THE COLOR OF MONEY
More can afford to donate to charities

By Michelle Singletary

I was having breakfast with one of my mentors recently when he asked a question that made me pause.

"Michelle, what do you spend your money on?" he asked.

The question came up because he was chuckling at the fact that I had driven with two friends more than 24 hours from Washington to Dallas to a journalism convention. And the reason I drove? To save money on airfare.

It's not that I couldn't afford the airfare. I just didn't want to spend the money.

I hate to waste money. I was once in a car accident shortly after I had pulled away from a fast-food restaurant. My car rolled over twice.

But do you know what I was thinking as my car was flipping over?

"Shoot, I just wasted $4. I didn't even get a chance to eat my food."

I sweat the small stuff because I have big plans for my money.

For one thing, I've always wanted to help lower-income students, especially black kids, attend college.

So this year, with the help of a matching grant from my employer, my husband and I have established a scholarship to allow a student with lots of potential and no money to attend a local community college to study journalism. Once she's finished there, my husband and I plan to help her obtain a bachelor's degree from a four-year university.

I don't mind spending money for something like this because I was that girl more than 20 years ago. Thankfully, I also won a scholarship. And I have never forgotten that generosity.

I may loathe spending money on clothes or shoes or cars, but I'm happy that I have the means now to help others.

So, what are you doing with your money?

This is a particularly hard time for charitable organizations. A survey of nonprofits about charitable revenue in 2002 compared with 2001 found that 51 percent of organizations reported a decrease or no change from the year before in charitable donations, according to Giving USA.

I found it interesting that the survey indicated that donations from low- to middle-income donors had increased, but dipped for high-income households.

According to the Giving USA report, people with incomes up to $50,000 gave $1,808.20, up 4.1 percent. Those households with incomes between $50,000 and $100,000 gave $2,402.84, a 3.8 percent increase. Households making more than $100,000 gave $7,684.62, a decrease of 7.9 percent.

I'm reporting all of this to you to say there is a difference between being a penny pincher and a miser. There are some folks out there — and you know who you are — who shouldn't be stingy. This is especially true for corporations that have no qualms about paying top executives obscene salaries but have cut their charitable contributions.

I was really saddened last year when the son of Carl T. Rowan, the late columnist, announced that Project Excellence, a scholarship program founded 15 years ago by his father to help Washington-area black students attend college, was ceasing operations. The scholarship fund was suffering because many of the organizations and corporations that had previously given to the scholarship program had drastically cut contributions.

Since its inception, Project Excellence awarded more than $100 million in scholarships to more than 4,200 high-school seniors. What a shame the scholarship fund had to be shut down.

I'm always preaching the gospel of saving, but not just for the sake of hoarding money. I believe that even people of modest means have to choose to save so that they can meet certain financial priorities such as charitable giving.

As one Punjabi proverb says: "When a sparrow sips in the river, the water doesn't recede. Giving charity does not deplete wealth."