Sarahritchie17 Last week, I wrote about the importance of charitable giving (aside from the obvious) and my process for deciding where to donate. Today, I want to go more into detail on where and how I make my charitable contributions and what’s important to me. My hope is that these posts inspire you to think about what’s important to you and where you might be able to give back in your own life.
The Combined Federal Campaign
If you’re also in the Coast Guard or if you’re a federal employee in the U.S., you might have heard of the Combined Federal Campaign.
When possible, I donate through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), a program for federal employees that allows me to set up automatic contributions directly from my pay stub.
This year, the “giving season” or Official Solicitation Period runs from September 1, 2021 to January 15, 2022. During this time, federal employees can pledge to donate or volunteer at thousands of participating nonprofit charitable organizations. You can find the full list here.
I prefer to donate through this program because my contributions come directly from paycheck so that my donation money never even hits my bank account. I have it built into my budget just like my retirement contributions. I never see that money and I never touch it. It’s just a ‘set it and forget it.’
You can also do one-time contributions and credit card contributions through CFC if you prefer those methods. If you don’t have money to give, you can also pledge volunteer hours.
If you know what you want to pledge, making the pledge on the website takes 5 minutes or less. The website is pretty user-friendly.
You can read about the history of CFC here, and you can create an account here.
The Causes I Support
Women for Women International
In 2021, my eyes were opened to the tragic quality of life women face in Afghanistan as well as numerous countries around the world. I watched humanitarian crisis unfold as the U.S. removed troops from Afghanistan, and I recently watched the movie He Named Me Malala. I cannot imagine having to risk my life to try to get an education or even read a book.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
St. Jude is on a mission to defeat childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases that children battle. This cause resonates with me because I worked with kids a lot when I was in middle school and high school as a babysitter, lifeguard, and swim lesson instructor. Kids are the future and every one of them should have a fair chance to be a part of it.
Girl Scouts of the United States of America
I grew up as a Girl Scout, and although at the time it was just an extracurricular activity and place to see my friends after school, I look back and realize how much I learned from being a part of it. Selling cookies gave me a foundation in business and handling money; working on my Gold Award taught me time management, project management, and leadership. My donation to Girl Scouts is a personal way I give back to something that made me who I am today.
Charity: Water / Water for People
https://www.waterforpeople.org
A few years ago, I listened to a podcast that featured the founder of Charity: Water. I was shocked to hear that hundreds of millions of people didn’t have access to clean water. After learning more, I started donating. This year, Charity: Water was not available through CFC, so I found Water for People and will start contributing to their mission in 2022.
Make-A-Wish Foundation
For similar reasons that I support St. Jude, I also support Make-A-Wish International. Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children with critical illnesses. They give children joy and light and, most importantly, hope in the darkest of times.
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)
My first encounter with suicide was in eighth grade. I was waiting for my math class to start, and our teacher was several minutes late because all the teachers were in a meeting. We didn’t learn any geometry that day; instead we learned that one of our classmates had been seriously affected by bullying and had died by suicide. Some years later, another person in my life told me that they’d had suicidal thoughts. Since then, my biggest fear is someone close to me dying of suicide. Supporting causes and programs like this hits close to my heart.
Coast Guard Mutual Assistance (CGMA)
Not as well-known as some of the other charities I have listed here, CGMA is a non-profit charitable organization that supports Coast Guard members in need through things like the government shutdown in 2019 (when Coast Guard members were not getting receiving earned pay for weeks) and when hurricanes hit and leave Coasties homeless or with thousands of dollars of damage. This cause is personal to me because I’ve worked with people who have needed the assistance and support of CGMA.
This organization is not in CFC this year, so I make contributions directly through their website.
*All logos belong to the organizations they represent, respectively. Genuine Sunshine Blog is not endorsed by, sponsored, or affiliated with any of the above organizations. Logos are provided for informational purposes only.
References and Further Reading
- Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) – https://cfcgiving.opm.gov/welcome
- https://www.opm.gov/combined-federal-campaign/
- https://cfcgiving.opm.gov/register
- https://www.womenforwomen.org
- He Named Me Malala
- https://www.stjude.org
- https://www.girlscouts.org
- https://www.waterforpeople.org
- https://www.charitywater.org
- https://www.worldwish.org
- https://afsp.org
- https://www.cgmahq.org
If you like what you read here, follow Genuine Sunshine Blog by Sarah Ritchie on Pinterest and @genuinesunshineblog on Instagram. Look for new posts here at genuinesunshineblog.com every Sunday to start your week with sunshine!
Cheers!
Sarah
[…] Learn more about how I donate through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) and the causes I currently support here: 7 Causes I’m Supporting in 2021 and 2022 […]