by Rod Williams, Dec 3, 2024- I recently completed by end-of-year giving and was not near as generous this year. I am not sure why, exactly. I just wasn't feeling it.
With the reelection of Donald Trump and seeing the kind of people he is appointing to cabinet positions, I am convinced he will be as much of an authoritarian as I feared he would be. I think that helping thwart this march toward authoritarianism is the most important use I could make of my money, but I don't really know where it is best to spend it.
I do not want any of the money I may contribute going to promote progressive wokeism. I want to support organizations, for example, that will oppose cruel mass deportation and care for left behind orphans, but not organizations that support refusing to turn over criminal aliens to ICE. I want to use my funds to oppose Trumpism and yet not help Wokeism.
I want to support organizations that will help fund opposition to Justice Department persecution of the "enemies within." If Trump's Justice Department goes after Mitt Romney or Liz Channey or other of his critics, I want to contribute to an organization that will defend them in court. I guess I am keeping my powder dry, so to speak, to have the money available to contribute when the crises arrive, and I am hoping organizations will spring up to meet the challenge.
In addition to wanting my money available to thwart Trumpism, I want to promote the ideas of liberty and free markets. I feel this is more important than ever. Several organizations that use to do this have abandoned traditional American conservatism and have become nationalist-populist and part of the Trump cult of personality. I think it is important to fund the organizations that continue to promote free market ideas, constitutionalism, and liberty. Liberty is now threatened from the Trumpian right and the progressive woke left. Those promoting liberty need to be supported.
I don't make a distinction between supporting the cause of freedom and charitable giving. To my way of thinking, there is no better use of my money than in helping to conserve the American Founding. I want to leave the world a better place than I found it and I want future generations to know the blessings of liberty, justice, a free-market economy, and a world not dominated by authoritarian and totalitarian tyrants. I believe freedom is the greatest gift we can leave our descendants.
Below I am listing the organizations I support but in addition to the list below, I have a couple individuals who I financially help. If you have a family member or an acquaintance who you could help, that may be where your charity should begin. If people helped other people directly there would be less demand for the welfare state. Personal giving like this creates a community bond and you know if the recipient is deserving. Often churches help fellow church members in this way. I am not a member of a faith community but think that supporting one's local church can be a good way to give.
Unfortunately, sometimes charity does more harm than it does good, both foreign and domestic charity. A good documentary that makes this point is Poverty Inc. Before giving, I ask myself if this organization just perpetuates dependency, or does it respond to a crisis, or support actions that really help people long-term. Sometimes it is hard to know.
When I give, I want to make sure I am not being scammed and that the organization I support does more than just perpetuate the organization. A lot or organizations spend more money raising money than they do funding their goal. A good source for checking on an organization's efficiency is Charity Navigator and Charity Watch.
Another thing I consider when giving is that I don't want to support and encourage bad behaviors. I never give money to beggars holding signs on the side of the road. In addition to encouraging bad behavior, they may be trying to scam you. I don't want homeless people freezing on the streets, so I support organizations like The Salvation Army and The Nashville Rescue Mission but do not support panhandling.
I also do not contribute money to organizations that insult my values. For several years, I gave money to an organization that saves places of natural beauty in Tennessee and preserves critical habitats. I still think they do a worthwhile job doing what they do. However, in one of their email communications a couple years ago, they went off-topic and expressed their support for Black Lives Matter and pledged a commitment to equity and diversity, and social justice. I support tolerance, equality, and non-discrimination but not modern woke concepts of social justice and equity. I marked them off of my giving list. There was also another organization I stopped supporting for the same reason. I am not going to support any organization whose values I do not share.
In addition to supporting certain organizations, I think in this age of misinformation, and attacks on the press that it is important to support journalism, and I subscribe to much more than I can possibly read. I subscribe to The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. I also subscribe to The Tennessean, but it is not much of a newspaper, but I do not want our city not to have a daily newspaper.
I also subscribe to National Review and a couple other conservative journals that have not succumbed to Trumpism. In addition, I am a paid subscriber to The Bulwark and The Dispatch. I get more than enough of their free stuff on YouTube and newsletters, but I want to support them. Both of these could be described as never-Trumper Republican publications. Not all analysis can fit on in a meme or be expressed in 280 characters. Good analysis and opinion journalism needs to be supported.
