There are hundreds of ways that you can spend those well-earned dollars of yours. Take a family trip to Disney, invest in your future, buy a house, improve your house, enhance your wardrobe, eat like a king, and I really could go on and on. As craft-sellers (at least for me), we work REALLY hard for each and every penny that we earn (it is not an easy business that we have entered into). Most of those pennies that I earn, are pre-purposed for fill my children’s tummies. As far as my money in concerned, there really isn’t any extra for giving to other people or organizations. However, I can and often have donated my craft products. I give paintings to people going through a difficult time, it’s a personal gift to cheer them up. I have given hats or scarfs to people who are undergoing an illness or other life-altering circumstance, to offer soft comfort amongst the chaos. I also give finished crafts to fund-raisers as auction items for helping different organizations earn money.
Why would I waste my time, energy, effort, and materials by “giving away” my products? Well, there are five good reasons that I can think of:
- Tax deductions. I can get fully re-reimbursed for the amount that I spend on making whatever it is that I donate. Personally, I don’t even try to deduct my donations for tax reasons, but you most certainly CAN.
- Increased branding. Oftentimes there are hundreds of people who will at least be looking at my products. EXPOSURE! How many of these people are going to want some of my products (they can’t ALL win the auction). Plus, how many of these people are going to be impressed with my product and spread the word on to others?
- Help others. I know that we have all been in a situation where we have needed the assistance of others. Well, now you are in a position to pay it forward, so to speak, and assist someone else as you have been assisted.
- It has been commanded. Acts 20:35 “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said, ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive.'”
- It just makes you feel good. You are doing something nice for other people and when you do that, there really isn’t anything bad that can come from it. So, you lose a little bit of money, chances are, you aren’t losing too much in the form of profit.
Adopting a child is expensive, it’s all of the costs of having a baby except without any insurance. I like to give to an organization that assists Christian families in overcoming these costs. It is called Sacred Selections. It is a nonprofit, run by individuals, and several different benefits are held all over the US at different times throughout the year. I have donated crocheted hats, flower clips, lacy socks, bow-ties, and scarfs to four different locations, two of them I have donated to twice. If you are interested in checking this cause out a little more, just go to their website HERE.
What organization have you donated to, and why? If you haven’t done so in the past, I strongly encourage you to find a cause that you are interested in, and figure out how you can use your crafting skills to make a difference.
Family Bugs Crochet Designs 