Once you make your donation, you might be interested in reading these articles on breastfeeding and breast cancer:

Leaking Breast Milk after Surgery for Lumpectomy
Breast Self-Exams in Lactating Women
Video Demonstration of Breast Self-Exam
Promising Anti-Cancer Powers of Breast Milk
Breast Cancer Testing: X-rays, Mammograms, Ultrasounds, Cat Scans
Breastfeeding after Chemotherapy, Radiation and Lumpectomy
Breastfeeding Reduces Cancer Risk
One-Sided Nursing with Full Supply

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LatchOn.org is an online marketplace and community for people supporting and promoting breastfeeding as a foundation for the development of babies and families.

LatchOn.org connects people with resources to share (funds, time or materials) with people undertaking projects to promote, support and protect breastfeeding, optimal nutrition and parenting.

Projects featured in LatchOn.org are sponsored by organizations with nonprofit charity status in their respective countries. A donation to a project in the marketplace is a donation to the organization providing fiscal sponsorship for that project. By donating to projects you help make them a reality.

La Leche League International is a founding sponsor.

There are lots of ways to get involved with LatchOn. Volunteer your skills and time, submit a project of your own for funding, or make a donation! Still have questions? Visit the Frequently Asked Questions.

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Photo permission: Dominik Gwarek

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“Research shows that exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months – with continued breastfeeding for the first year – could save 1.3 million lives every year,” says Miriam Labbok, UNICEF Senior Advisor on Infant and Young Child Feeding.

“This is well over 3,000 lives each and every day. And if breastfeeding is continued alongside appropriate complementary feeding until at least age two – we could be saving 5,500 additional lives each and every day of every year.”

La Leche League’s Mission Statement

La Leche League has a clear purpose, mission, and philosophy. Its mission statement says:

Our mission is to help mothers worldwide to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education, and to promote a better understanding of breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of the baby and mother.

Over 3,000 mothers per month are helped through a network of more than 7,000 accredited leaders who volunteer their time.

Think You Can’t Afford to Give?

Consider these facts compiled by LLL on the money savings created by breastfeeding:

Fewer doctor visits, prescriptions, and hospital stays, up to $1435 in the first year.

No need to spend money on formula and feeding supplies.

For one month, the least expensive formula costs $134, the most expensive formula costs $491 a month.

The least expensive formula costs $402 for 3 months and $804 for 6 months.

To buy the most expensive formula for their babies, parents spend $1475 for 3 months and $2950 for 6 months!

Knowing you are giving your baby the very best is priceless!

Keep in mind that your donation is tax-deductible to the extent the law allows for income tax purposes.

Ways to Give

~ Make a monetary gift
~ Donate with a feature in “Honor and Remember” in NEW BEGINNINGS magazine
~ Send an e-card
~ Shop through LLLI’s affinity programs

Need Assurance about Your Donation?

According to Independent Charities of America: “The Independent Charities Seal of Excellence is awarded to the members of Independent Charities of America and Local Independent Charities of America that have, upon rigorous independent review, been able to certify, document, and demonstrate on an annual basis that they meet the highest standards of public accountability, program effectiveness, and cost effectiveness. These standards include those required by the US Government for inclusion in the Combined Federal Campaign, probably the most exclusive fund drive in the world. Of the 1,000,000 charities operating in the United States today, it is estimated that fewer than 50,000, or 5 percent, meet or exceed these standards, and, of those, fewer than 2,000 have been awarded this Seal.” See ICA’s La Leche League page by searching for La Leche League here.

Other Worthwhile Charities

Several other worthwhile charities are featured as part of The Generous December Group Writing Project hosted by Babylune.

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The former tax lawyer in me wondered whether she could get a tax deduction for her donation. A quick search revealed this brochure related to the San Jose Mothers’ Milk Bank which says the milk bank itself will reimburse the mother for the same number of bags or containers sent to the milk bank and “if the donor can show proof that she is donating her milk to the milk bank, she can receive a tax deduction for all of her supplies and travel related to being a donor.” The brochure does not mention a deduction for the value of the milk itself.

We can equate the donation of human breast milk to the donation of human blood. Donations of human blood are not tax deductible according to the American Red Cross. The Red Cross says that by not providing any monetary or other incentives it can be sure that all donations are strictly and truly voluntary (and not motivated by financial gain). It’s interesting to note that several states offer state income tax deductions up to U.S. $10,000 for expenses related to donations of human organs including the liver, pancreas, kidney, intestine or bone marrow. Such donations are major procedures and I can see why it makes sense to facilitate donation by living organ donors. Obviously it’s much easier to donate breast milk or blood and those are also readily replenishable.

I digress…. I will keep you posted on this issue.

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