If we don't support journalism the truth will suffer, and corruption will flourish. While there are thousands of blogs and podcast and pundits, journalism needs boots on the ground. We need more than just opinions; we need facts. I think subscribing to newspapers is a contribution to a better world and preserving freedom.
If you are looking for a place to give, please consider the following.
Rod's End-of-Year Giving List
The Beacon Center is my favorite non-profit and gets the largest single chunk of my charitable giving. It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and independent organization dedicated to providing expert empirical research and timely free-market solutions to public policy issues in Tennessee. Time and time again, Tennessee is recognized for being one of the most fiscally responsible and economically free states in the union. Much of the credit for these honors is due to the work of the Beacon Center. The Beacon Center has worked to ensure the Right to Work by pushing to overturn professional licensure laws that serve no purpose but to keep out the competition. They have worked to prevent local government from banning work-from-home opportunities like recording studios in homes in Music City. They have stopped local government from forcing homeowners to build public sidewalks when they remodel their home. Beacon is responsible for enshrining the protection against being forced to join a union in the State constitution. Beacon gets much of the credit for the advancement of educational choice in Tennessee. Beacon produces the annual "Pork Report," highlighting the most egregious examples of government waste in Tennessee.
Nashville Rescue Mission: A Christ-centered community committed to helping the hungry, homeless, and hurting by providing programs and services that focus on a person’s entire life-physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, and social. We are devoted to restoring the whole person through a Christian approach that helps the homeless and addicted learn how much God loves them and gain the biblical insight they need to lead a productive life in and for Christ.Guests are cared for in a safe, supportive environment where they can find refuge and rest. Once their basic and immediate needs are addressed, case managers work one-on-one with each person to identify next steps, including healthcare and treatment options with a goal of helping them change unhealthy patterns of behavior.
Nashville Rescue Mission’s Emergency Services Include: FOOD, SHELTER, CLOTHING, HOT SHOWERS AND PERSONAL HYGIENE, COURTYARDS/DAY ROOMS, CASE MANAGEMENT TRANSFORMATIVE PROGRAMS, EDUCATION/TRAINING.
The Mercatus Center: A research center at George Mason University that advances knowledge about how markets solve problems and help us lead happier, healthier, and richer lives. For more than 40 years, Mercatus has supported leading talent and scholarship in the mainline economics tradition, applying rigorous research to real-world concerns. Through our continuing efforts to bridge the gap between theory and practice, we strive to realize a world where markets operate at their full potential to increase abundance, civility, and well-being. Your gift to the Mercatus Center ensures free-market ideas are championed in public policy, the academy, and the broader public discourse. 100% of your donation supports educating tomorrow's academic leaders as well as generating peer-reviewed research on today's most pressing issues.
The Fund for American Studies: (TFAS) is a 501(c)3 educational nonprofit that is changing the world by developing leaders for a free society. Our transformational programs teach the principles of limited government, free-market economics and honorable leadership to students and young professionals in America and around the world.
By offering a portfolio of more than 20 different academic programs, fellowships and seminars, the TFAS Journey helps cultivate future leaders from high school, all the way through to their university studies and professional careers.
Today, there are more than 42,000 TFAS alumni making the difference in their communities and throughout the world by championing the values essential to the preservation and success of a free society.
The Salvation Army has been many things over the years as communities’ needs have changed over the years, but today, the focus of the Nashville Salvation Army is to fight poverty and prevent homelessness in our community through a myriad of comprehensive programs designed to bring a holistic approach to the individual’s or family’s need.
Institute for Justice: IJ is a nonprofit, public interest law firm. Our mission is to end widespread abuses of government power and secure the constitutional rights that allow all Americans to pursue their dreams. Donations to the Institute for Justice enable us to represent our clients at no cost to them—and to stand with them no matter how long their cases take. And when we win for our clients, we secure precedent that protects the rights of all Americans. IJ’s work is powered by nearly 10,000 supporters from across the country who believe in the Constitution and its ideals. 70% of our funding comes from individuals like you. Please join our fight for freedom and justice today.
