Read more on PR Web:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/online/giving/prweb1132214.htm

But more than what she does and where she communicates her cause, Christine is an “agent” for change. She shared with my team and myself a short story that I feel is worth mentioning.

Years ago when Christine was working on here career and moving up the corporate ladder she decided to make a life change. She and her husband decided to backpack “around” the world. Within several months of seeing the world, experiencing new cultures and changing her points of view she discovered something wonderful, her new self.

What I took from her short story is that she decided to serve others and find ways to perpetuate “charity” and social change. She is now actively engaged in a good cause with her involvement with SocialActions.com. She’s full of passion and just as full of ideas on how to increase “good”.

We are excited to have met Christine and hope we can help her continue her journey that she started with that first step when she left “everything” to explore her new life.

Thanks for the hour of your life you donated to us today. We’ll use it wisely!

Definition of Philanthrocapitalism:
Not found on Dictionary.com as a “real” word. Here is the best definition to describe it. Harnessing business and the market to the goals of social change. “Philanthropy” Means: altruistic concern for human welfare and advancement, usually manifested by donations of money, property, or work to needy persons, by endowment of institutions of learning and hospitals, and by generosity to other socially useful purposes.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/philanthropy

The argument:
Philanthrocapitalist supporters believe that business principles can be successfully combined with the search for social transformation. Many philanthropists’ such as Warren Buffet, Bill and Melinda Gates and Gordon and Betty Moore are giving billions to charity but doing it in a manner to which they are accustomed. Their wealth has given them the ability to give the way they choose. The fact is the “wealthy” and financially cautious people generate and manage their money and charitable donations differently than the average donor (in general). Some reasons for this may include tax consequences, budget restraints and business methods. To be a “Philanthrocapitalist” is to recognize money is a resource that can be-re generated and not given all away at once.

Re-generated money for charity:
How can money be re-generated, then used for charitable purposes? The wealthy and financially educated have discovered the secret of growing money. They have discovered that planting many seeds will grows many trees which will bare much fruit. They realized long ago that if they gave all their seeds away they would not grow enough trees to bare fruit. Instead they grow as many trees as they can and when it’s financially prudent to do so they give of their fruit. Philanthrocapitalists know how to generate money for their good deeds without giving up the “farm” of trees!

Definition of Nonprofit: 1. Not established for the purpose of making a profit; not entered into for money: a nonprofit institution. 2. a nonprofit organization, institution, corporation, or other entity.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Nonprofit

The Argument:
Those against Philanthrocapitalism believe that Nonprofit organizations should be the only organizations to support charitable causes. Their concern is that capitalism is meant for profit and Nonprofit organizations are meant to serve without the benefit of profiting.

Serving without the expectation of gain:
The 1 + million registered Non profit organizations in the U.S. are designed to fulfill a cause and purpose without an expectation of “profit”. They can, within the law support their fiscal responsibilities and compensate people for their efforts within the Nonprofit rules and guidelines. Those against Nonprofits being the only ones to serve do not realize what great expense and effort a Nonprofit exhausts to stay in existence. When other organizations take money from their donor base it weakens their ability to function or even survive.

My Opinion:
I am a firm believer in change. Our world, laws and methods change daily. We all need to concern ourselves with who makes and controls the “rules” but I feel we should not be concerned about change.

Currently Nonprofit organizations all around the world are serving with such grit, determination and love and the way Nonprofits work today is different then how they worked 20 years ago. They had to change and adapt and have done (on the most part) a great job of it.

In the U.S. we are seeing record breaking donations given to charitable causes. Over $306 billion dollars was given in 2007 to U.S. based Nonprofits (Churches, Schools, Private and Public charities). Billions of which were given by Philanthrocapitalists. And I am glad we have that extra money  that may have never been given to charity at all. There are millions of people now being helped by those contributions and I applaud the Philanthrocapitalists that “signed the checks”.

I will not descriminate against a Philanthrocapitalist or a Nonprofit for what good they do as long as they do good. Nor will I discriminate against an individual as long as they do good. I judge them by their “fruits”.

