Lazy? Selfish? It doesn’t matter, you can still be charitable. We get it—you’re far too busy to commit to regular charity work (although from a purely selfish perspective, volunteer work does look good on the resume), and can’t possibly spare any of your hard-earned cash for philanthropic causes. To be honest, you’re a tad narcissistic, apathetic, hardly the altruistic type. Well, surprise! You can be all of those things and still commit a few simple, relatively painless acts of charity. Even lazy people might participate in a food drive once they realize they don’t even have to leave the comfort of their own home to do so.
During many of the local food drives that take place this time of year, volunteers come right to your front door and pick up your donations. Remember all those cans of soup in the back of the cupboard nobody’ll eat? Well, just chuck them in an old grocery bag (something else you want to get rid of) along with anything else in the pantry you can spare. (Rest assured the dedicated volunteers at the food bank will check expiry dates on everything—especially that weird tin of kumquats you threw in). Plus, if you put it all out on the doorstep the morning of the food drive, you won’t have to interrupt your day, or interact with anyone, yet still come off looking pretty generous.
And there are plenty other charities that’ll come to your home and pick up your trash, err, their new treasures. So choose a chore, (clean the basement/garage/closet) then choose a charity (Diabetes Clothesline, Habitat for Humanity ReUse Store) and call for pick-up. Granted, you may occasionally have to extend yourself, just a little, in the name of doing a good deed. But is it really so much to ask that you to take those too-small jackets along when you make a run to the dry-cleaner (Coats for Kids), get rid of that half-bag of dog food your finicky pooch stuck you with (animal shelter), gather up your ugly, old eye-glasses (opticians, Lions Club) or get rid of all those old books (library book sale)? If you’re lucky, the local e-waste fundraiser will be set up as a drive-thru and you can just sit in the car while some hardy volunteer unloads all your out-dated and broken electronic equipment. Of course, you mustn’t overlook your own needs during all this philanthropy, so by all means get the kids at the charity car-wash to clean your filthy car, feed your face at their fundraising bbq, and load up on goodies at the auxiliary’s bake sale. Not only will your normally cynical self get to see firsthand who benefits from your generosity, but you’ll also enjoy all the immediate personal gratification, plus feel more connected to your community.
Of course it also never hurts to be seen at these functions—you never know who you’ll meet, socially or professionally. While you’re out and about, why not put your purchasing power to work? No one’s asking you to buy extra stuff—just look for purchases that have a charitable component built in. Smugly chow down knowing that all the profits from that Newman’s Own spaghetti sauce will be donated, or that the Children’s Foundation benefited because you got your caffeine fix at Timmies on Camp Day. Practice a little ethical consumption, (no human/animal/environment harmed), or buy directly from a charitable source (UNICEF greeting cards), museum/hospital/zoo gift shop, community thrift shop, or a company-with-a-cause (for every pair of shoes purchased TOMS will give a new pair to a child in need).
Thanks to cause-marketing (businesses team with a charity, sell a product, then donate a portion of sales to the cause) you can help fight breast cancer simply by buying a pink KitchenAid blender, or trot around in new (Red) Chuck Taylor runners happy that Converse donated to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa.
All still a little too much effort for you? Well, if you have a few seconds and can find the strength (and knowing it won’t cost you a cent) direct your computer mouse to a website (The Hunger Site, The Rainforest Site, The Nonprofits) hit the click-to-donate button and get corporate sponsors to donate.
Equally e-easy: re-tweet a charitable tweet request, sign an online petition, and donate your air miles or reward points. (Check rewards program websites including Shoppers Drug Mart, Aeroplan, HBC and most credit card companies).
If “short-term," “low-commitment,” and “spontaneous” appeal to you, consider virtual (online) volunteering, or its high-tech cousin micro-volunteering. Micro-volunteering breaks down complex tasks submitted by non-profits and charities into small increments that are easily spread among many people (crowd-sourcing) who, using either their cell phone or computer, each complete a task that takes very little time—from two minutes to two hours.
At Sparked and Canadian site Koodonation, participants can tailor tasks to their own specific interests, skills, and time constraints. Should you muster the energy to get off the couch and away from your laptop, look for events that waive their regular admission fees in favour of cash or food bank donations. For the price of a can of beans (though surely you’re more generous than that) you could take in a concert, play or lecture. Or, gather the gang and head out to a charity dinner/dance, golf tournament, art auction or trivia night. Sure you’ll be helping raise money and awareness for a good cause, (another reason to feel good about yourself), but more importantly, you’ll have a really great time—and after all, it is all about you, right?
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