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For our donors, Modest Needs is much more than 'just another charity.' It is a community that offers people from all walks of life the opportunity to experience together the thrill of 'paying it forward'.
But our donors don't contribute to Modest Needs only to feel the 'helper's high.'
Aside from the fact that a full 100% of every contribution our donors make goes DIRECTLY to the low income individuals and families who've requested our assistance (Modest Needs' own costs are paid by grants from foundations made for that purpose), our donors support Modest Needs because
Each time you make a tax-deductible contribution to Modest Needs, we credit your Modest Needs account with 'points' that you can either allocate to the prequalified applications at Modest Needs that mean the most to you.
These points are our way of giving our donors 'voting power.' Each point that you give to a request for help brings that applicant one step closer to receiving a Modest Needs grant.
Best of all, the second that our donors allocate to an application all of the points necessary for us to authorize a grant, we instantly fund that request for help on behalf of our donors.
In this way, Modest Needs gives our donors the power to participate directly in our grant-making process by determining - simply, quickly, and directly - which requests for help you would most like for us to support.
Modest Needs is the only charity of its kind in the world to allow its donors this level of hands-on participation in our grant-making process.
The first question prospective donors most often ask of Modest Needs is, "What steps do you take to ensure that the persons you help legitimately need our assistance?"
Because we understand that, for most people, their gift is also a sacrifice, we consider the process of performing 'due diligence' on our new applications to be the most important service that we perform for our donors.
As a matter of policy, we do not ever make new applications available for donor review until we have in hand documentation sufficient to demonstrate that our applicants have been straightforward with us about the situations that have led them to apply for help from Modest Needs.
Additionally, we do NOT make cash grants directly to our applicants. Rather, when we are able to fund an application, we remit payment directly to a creditor on a successful applicant's behalf.
For this reason, at Modest Needs, we always know and can document exactly how your contributions have been spent.
For more information about how we work 'behind the scenes' to safeguard your giving at Modest Needs, please read our Donor Security FAQ. You can also download a sample application packet in PDF format by following this link.
When you support Modest Needs, you not only help low-income individuals working to shoulder the burden of a short-term financial crisis. By empowering our applicants to continue to care for themselves, you ALSO prevent these persons from being forced into the never-ending cycle of poverty.
At Modest Needs, our average grant is only about $380.00. But because our grants are designed to keep working people working, each grant we make returns about $9,000 per year in earned income (more than TEN TIMES its face value) to the individuals and families we're able to help as a result of your support.
And in 2009, thanks to a grant that is matching your recurring contributions to Modest Needs dollar-for-dollar, your donation is worth even more to the hard-working individuals and families who need your help the most.
For all of these reasons, we hope you'll join our donors from across the country in supporting Modest Needs, beginning today.