Thank you God!
I am publicly thanking God for giving me the freedom to work in the field of charitable services. I wake up everyday with the enthusiasm of a plow horse ready and eager to go to work no matter what the “field” looks like.

Thank you volunteer
We at uPlej solute you the charitable volunteer that works for the less fortunate and those in need. You are giving a form of freedom to those you serve. We thank you for your tireless and sometimes unappreciated and unnoticed efforts. We notice and recognize your service!

Happy independence day to all of you, whom ever you are and where ever you may live. Remember, you don’t have to be “American” to celebrate this day of independence and freedom.

The goal:
Our goal is to instruct, educate and motivate our members to use uPlej and to build their networks! We realized that each and every one of our members are the life blood of the service and that we need to reach out and educate and be educated. Below are emails from a few of our fine members. In the future we have plans to have various people call our members. We can’t let the cat out of the bag on who might be calling but it will be cool, trust me! Join uPlej today, you never know who might call!

uPlej member email.

Nate -

I just wanted to tell you that it was such an awesome surprise to hear from you by phone yesterday! I told one of my friends about you giving me a call, & she just goes, “NO WAY! That beats like every celeb story out there!” So I just wanted to thank you again for the phone call. I also got an e-mail from someone at uplej saying that they were going to try & help me with my account…

Colleen D.
Somerville, MA

Another email from one of our uPlej members.

Greetings, David!

I received your voice mail today. Thanks so much for the call!
I hope in the near future we’ll have an opportunity to brainstorm
some ideas for increasing our fundraising connections….

…When I saw your MS announcement on your uPlej page, I wept. I wanted to do something, I wanted action! I just didn’t know how to reach out so I gave the way I was able and that was through uPlej.

You are an inspiration to me.

Again, thanks for the phone call today. I look forward to speaking
with you in the future.

Best wishes,
Arlene A.

Thank you so much Colleen and Arlene for making a difference in the world, we love you gals!

It’s from an article I found on “Times Online”.

Money can’t buy you love (but it can make you happy)
Mark Henderson - Science Editor
March 21, 2008.

Money can buy happiness – when you spend it on other people, scientists have discovered.

Research in Canada and the United States has suggested that, while happiness is not greatly affected by higher incomes or financial windfalls, it is significantly influenced by the amount that people give away.

The more people donate to charity or buy gifts for loved ones or friends, the more likely they are to feel better about themselves, a team led by Elizabeth Dunn, of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, has found.

The results applied when the sums involved were large or small. Even when people were given amounts as low as $5 (£2.50), they became measurably happier when they gave some of it away. “Regardless of how much income each person made, those who spent money on others reported greater happiness,” said Dr Dunn.

“These findings suggest that very minor alterations in spending allocations – as little as $5 – may be enough to produce real gains in happiness on a given day.”

Read the full article here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article3593605.ece

If you want to be happier, join uPlej!

Late last week uPlej was faced with an opportunity to help an “Angel”, Cassie Cox. We were informed of her fight with Cancer and an event that was held last Saturday to raise money to pay some of her medical bills. We sat in our board room with heavy hearts trying to figure out how to help.

The Dilemma
uPlej’s mission is to help everyone and anyone we can. We were given the chance to use our uPlej service to help Cassie but it became very apparent that at this particular event we could have become a distraction instead of a help. Cassie’s Mom was interested in joining uPlej but we could not figure out a way to get the funds directly to Cassie while complying with the IRS guidelines that uPlej must adhere to.

The Rules
uPlej is not able (based on IRS guidelines) to tell a charity to allocate their donation specifically to an individual, project or anything that does not fit the “purposes” the 501 (C) 3 was licensed to do. All we can do is help a Public 501 (c) 3 raise money for their general account and what they do with that money is up to them.

So, instead of disrupting what Cassie and her parents were trying to do and try to fit the uPlej model and benefits into their event, we simply supported her by being there and donating ourselves. David Osmond donated his talent and spoke to the audience and made our small contributions to Cassie’s cause.

It’s not tax deductible
The money donated by each person at the event was not tax deductible and no one cared! They simply supported Cassie and had a great time. In fact there are many causes that we donate money for that are not tax deductible. Isn’t it great?

