Donate Your Holiday

The holidays are approaching, so perhaps you may be feeling especially generous and keen to help out a good cause.

That’s what Holiday Fundraisers are about. Holiday Fundraisers are a small way to make a big difference during the season of giving. And RC Forward makes it easy for Canadians to set up successful holiday fundraisers to support some of the world’s most effective charities.

Why Donate Your Holiday?

No matter what the season, charitable giving is always important, but fundraising during the holidays could multiply your impact.

Setting up a holiday fundraiser is a quick, easy, and effective way to make an impact. Fundraisers take as little as 15 minutes to set up, and peer-to-peer fundraising is one of the most effective ways to raise money for charity.

The most successful holiday fundraisers raise tens of thousands of dollars. However, you don’t need to raise this much money to make an impact—if you choose a high-impact charity, a small amount of money can go a long way. For example, it only costs about $6 to supply a bed net that helps protect a family from malaria through the Against Malaria Foundation, and only $1.50 to supply a child with a deworming tablet to rid them of harmful intestinal worms through the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative.

Not only will you be making an impact on your own, but you’ll also have the opportunity to spread awareness of your favorite charities and maybe inspire your peers to start their own fundraisers, too (according to Nick Cooney’s book Change of Heart).

What Charity Should I Fundraise For?

At Rethink Charity, we want people to make the biggest positive impact that they can. That’s why we created RC Forward: to promote some of the best charities according to evidence and research conducted by charity evaluators such as GiveWell and Animal Charity Evaluators.

Some of our favorite charities include:

• The Against Malaria Foundation. Just $6 CAD can help buy and deliver a mosquito net to a family in an area where malaria is present.
• Schistosomiasis Control Initiative. Just $1.50 CAD will provide deworming pills to 3 children, helping them attend, on average, two additional weeks of school each year.
• GiveDirectly. Donating to GiveDirectly provides unconditional cash transfers to people in rural Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, empowering recipients to make investments that will increase their income and wealth in the long run.
• The Humane League. Donations to the Humane League support hard-hitting corporate campaigns, which reform the way farm animals are treated, as well as education programs that inspire consumers to make more compassionate food choices. Estimates from charity evaluators suggest dozens of animals are helped for every dollar donated.

You can find a complete list of our top charities sorted by cause area here.