What do you mean, donate my fee?
Everyone has a cause which is close to their heart. Whether it's a medical research group, or a school, or a charity, we all look for ways to help. Donating money and volunteering time are always an option but is that the best we can do?
Unless you are independently wealthy, the financial aid you can provide is limited. Volunteering time is a better option but only if that time is put to the best possible use. If you're like me, and I believe like many professionals, your skills are your most valuable asset. A successful lawyer, for example, could volunteer his time serving food in a soup kitchen or offering his legal services. Obviously the latter option is a better use of his time but what if the soup kitchen has no need for legal services?
This is the question I answered for myself when I started DonateMyFee. I was often approached for advice or small projects in my field but wasn't setup to give invoices for moonlighting gigs so I'd turn them away. Instead, I decided to accept but ask that the fees be paid directly to charity. It's a win-win approach, I explained. The company gets the job done and a tax deduction for the donation while I get to raise money for a good cause without the overhead of an accountant and income taxes.
Why should you donate your fees?
- Raise 30-50% more money than if you would donate from your net income, after taxes, operating overhead, your employer's profit, etc.
- Raise awareness for your charity by introducing your potential clients to your preferred cause.
- Expand your professional horizons by accepting projects you wouldn't normally accept.
How do you join?
To join DonateMyFee.org:
- Fork the yruss972/donatemyfee repository on Github.
- In your fork, add a subdirectory with your personal profile, cause, contact information, etc. There is an example.profile directory that you can copy and modify if you want to get started quickly.
- If you would like to be listed on the Volunteers or Charities pages, include the additions in your pull request as well.
- Lastly, make a pull request against the yruss972/donatemyfee repository
Your pull request will be reviewed and once approved, you can start referring clients. If you would like, you can also get a forwarding email address @donatemyfee.org
If you aren't tech savy, create a new issue here and someone will be in touch to help create a page for you.
Click to see who's already joined.
Disclaimer
- Volunteers & Charities listed on DonateMyFee.org are not endorsed or recommended by DonateMyFee.org in any way.
- All arrangements between volunteers, their charities, and their clients are the volunteers' sole responsibilities.