Fun fact: City Cast Salt Lake host Ali Vallarta used to be a nonprofit fundraiser. On a recent episode, she shared her tips for giving back this season.
How To Find a Nonprofit to Donate To?
“The sort of tried-and-true approach to figuring out how to give is to use charity navigators, so for example, ProPublica has a website called Nonprofit Explorer. It rates nonprofits, so for a 501c3, which is a tax-exempt organization, they are required to file a 990, which includes salaries and what percentage of their resources are spent on programming.”
“We should be doing food drives, frankly, every single day in this city. We know that anywhere from 10-12 percent of our state is food insecure. And we also know employment and food insecurity have almost nothing to do with each other. Plenty of people who are full-time employed don't know when their next meal will be and if it will be healthy.”
✅ Check the Most Needed Items List
For the food bank, it’s usually peanut butter, mac and cheese, canned meats (tuna, chicken, beef, chili), SpaghettiOs, canned fruits, and boxed meals like Hamburger Helper and Uncle Ben's.
✅ Try to Avoid the Sugary Stuff
Whenever possible, try to donate low sugar, low sodium, and without high-fructose corn syrup.
“Diapers are one of the biggest expenses for new parents. Not having enough diapers in our state and in our community is a public health crisis, and we have so many kids in Utah.”
When in Doubt, Give Local
“One of the things that I walked away from a career in nonprofit fundraising feeling very, very deeply in my bones is that we should just be giving small and hyperlocal whenever possible.
[For example, to] some of these really small, super grassroots organizations, where they probably don't even necessarily have enough staff to write grants. I also think another way to feel confident about the gift you're giving is to give in-kind. A lot of organizations have an Amazon wishlist.”
