Do Good Without Being a Corporate Hotshot

We've heard it countless times: People say there's no point in saving for retirement or their other financial goals because they can only set aside $25 or $50 a month. They figure if they aren't some executive bigwig pulling down multimillion-dollar salaries, there's no hope that they'll ever reach their dreams.

Of course, that's nonsense. Even those modest sums add up over time. The biggest obstacle is just getting started. 

Doing good, little by little
We hear the same sort of objections from everyday folks about supporting charities. With so many billionaires in the country putting their resources to work for worthy causes, you may think you could never make a big difference for your community. Yet, in creating lasting change that has a positive, long-term effect on people, big money is far from the only thing charities need from you.

Still, it's staggering to see the fortunes some large charitable foundations have to deploy. Here's a look at the largest foundations in the country, along with their assets as of the most recent fiscal year for which their figures are available:

Foundation	Corporate Affiliation of Founding Donor(s)	Total Assets
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation	Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT  )	$38.9 billion
Ford Foundation	Ford (NYSE: F  )	$11.2 billion
J. Paul Getty Trust	Getty Oil, now Chevron (NYSE: CVX  )	$10.8 billion
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation	Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ  )	$10.7 billion
W. K. Kellogg Foundation	Kellogg (NYSE: K  )	$8.1 billion
William & Flora Hewlett Foundation	Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ  )	$6.3 billion
Lilly Endowment	Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY  )	$5.7 billion
John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation	Bankers Life, now Conseco	$5.0 billion
California Endowment		$4.6 billion
David & Lucille Packard Foundation	Hewlett-Packard	$4.6 billion

Source: Foundation Center, as of Nov. 2009.

With these massive institutions doing so much work to foster worthy causes around the globe, you might think that volunteering an hour a week or sending in a $25 check to your local charity might be pretty meaningless.

But nothing could be further from the truth.

Stretching a buck
Sure, big charitable foundations exist. But much more common are smaller organizations with much more modest budgets. Lacking ultra-wealthy philanthropists to provide essentially unlimited funding, these charities survive on relatively small donations from ordinary people and the efforts of their volunteers.

That's why we're doing things a bit differently for our 2009 Foolanthropy campaign. This year, we're encouraging Fools to donate their time to a worthy charity in their local communities. Here at Fool HQ, we're focusing our efforts on Thurgood Marshall Academy, a local public charter school in one of D.C.'s (and the nation's) most impoverished neighborhoods.  

And, there's still a way you can help from afar -- for every comment you make on this or any Fool article throughout the campaign (Nov. 25 through Jan. 8), we'll add another $0.10 to our campaign pledge. At the end of the campaign, we'll give the entire amount -- up to $20,000 -- to the school. In addition, various Fools will be volunteering to help the school in its mission to serve local youth.

Act local
To most local charities, even the smallest donations help. So as you consider your year-end giving this year, don't get the idea that if you're not rich, your gifts of money and time aren't important. Even if the economy forces you to cut back, every dollar you can afford to give and every minute you volunteer will make a difference to the people striving to help people in need.

So please, take a moment and make a comment below. What are your thoughts on volunteerism? What are you doing in your own local community? How has the economy affected nonprofit organizations in your neighborhood? We want to hear from you.

Foolanthropy 2009 is off and running! Learn more by clicking here.

This article was originally published in Nov. 3, 2008. It has been updated by Dan Caplinger, who doesn't own shares of the companies mentioned. Microsoft is a Motley Fool Inside Value pick. Johnson & Johnson is an Income Investor selection. Try any of our Foolish newsletters today, free for 30 days. The Fool's disclosure policy gives you the gift of information.