Cost Saving Techniques Help Local Charities Focus On Relief Programs

The worst of nature’s fury often brings out the best in people’s generosity toward those affected by disasters. For example, according to national headquarters of the American Red Cross, the organization received more than $2.12 billion from September to December 2005 to help victims of Hurricane Katrina in the south-central United States, with much of the money contributed through local American Red Cross chapters around the country.

What many people may not realize is that 100 percent of those dedicated donations went straight to the national Red Cross organization, creating some unintended fund-raising challenges for local chapters in their ongoing mission to serve the needs of people closer to home.

“Americans were very generous in giving to major national and international relief campaigns throughout the past year,” said Rick Hankins, director of administrative services and information technology for the Greater Cleveland Chapter of the American Red Cross.

“At the same time, events like Hurricane Katrina lead to what we call ‘donor fatigue'; people feel like they’ve already given all they can,” he said. “Meanwhile, there are still between one to three house fires in the greater Cleveland area each night, and we still depend heavily on local donations in order to help those families.”

When local donations dip below expected levels, charitable organizations such as local chapters of the Red Cross must quickly adjust their budgets and reduce expenses wherever possible. One way Hankins and his fellow managers have succeeded at this is through adopting new financial management technology to help them create more accurate budgets with less administrative overhead.

“We’ve switched from compiling budget spreadsheets by hand, which used to take days or weeks, to a Web-based budgeting application called Microsoft Forecaster that automates the entire process,” he said. “By managing our resources more effectively, we can put a bigger slice of every dollar toward helping people in need.”

Other ways the Cleveland-area Red Cross and chapters elsewhere have streamlined their operations include delivering more volunteer training classes online instead of in a classroom, and using the Web and e-mail to reach a larger pool of potential donors at a lower cost compared with regular mail.

“Technology has made a big difference in helping us work smarter,” Hanki
Sometimes I think that they should not be called credit cards. I think that more appropriate nomenclature would be convenience cards or lifestyle cards. Because credit cards do tend to have a lifestyle altering effect.

Without doubt credit cards come in handy at times when you have to suddenly expend above average money. That is where a common application of credit cards is in the form of Christmas shopping. When you are trying to spread that holiday cheer, it sure helps when you have a line of credit in your pocket.

But it is more than that. If you look at all the promotions that are prevalent around Xmas time, you will see that there is more to it that just a line of credit. For instant, given the higher spends that issuers expect, they routinely provide extra Christmas benefits, such as cash back deals, extended warranty coverage programs, extra mileage points and reward programs.

Interestingly, this form of festival cheer is quite the global phenomenon. The US naturally leads in consumer spending. But other countries, for example, Australia, also have amazing deals on credit cards during Christmas.

So let us draw a picture. You have to buy last minute gifts. There are 3 modes that you would use. First off, there is the option of Online Shopping. I especially like the reputed online sellers that guarantee pre-Christmas delivery. Naturally, as expected, you typically need a credit card to make these payments online. There are other payment options, but they too tend to be linked to your credit card.

The second mode of shopping is in store. That is the age-old method of shopping joy, around the year. During festival season, in-store shopping can be a little trying on all of us. That is because; there is all that rush and the checkout counter queues, not to mention the gift-wrapping station queue.

Finally there is the ever-elusive third option. This entails stuff like, mail order, telephonic-order, convenience store, etc. kind of shopping. Once again, the ubiquitous credit card comes into picture.

I guess it is quite compelling. It seems like there really is no Christmas without credit cards. I know that sounds like the height of consumerism right there. But, I am not market-prude. I think that responsible usage of credit cards is one of the greatest instruments of consumer joy.

And what better time to exercise this joy, than in the season of joy? So, when Santa Claus comes calling, make sure to keep all that plastic lined up. If that little remote controlled helicopter costs a little more than expected, make sure to traverse the difference on your plastic money and spread the holiday cheer.

And while we are talking about holiday cheer, why not also consider making a donation this holiday season? And so that this does not make a big dent in your December budget, you can use your plastic currency and ensure that you can pay in easy installments.

All of my enthusiasm should not be mistaken to condone irresponsible credit usage. After all, if it is all about the money, honey, then we better respect the money.