Charities help people survive, both the donors and the recipients.
So why create a small charity when there are over 3.3 million registered charities always begging for your money? Why not just give to Red Cross or March of Dimes or American Lung Association or the Wishing Well Foundation or the NAACP or American Forest Association or Bob Larsen Ministries or - well, you get the idea. There are plenty of seemingly worthy charities already all set up to help people.
But then why do we have so very many working poor, so very many homeless people, and so very many people who only need a little help? Why aren't they getting that little bit of help?
It's because these are the people who often fall between the cracks of other, larger charities. They need help, but they earn pennies too much to qualify and those agencies' hands are tied because of government regulations. They may live in the wrong "jurisdiction" or "parish" to get help. They may own to much Stuff. They may not have been in need long enough to fulfill their mandated requirements. Or they may have too many needs and so no agency will help them.
Some agencies really want to help others, but they've become formalized institutions and they depend upon government money (read: our tax dollars) to stay in business so they have to follow the regulations laid down by disinterested parties - often harsh and rigid regulations. If they make an exception, they could lose a lot of money.
There are so many people who only need a little bit of help. Someone needs help paying an electric bill because they had to buy an expensive prescription earlier to heal their sick spouse and the electric bill went up without warning and now they can't pay it. In a month, they'd be fine, but right now, they're hurting. Where can they get that help?
In times past, they could go to a family member, or their religious leader, or their community leader and ask for help and it would be there. But America is so mobile that many people no longer belong to the religions or communities in which they grew up, their families may be far away or even non-existent, they may be new to the city and haven't formed connections yet - or may never form connections because their job keeps them relocating every 2 years. But they're in desperate need right now. Where can they go?
Nowhere, really. Most churches have stopped giving that sort of small assistances to anyone not tithing to them. Most charities only help in large ways. They may make too much money to qualify for one month's worth of food stamps so they can't rob their food to pay their electric bill. Homes are often all electric so they have no other bills they can divert or pay halves on to get by until their next paycheck.
Or what about the person who changed jobs and is now in that nebulous dangerous area between their last paycheck and the delayed first paycheck of their new job? They need gas money to get to work so they can earn that paycheck, but they've already used up the last paycheck they got - which, given how some businesses pay, could have been 6 weeks ago and it could be another 6 weeks before they get their first paycheck. They don't qualify for food stamps because they technically make too much money. They don't qualify for a food bank because they technically make too much money. They don't qualify for commodities because they don't qualify for food stamps. They don't qualify for welfare assistance because they have a job, even if they haven't gotten that first paycheck yet. They don't qualify for anything because they are in the cracks between what most charities will do for them and they have no community to support them.
So what do they do?
Many of them can maybe float a loan from their boss. It gives a bad impression and they may lose their job over it. But that's one option. They can knock on doors and beg. They can pawn Stuff - but pawnshops are stuffed full of things and can be choosy about what they take - they may not have anything pawn-worthy. They can lose their home because if their electricity or water is shut off for more than a set length of time, the city can evict them (a week in some places, a month or two in others, it depends) even if they are current on their rent or mortgage.
Or they can find someone who is running a small charity for help.
Maybe all they need is a sympathetic ear and a sandwich. In talking, they'll discover options they didn't realize they had and can use them. Maybe they need $100 to pay that electric bill, or $25 to buy that prescription. Maybe they need the money for a deposit. It's not a lot they need, but it's more than they currently have.
Small charities fill a vital bridging function. They fill in the cracks where larger charities don't quite touch, let alone overlap.
Starting a small charity is easy.
All you have to do is identify a need and find a way to fill it.
Keith Taylor wanted to do something to directly help people and decided instead of tithing to his church, he'd give that money to people who needed it. Now Modest Needs has become a large network of people donating cash to those who need a modest bit of help.
To get a feel for small charities, read Intelligent Giving, Lady Liberty League, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The $5 Project, or Donor Power Blog, or similar blogs and websites. You can learn a lot from them about what kinds of charities are needed and how to set one up yourself or if you want to join someone else's effort.
I think it's all good to help outside your community because ultimately, we are all connected. But it's also important to help intimately inside your community. Do you get heavy snowfalls? Do you have elderly neighbors or a young single parent who struggle to shovel their walks? Why not just do it for them? That's a charity effort right there.
Does your area have frequent storms and power outrages that last days or weeks? Being prepared for that (perhaps with a generator?) and sharing your power with your neighbors who need it is an act of charity.
Did a storm rip up trees and scatter debris? Instead of waiting for "the city" to come clean it up, why not start cleaning things up yourself? Even if you don't have a chain saw, you can clean up and stack the small stuff and tidy things up.
Do you know hungry people who have trouble keeping food because they have nowhere safe to keep it (usually homeless people, but those who "couch-surf" are also in this situation - they technically have a place to live, but it's not their place and all they may own is what's in their backpack or car)? Why not plant guerrilla gardens they can harvest and eat? Or organize a Soup or Sandwich Day where you make up soup or sandwiches and give them away? If you know a couch-surfer, invite them to dinner. Or host a Picnic in the Park near where a lot of homeless people gather and make them welcome to eat with you (this is best done in a group so there's lots of food brought potluck by the givers and lots of food for the homeless to "crash" the picnic).
Creating your own small charity is the easiest thing in the world to do.
Identify a need. It can be anything you want - rescuing stray chihuahuas, keeping a park clean, guerrilla gardening, setting out bird or deer feeders in wilderness areas, giving away coupons for free things (meals, haircuts, hotel rooms, even air miles...), or teaching skills of various sorts - from art lessons to resume writing, from wildcrafting to spiritual survival. There are so many opportunities to help others.
Once you identify the need, find a way you can fill that need. Do you grow a garden that overflows with produce? Why not teach others how you garden? Do you have culinary skills to use up odds and ends of food? Why not teach a class of food frugality? Do you see stray animals who need help? Why not set aside a room or build a place for them and rehome them? If you have a vet, s/he may help you with this even if that help is just posting on a bulletin board in the waiting room.
Once you have a need and a way to fill it, all you have to do is do it.
You don't need anyone's permission to help others. You don't have to belong to a special organization. You don't have to be affiliated with a major charity. You don't have to fill out government forms and apply for licenses to reach out to your neighbors to help them.
All you have to do is do it.
It's just you, and maybe a few friends, going out and making life better for others.
No formal organization, no boards of directors, no rules, no one dictating whom you help or why or when. It's on your terms, using your resources.
You can fill in the cracks. You can make a difference. And if your idea grows beyond just you, and maybe a friend or two, and others want to join in, that's when you start thinking about government forms and licenses and such. If your charity never gets that big, it's just something you do because you want to, that's perfectly fine. You don't have to "grow" your charity, you don't have to formalize it or incorporate or do anything except give help to others.
And you don't need permission from anyone to do it.