What charities do you give do? Which are you involved in?

[kddani]

Originally posted by Rudey
One had an established Senior Board. They wanted to get younger professionals involved because they really cared about it (and wanted others to) and I joined when the Junior Board was being established. Since I joined so early on I was exposed quite a bit to how the Board chose to define its mission. I'm happy that board had such an excellent President to lead it and dedicate so much time to it.

Another board I guess I could say I worked my way up in. Board membership for this is a formality but I don't think I'm different than any long-term volunteer or donor.

I think a major component to board memberships is how much money you can bring in. A lot of board members volunteer or raise awareness, but what separates you from the volunteers is if you can bring in that cash. Usually it's written into the bylaws how much you are responsible for and some people may want to stick to volunteering for that reason. Someone asked that I join a Senior Board but I couldn't afford it. And I've seen a lot of people just drop out of these boards which shows they didn't really think about it when they joined.

And a lot of board members usually serve with other boards so I guess once you get going with one, the next thing you know you're asked to join another and another and another. You start getting emails about fundraisers every week and have no idea which of your friends is in which or why half of these charities even exist.

http://www.boardnetusa.org/ may have something you might be interested in. A lot of charities have Junior Boards for people our age if you're interested but it's not the same as volunteering or donating to.

-Rudey

Thanks, Rudey. Ultimately I would like to serve on a BOD of an organization someday, but as you said, being young and not being able to bring in the $$$ isn't going to work. I'm fairly familiar with how nonprofits are run from a legal standpoint thanks to a class in nonprofit orgs. Many people who get involved don't really realize what it entails.

I'll have to check out that message board, thanks.