IJ has been involved in several high-profile fights over the years in Nashville. IJ defended a small music studio owner from efforts of the city to take her property by condemnation for no other purpose than to provide room for expansion of a bigger neighbor. In the pre-ride-share days of Uber and Lyft, IJ defended an innovative entrepreneur who wanted to provide cheaper limo rides. IJ has defended homeowners who wanted to work from home.
The American Enterprise Institute is a public policy think tank dedicated to defending human dignity, expanding human potential, and building a freer and safer world. The work of our scholars and staff advances ideas rooted in our belief in democracy, free enterprise, American strength and global leadership, solidarity with those at the periphery of our society, and a pluralistic, entrepreneurial culture.
The Center Square is conservative but without the rancor, sensationalism, and conspiratorial mindset of what defines many so-called conservative news sources today.
"The Center Square was launched in May 2019 to fulfill the need for high-quality statehouse and statewide news across the United States. The focus of our work is state- and local-level government and economic reporting. A taxpayer sensibility distinguishes our work from other coverage of state and local issues. As a result of this approach, our readers are better informed about the focus of state and local government and its cost to the citizens whose tax dollars fund governmental decisions.
The Center Square is staffed by editors and reporters with extensive professional journalism experience. We engage readers with essential news, data and analysis – delivered with velocity, frequency and consistency. We distribute our journalism through three main channels at no cost to our partners or readers: a newswire service to legacy publishers and broadcasters. The Center Square is a project of the 501(c)(3) Franklin News Foundation, headquartered in Chicago."
Pre-Born provide ultrasound equipment to pro-life pregnancy crisis centers. Data shows that when an expectant mother sees an ultrasound image of her baby and hears the heartbeat, she most often decides to keep the child.
National Review Institute. Your support ensures that NRI will continue to preserve and promote the legacy of William F. Buckley Jr. and advance the conservative principles he championed: limited government, free markets, individual liberty, personal responsibility, a strong national defense, and the rule of law. As the Republican Party and other conservative organization abandon their core values, it is more important than ever that these ideas be promoted.
Foundation of Economic Freedom. FEE's mission is to inspire, educate, and connect future leaders with the economic, ethical, and legal principles of a free society. These principles include: individual liberty, free-market economics, entrepreneurship, private property, high moral character, and limited government. Here are some highlights from 2021: We broke a world record for the largest online economics lecture. We made 95 mainstream media appearances. Our videos received 11 MILLION views and over 1.8 MILLION shares. On TikTok, we went from reaching 65,000 people to over 2 MILLION in just seven months! We reached over 83 MILLION Gen Z online.
Americans for Prosperity Tennessee: AFP’s grassroots, policy, government affairs, communications, political, and education and training capabilities make us the best organization to change the policy landscape in America.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget is a nonpartisan, non-profit organization committed to educating the public on issues with significant fiscal policy impact. Our bipartisan leadership comprises some of the nation's leading budget experts, including many past heads of the House and Senate Budget Committees, the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Government Accountability Office.
As an independent source of objective policy analysis, we regularly engage policymakers of both parties and help them develop and analyze proposals to improve the country’s fiscal and economic condition. These efforts have reinforced the Committee’s role as an authoritative voice for fiscal responsibility and an educational resource for policymakers and the general public. We are also a trusted budget watchdog that assists journalists across the country in understanding fiscal developments in Washington.
In 2023, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget sought to educate and engage the public, policymakers, and the media about the major fiscal issues facing our nation from the debt ceiling negotiations and passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act to the looming insolvency of our nation’s trust funds. We also launched US Budget 2024, which seeks to bring transparency and accountability to the presidential campaign by analyzing the total cost and savings from each major candidate’s policy agenda.
American Interprise Institute: The American Enterprise Institute is a public policy think tank dedicated to defending human dignity, expanding human potential, and building a freer and safer world. The work of our scholars and staff advances ideas rooted in our belief in democracy, free enterprise, American strength and global leadership, solidarity with those at the periphery of our society, and a pluralistic, entrepreneurial culture.
I am going to wrap this up but other organizations to which I contribute, and you may want to consider include these:
- The Hoover Institute
- Insititute for Humane Studies
- CATO Institute
- American Institute for Economic Research
- National Association of Scholars
Top Stories
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment