There's a great Simpsons episode where Homer decides to run for Sanitation Commissioner. Early on in the campaign, Homer discovers a surefire political slogan: "Can't someone else do it?" The plan is to have Springfield's garbagemen do all of the jobs in town that no one else wants to do. The people love this idea, and they overwhelmingly elect our hero to the post.
I suspect Homer's winning slogan would be particularly popular during the holidays. During 11 months of the year, we're already stressed out, and then we have one last month where we ratchet up the pressure. Finishing up projects at work, last-minute holiday shopping, planning elaborate meals and parties, looking after kids who are home on vacation, dealing with difficult relatives.... We're exhausted and can't be expected to do any more. So yeah, in theory we'd like to spend some time researching a few charities, performing some due diligence, and then writing a check. But we're too busy. "Can't someone else do it?"
Yes, someone else can do it. In fact, The Motley Fool has already done it. What we did was apply our Foolish investment principles to the task of choosing first-rate charities that have a proven record of improving our communities. We started by asking our online Community for recommendations. After receiving more than 50 suggestions, we then carried out a rigorous round of due diligence, which narrowed the list down to about a dozen worthy organizations. Then another round of scrutiny and analysis yielded the following five charities for this year's Foolanthropy Drive:
- Canine Companions for Independence
- First Book
- Habitat for Humanity
- Heifer International
- Spirit of America
So the heavy lifting has already been done. All that remains is for you to determine which of our five charities best reflects your values. And then decide whether and how much you can contribute.
What did we look for when choosing our charities? The same types of things David Gardner looks for when making selections for Rule Breakers or Stock Advisor. When he recommends an Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) or a Pixar (NASDAQ:PIXR), he's looking for financially sound organizations that have discovered innovative ways of delivering value to shareholders. Replace the word shareholders with communities, and that's what we were striving for in our selections of charities.
Frankly, we are confident that the same methods that have allowed Tom Gardner through his Hidden Gems newsletter to "discover" a Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD), which is up an eye-opening 216% since November 2003, or a Marine Products (NASDAQ:MPX), which has jumped 67% since October 2004, have allowed us to choose excellent charities for this year's drive.
We also feel that the returns on your charitable contributions will be equally stunning -- not only for you the contributor but also for the individuals and communities that are strengthened by your generosity. Is it possible to measure the value in rebuilding a war torn community in Iraq or providing books to a poor child? No. But to paraphrase Robert Kennedy, it is the things that can't be measured that make life worthwhile.
For more information on Foolanthropy, click on the following links:
To participate in our Foolanthropy discussion board click on Foolanthropy Charity Drive.
John Reeves does not own any of the companies mentioned in this article.
