MuseClouds

You know those things you take for granted, but so many people don’t even dream about? Or those specific causes that are so dear to your heart? Although you can take action to help those in need, specially when they are right around you, sometimes it’s not an easy thing to do when you want to help missions or causes that are simply beyond your reach. In the latter case, your only option may be giving, be it money or things.  However, with the growing number of charities, trusts and non-profit organizations, as well as the dark stories behind some of them, it’s important to know them the better you can. If you enjoy giving for a purpose, then you want your donations to be wisely used.

To help you give with confidence, Charity Navigator was founded in 2001 with an expert team of analysts that periodically evaluates tens of thousands of non-profit financial documents. This way, they can help you in evaluating how each organization is really using the raised money. This will make everyone a more responsible donor. So, if you enjoy giving, you should really visit Charity Navigator. You’ll be amazed with what you’ll find.

A beautiful and inspiring venture by a young girl named Cassidy. Back in July 2006 she started a blog with a mission: sell Playful Pancakes, a cool name for handmade toys for cats, and giving all the money to Kids for Kids, an organization that helps poor children living in Darfur and Sudan, by buying goats. This is an amazing and sustainable idea that can really make a difference, regarding their specific needs:

Kids for Kids lends 6 goats to a family for 2 years - providing milk for the children, and forming the nucleus of a little flock. They agree not to sell the Kids for Kids goats and they sign an undertaking to care for them in trust - but the kids are theirs. After 2 years they pass on 6 first born offspring to another family in need. And so on. Donating even one little goat makes an enormous difference because its offspring will go to another family, and another.

When the project started, each Playful Pancake sale was enough to buy a goat, but with the ongoing inflation and a new lower pancake sales price of $14, they now need 3 pancakes to do so. The project has moved on to a new website and domain and, as of April 2008, they have bought 250 goats. So, please give Cassidy a visit and, who knows, you might end helping her in this important mission too! And not having a cat is not an excuse. Playful Pancakes are great for dogs too!