Culture For The Non-Cultured

Forbes had a great article on Modest Needs, a website that connects people with short-term needs — such as covering the rent for one month, hormone treatments to prevent a premature birth, hospital bills that insurance won’t cover — with people who donate money to cover those needs.  People can donate as much or as little as they want, and choose specific requests or certain areas, such as domestic violence or single mothers.

The needs are verified by Modest Needs, a nonprofit organization.  The money goes directly to the hospital, the landlord, or the bank.

There are so many fascinating things about Modest Needs:

– It was begun by Keith Taylor, an English teacher making $33k/year, who gave away small amounts of his own salary to people with short-term needs by setting up a website telling people to send him requests

– Seven out of every ten recipients log back into the site as donors (think about that a minute)

– Only 10% of recipients ask again, proving that a little bit of money can do a lot of good.

The article also has really interesting statistics about the giving habits of various classes, including the fact that households making less than $20,000 a year gave away 4.6% of their income, a higher percentage than any other group.