Reach out to your favorite nonprofits

Another common request from nonprofits? More direct communication with you. The workers at your favorite charities are the foremost experts in their missions, and they have great insight into today’s most urgent needs. If you do want to consider a restricted gift, for example, doing so in collaboration with your favorite charity is a best practice to make your donation as impactful as possible.
 

Keeping open lines of communication with your chosen charities shows how much you value the work they are doing. This sentiment can go a long way in a difficult labor market where nonprofit employees may feel stretched thin. Communicating with your favorite charity is often invigorating for you too, offering a deeper connection to the mission that inspired you in the first place.
 

Target hunger and homelessness

Two of the sectors that have seen the greatest recent price increases have been food and shelter. Food prices, for example, are up 10.4% from a year ago, outstripping the market-wide pace of inflation. “Most food banks say food purchase costs are up,” reports Laura Reiley at the Washington Post, “and they’re also paying more for transportation and distribution, while reporting labor shortages.”¹

Shelter costs, meanwhile, are up 5.6% over the same period, putting additional pressure on individuals and families facing housing insecurity. And organizations working to feed and house Americans are facing yet another blow: Demand for their services is increasing at the same time their costs are rising.
 

Vanguard Charitable donors have a history of targeting hunger and homelessness as a top charitable priority. Last year, inspired by our donors’ feedback, we launched a new iteration of our Nonprofit Aid Visualizer^TM, or NAVi, to help our donors pinpoint charities at work in areas across the country that are most vulnerable to hunger and homelessness.