Monday, August 31, 2015
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Corporate Philanthropy and the Companies Giving
When most people think about philanthropy and giving they think of Bill Gates giving money to help Africa thrive or others pledging to give their wealth to charity before or shortly after they die. However, there is another important form of philanthropy that accounts for billions of dollars being given to charity every year.
Corporate philanthropy plays an important role in a democratic society. Charitable donations amount to an average of over $15 billion a year. Some common types of corporate philanthropy include programs that match donations made by employees or customers, volunteer grant programs, community grants and simple giving.
These are some of the best corporate givers:
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo has the second largest corporate foundation in terms of giving. Wells Fargo aims to help the communities where they have branches saying:
“strive to strengthen financial knowledge and opportunities for our customers and communities “
They donate to non-profits, encourage employee volunteerism and help provide loans for community development.
Apple
When CEO Tim Cook took over for Steve Jobs in 2011 he had some enormous shoes to fill. Cook was not intimidated and had no problem making some quick changes. One of those was creating a donation matching program which matches up to $10,000 per year for their employees.
General Electric
General Electric was one of the first to engage in corporate philanthropy when they created the first corporate matching program in 1954. General Electric invest heavily in technology to help improve community access to education and health programs. They are one of the top five corporate givers.
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart may receive a lot of negative attention for providing low wages and little health insurance to its employees, but it is one of the top three corporate givers. The Wal-Mart Foundation gave over $180 million to charity in 2013. Like Wells Fargo, Wal-Mart aims to aims to help build the communities they serve through donations and grants.
from SaDilKa Foundation Inc. http://ift.tt/1TZUE0U
from My Site: http://ift.tt/1JtqtiY
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Teaming Up To Bring Renewable Energy to India
India, under Prime Minister Narenda Modi, is making renewable energy a priority for the future. Modi’s latest investment in the renewable energy industry is part of a $20 billion joint venture between Foxconn Technology, Softbank and Bharti Enterprises to make renewable energy a reality in the impoverished country.
Before the proposal to increase output was accepted by India’s cabinet, the target for solar capacity by 2022 was 20 gigawatts. The new, more aggressive timeline, has pushed the target to 100 gigawatts by 2022. This means India will have have to add more solar energy capacity than the United States has in recent years.
However, many look at India with skepticism and don’t believe they will be able to meet their goals. Even with the the heightened enthusiasm in renewable energy, India installed only about a third of the annual capacity needed to hit their 2022 goal in the last year and a half. However, because of eased legal restrictions and increased financing many believe the ambitious timeline is feasible.
The joint venture in Indian solar power requires a lot of foreign investment and the plan and timeline are not yet complete. U.S. and Chinese companies alike are committing to investments in renewables for the country.
In an effort to achieve their goals, India has allowed for investments to be made entirely by companies outside of India specifically for renewable energy. Regardless, most companies prefer partnering with Indian companies to help navigate the country’s political and legal landscape.
This endeavor will make India into one of the top countries for renewable energy. And it is coming at an important time. People are coming out of poverty and India’s economy is growing quickly and demand for energy is growing with it. With foreign investment and Modi’s commitment, an India on renewable energy is becoming a reality.
from SaDilKa Foundation Inc. http://ift.tt/1C5FRPv
from My Site: http://ift.tt/1Kr1igG
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Organizations Helping the Nepalese
On April 25th , 2015 Nepal experienced a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Gorkha. The capital city of Kathmandu is nearby and was completely devastated. Slowly the numbers came in on the extent of the damage. 8,000 people died and many more were injured.
There has been a flow of support from aid agencies, the federal government and a number of high profile philanthropists. Many have said that volunteer support is welcome but money is needed in the impoverished nation.
Nepal sits on the just northeast of India and has never been a wealthy country. It is a small country and the epicenter of the earthquake was in the center, so the entire country is hurting from the quake.
Communication was down in the country for weeks, but organizations across the world have been stepping in to help aid the Nepalese. The American Red Cross is working with The Red Cross in Nepal to organize efforts to make sure every dollar is maximized.