Getting credit for donating time or money can be very satisfying for our self esteem and personal welfare. But it’s also good to stay anonymous and not worry about you and just give to others without the worry that you will not get the credit.

Nate and David Osmond’s Grandmother, Olive Osmond once said;

“It’s amazing what we can do when we don’t care who gets the credit”

Please Give
With that said, I’d like to invite you to support Cassie. Listed below is her story and her need. Please help in any way you can. Don’t worry about the tax deduction (because it’s probably not deductible) because no amount of tax credit will ever replace how you feel inside for giving without the need for recognition!

Cassie
Cassie was diagnosed June 12, 2004 with a Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma (Brain Tumor) located in an inoperable place in front of her brain stem. She is undergoing chemotherapy for the third time in four years. The doctors are trying to keep it from growing and buying time to allow her to mature before she will eventually have to undergo radiation therapy. The tumor has already affected her eyesight with some blind spots in her left field of vision. This has not deterred Cassie from her love of reading which is a favorite pastime. Cassie is a friendly, enthusiastic and energetic girl who also loves to play with her sister, her friends, pretend numerous things with her creative imagination and learn about animals.

Cassie states her dreams and aspirations are to be a missionary for the LDS Church when she is old enough, become an artist so she can make beautiful things, and a doctor in order to help other people as she has been helped because she has come to love the doctors and staff at Primary Children’s Medical Center.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Make a donation to the “Cassie Cox Cancer Fund” at any Mountain America Credit Union in Utah.

According to the IRS for the period from October 1, 2006 through September 30, 2007 the IRS received 85,771 applications for recognition of Section 501 (c) (3) status. With the average cost to create a “charity” running about $5,000 per, that would add up to over $425 million dollars spent in legal and administration fees.

So maybe, just maybe we can stop creating charities and just donate that money to charity itself! I’m a little upset at that stat! Because if you take even a few years of those stats we’re talking almost a billion dollars that could have simply been given to a good cause.

Online fund raising soars

Good news is online fund raising soared by a median of 42 percent last year at the nation’s biggest charities. Let’s just hope that more people will realize they can effect a change in “their world” by not having to start a “charity” and just donate their $5,000 online!

]]> http://blog.uplej.com/425-million-dollars-for-charity/feed/ http://blog.uplej.com/money-where-our-mouth-is/ http://blog.uplej.com/money-where-our-mouth-is/#comments Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:12:10 +0000 Jeff Crane http://blog.uplej.com/?p=28

I’ve been meaning to write this blog for a while regarding the results of the $5,000 charity giveaway uPlej promoted.

We ran a contest from February 2008 to May 2008. The contest allowed uPlej.com visitors the chance to nominate their favorite charity for a chance for that charity to win $5,000 (none of the money went to the contest entrant).

The 5 Score Foundation was nominated by former Utah Mr. Basketball Matt Bowman, who is the Marketing Director for Novell and a member of Utah Valley Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

uPlej presented a check to 5 Score on May 28th, at the first annual Utah Valley 24-Hour Race in Orem, Utah. Matt and his wife were in attendance along with about 125 other people. 5 Score Foundation who’s mission is to help provide Utah Valley’s youth with more access to local sports programs and scholarships received a check for $5,000 that day.

I am very happy to report our efforts without seeming too boastful which is hard to do. I’m more happy that I can deliver on my promise and my commitment I’ve made to all U.S. public 501 C (3) charities and my commitment to the community.

There are many times in my life that I have not put my “money” where my mouth is. Some people may feel the same as I do and if you are one of those, my suggestion is to celebrate your achievements because they will re-enforce future achievements.

Newspapergrl as she is known signed up for uPlej a few days ago to support her favorite cause and now is a “uPlejer”. I am constantly surprised when people that I respect sign up for uPlej like Janet, Mark Shurtleff the Attorney General of Utah and Thurl Bailey ex basketball great to name a few.

My perception has been all along that uPlej is going to improve and change the lives of the uPlej members, charities and the recipients of the money the charities use to do good. Perception in this case is becoming reality!