Monday, January 18, 2010

Matching Donations an Ideal Response

The Canadaian government's decision to match individual donations to relief efforts in Haiti dollar for dollar is an ideal response to the disaster in Haiti. I heard about it in church yesterday and we'll be having a special collection next Sunday for the relief efforts.

We've all seen the images coming back from Haiti and it's clear it will take a very long time to clean up the mess. It's one thing for governments to make grand announcements about funding, and to provide immediate military support (both have their place) but nothing can replace the effect that dedicated volunteers can have especially when the agencies or ministries they are with are already active in the area. The government's announcement will ensure that the charities Canadians believe are doing the best work will get the funding they need.

If your debating giving to a relief effort consider the enormous bang for your buck. A $100 donation means the government will chip in $100, plus give you a tax refund of $40. As far as I'm concerned the decision of whether to give is easy, the questions are "how much?" and "which charity is in the best position to do the most good?"

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It's also very democratic.
If you want the government to give more money to the relief effort then simply give more money yourself and you also get to send the government portion to the charity of YOUR choice.

Stan