Save the Children is another organization that is getting involved in a big way. They have had a presence in Nepal for almost 40 years and was able to make an immediate impact because of how well they know the country. Save the Children immediately sent a medical team and a crew whose first priority was ensuring safe drinking water for everyone. They are also saving money prepare for future earthquakes.
Online social networks and crowdsourcing are helping out as well. Crowdrise had more than ten fundraisers running almost immediately after the earthquake happened. Global Giving has raised over a million dollars for Nepal.
Oxfam is helping by sending a team of tech experts from around the world to help with rebuilding and helping to avoid another catastrophe like this. If you are in any of the biggest cities in India there are offices for Goonj, a relief agency, that are accepting donations to help our Nepalese neighbors.
from SaDilKa Foundation Inc. http://ift.tt/1GpNOiq
from My Site: http://ift.tt/1BcuE9H
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Diet Vs. Exercise For Healthy Weight Loss
Everyday there is a new fad diet that is being touted to eliminate the need for diet and/or exercise, but losing weight and being healthy can still only be done through some combination of the two. And to be effective the two must be done in conjunction.
Working out without watching your diet is often ineffective because you aren’t getting the nutrients your body needs to build muscle which fights fat and you may be eating more calories than you are burning in your work outs.
Lowering your calorie intake and not working out will likely lower your weight but this is not sustainable and most people regain the weight they lose shortly thereafter this way.
So one without the other can work but to truly manage one’s weight at a healthy level takes both diet and exercise.
The diet in the United States is nowhere near the recommended guidelines from the US Department of Agriculture. According to their studies the average American eats 14 times more sugary foods than they should. Sugar like this has no nutritional value and contributes to fat on your body.
So, it’s a matter of what calories you are taking in and not how many. This is an important distinction that is not understood by many. When one hears diet in America they assume they have to cut the amount of food they eat.
Exercise ties it all together by burning the calories. Those that are able to consistently keep weight off and not have their weight fluctuate are patient and workout everyday.
The key is to get to a point where your lifestyle becomes a virtuous cycle of working out because it feels good and feeding your body the nutrients it needs so you feel good. After a while you won’t want to counteract your workout with unhealthy calories.
from My Site: http://ift.tt/1bQGgJD
Some Important Leaders Taking The Giving Pledge
Bill Gates and Warren Buffet started The Giving Pledge in 2010 in an effort to bring visibility to important issues and to get high profile billionaires to pledge money to help improve the world. The number of people that have signed the pledge to give over half of their money to charity is now over 125. Many of them are household names and arguably their biggest contribution is putting their names on the list.
One symbolic pledger is Ray Dalio. Dalio started the biggest hedge fund in the world, Bridgewater Associates. Dalio is worth an estimated $15 billion. Dalio signed the pledge in 2011. Dalio is a completely self-made success and sits at one of the most visible positions in the finance industry. Dalio is important because hedge funds were often vilified after the crash of 2008. But many hedge fund managers have philanthropic foundations with billions of dollars, Dalio has started to give more and more money to his foundation.
Tim Cook recently joined the ranks of pledgers. What differentiates Cook is not only that he took over for the most important tech entrepreneur of all-time after his tragic passing but his relatively low net worth. At just $800 his net worth is nothing compared to the likes of other pledgers Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Larry Ellison whose assets sum to more than $150 billion. But Cook is the CEO of Apple and along with entrepreneurs like Ellison and Gates this pledge is an endorsement for philanthropy.
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook has also taken The Giving Pledge. Zuckerberg is just 30 years old and is worth more than $37 billion dollars. As Facebook continues to add value to users and expand to other countries Zuckerberg stands to be the richest on this list in the future, helping to make the Giving Pledge last across generations. The millennial generation are already staring to show they would rather work for and buy from mission driven companies that seek to do good. The future looks promising!
from SaDilKa Foundation Inc. http://ift.tt/1doKLM5
from My Site: http://ift.tt/1JOWRYY