At one of the morning kickoff sessions at the recent Childless Collective Summit, organizer Katy thanked those who had paid for an extended access package, giving them access to all the presentations for up to a full year (as well as other exclusive perqs) after an initial 24-hour free period. (Packages are still available, by the way!) She confessed that she felt uncomfortable making sales pitches (me too!) -- but explained that she had used her own money, not to mention hours & hours of her spare time (while holding down a full-time job) to organize the summit, mostly unassisted. Ten per cent of the profits from the extended access packages were donated to the Black Women's Health Imperative. Katy also said she planned to use any leftover funds to provide some compensation to the 28 speakers who offered their time and services for the summit, and additional goodies perqs for the extended access passholders.
I thought Katy did a great job in providing some free access for all, balanced with extended access for a fee (and told her so in the comments). I bought one of the extended access passes, in part because I doubted I would be able to watch all of the things I wanted to see within the 24-hour free timeframe (and I was right!) -- but also because I'd like to see more such summits in the future, and because I've become much more conscious lately of where I want to direct my money and support.
Throughout my adult/working life, I've made donations to various organizations and causes. I've made memorial donations when loved ones have passed away to organizations such as the Canadian Cancer Society and Alzheimer's Society, as requested. I handed out money to almost every neighbourhood kid who knocked on the door of my house, selling chocolate bars for their school or asking me to sponsor them for Jump Rope for Heart at their school, or the Terry Fox Run, or to buy their Girl Guide cookies. I had monthly deductions taken from my paycheque for many years to support our local United Way, which funds a number of great local initiatives. I made regular donations to both of my alma maters (asking that the funds be used specifically to support student life at the residence where I lived during my four years of undergrad, and the journalism program I attended in graduate school). When we went to church regularly (cough), we signed up for giving via regular envelopes (and received a tax receipt in return at the end of the year). I gave money regularly to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD Canada) for several years, because too many people in my life have had their lives negatively affected -- or ended altogether -- by drunk drivers. And dh & I were longtime regular donors to the pregnancy loss support group that we attended as clients and then volunteered with as facilitators for 10 years.
When both of us lost our jobs (in 2013 & 2014), we immediately looked for ways to pare down our expenses until we figured out what our new financial situation would look like -- and as a result, we stopped making most of our usual donations. We're now both retired/pensioners (!), and while we are living quite comfortably in retirement, our resources are not unlimited. We've been able to resume making some donations, and I'm still giving money to larger/more established charities from time to time. But (as we used to say in the corporate world), I'm trying to be "more strategic" these days -- to give some thought about where I want to direct my funds and why, and to make more, smaller, meaningful donations to the causes that I (and the people I love) care about the most.
For example, one of my best friends from high school lost her daughter in a tragic car accident a little over a year ago (mentioned here). She loved animals, and her family has set up a scholarship fund that helps send local kids to spring break/summer camp run by the local humane society. I've donated to the fund on my own, as well as together with my high school classmates.
Another friend -- a former blogger and childless mom like me -- established a charity in memory of her neighbour and good friend who died of cancer. Every month, she and a group of friends get together (via Zoom these days, in person during pre-COVID times) to knit & crochet for good causes. Over the past nine years, they've donated more than 1,500 "chemo caps" for cancer patients and 1,100 infant loss items, such as tiny hats and receiving blankets, for local hospitals. I don't knit or crochet, but it's a great cause I wanted to support, and I love to help out by making occasional cash donations to help purchase yarn and embellishments.
I've been looking for ways to support the childless community as well. Besides paying for an extended access pass to the recent summit, I'm a paid member of the private online Gateway Women community, which supports the wonderful work that Jody Day, Karin Enfield-deVries and Gateway Women have been doing for the past decade to support childless women around the world and to change the cultural conversation about childlessness. (The first month of community membership is free, and there are several different membership levels available.) Gateway Women has also launched a 10th anniversary appeal and you can now make direct donations through its website!
I'm a big fan of The Full Stop podcast for childless-not-by-choicers, and they have a feature on their website where you can buy them a "Ko-fi," which I have done in the past (and intend to do again). I'd love to buy a coffee for any & all of the three wonderful hosts, but I'm sure they will appreciate a virtual Ko-fi even more!
It's not exactly a donation (more of an investment), but because (as a former journalist and communicator) I strongly believe in the value of quality journalism (and because I'm a news junkie who often hits the paywall on the first day of the month, lol), I have digital subscriptions to 5 (!) daily newspapers -- The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Toronto Star, The Wall Street Journal (I get access to the WSJ with my Star subscription) and The Globe & Mail (plus several paper magazines). I currently have free subscriptions to several Substack newsletters by some excellent women/feminist writers -- all of which offer at least some free content -- and am considering upgrading to paid subscriptions for at least a few of those.
I like free stuff as much as the next person ;) -- and the Internet has been great (almost too great, I think) in giving us free access to so, so much information and entertainment and ways to connect with others. If we had to start paying for all the stuff we've become accustomed to getting for free, we'd have some very hard decisions to make. (There are only so many digital news and Substack subscriptions and online streaming services that I can afford -- or make good use of...!)
But "free" is never completely free -- someone somewhere is paying for it, if not with money then certainly in terms of time and effort. And I think that if we enjoy and appreciate what they do, we need to support them however we can -- with "likes" and "shares" and comments, with volunteer hours, and sometimes with our dollars, too.
What are some of your favourite causes to support?
Love this, so much. I believe in putting money where my beliefs are too, and you've given me some new ideas! I do united way too, and the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester (local services and research), and basically tithe to Planned Parenthood. I also have monthly giving to a community fund for our city school district, Foodlink, NAACP's legal defense fund, and Michael J Fox's foundation for Parkinson's. We send two kids (something 3) anonymously to the 8th grade D.C. trip when not in a pandemic. I feel like I am privileged to be financially comfortable and secure, so I should use that privilege to support programs that are meaningful to me. Whoa to all your digital subscriptions! I have NYT and Washington Post. I'm also a sucker for door to door fundraisers. 😜
ReplyDeleteLike you, we've had to pare back since we both have been unemployed. So our donations have fallen to match. But like you, I am still aware of my privilege, and want to support organisations that I can, as I can. I did a lot in the decade through to 2013 (when D lost his job and I seemed to hit my use-by date) - sponsored a child in Malawi, spent years of my life as a daily volunteer with the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, donated to charities, and subscribed to newspapers etc. It's much harder now, but I always make an effort to give to Cystic Fibrosis, Women's Refuge, cancer charities, and others that appeal to me at the time, because I know that even with low income, I have a safe roof over my head (except in gale force winds when it rattles and feels less safe!), and live a privileged life.
ReplyDeleteI got a NYT subscription last year at a special rate of US$2/month, but it must be due to run out soon, which is a bit of a worry, because working in US$ or Euro or GBP is never fun from an NZ$ base. But I have loved having access to it. And I've donated to The Guardian to continue getting free news access. We are one of the few people I know who still subscribe to our local newspaper - we have a digital subscription, and we actually get a physical newspaper on Saturdays! I do it because I want to support them - and because I want to get news that is curated for me, not determined by my clicks. I'm not sure how long we will keep that though.