<prompt> Human: 30-day challengesWe are pleased to continue our 30-day challenge series. Past challenges can be found hereThis months 30-day challenge is to Get involved with charity! As the end of the year approaches, there are many opportunities to extend oneself to be generous. The best advice is to secure your own oxygen mask first before helping others. The foundation of your generosity should be a solid financial footing for yourself Until you have achieved this, you should be circumspect about monetary giving. Monetary donationsIf you have the means, consider monetary donations as these are the most efficient use of your charitable resources. Dont spend money to buy material goods that you intend to donate unless they are specifically requested by the charity itself. Cash donations allow for flexibility for the charity to get exactly what is needed at the right time in the right quantity at the right place to serve their mission.Make sure you are contributing to charities that are good stewards of your hard-earned dollars by checking Charity Navigator Give Well or another trusted source. If you do decide to donate cash, see if your employer matches contributions to extend the benefit. You may also consider donating to a charity that has assisted you or your loved ones in the past. Material donationsDecember is a great month in which to declutter your home, especially if you are participating in one of the many gift-giving holidays. Review your living space to determine what you can part with and how you can enjoy the reclaimed space. You can donate material goods to Habitat for Humanity Goodwill industries AmVets and local options near you such as food pantries. Time donationsOf course with all the donations coming in at this time of year, many organizations will need volunteers to help with the influx. If you are unable to donate money or material goods, you can consider donating your time. You can use Volunteer Match or Catch a Fire to get you started. There may also be local soup kitchens, churches, schools, or other organizations that need assistance. Alternative donationsThere are other ways to be charitable if you dont have spare money, goods, or time. Here are some ideas: When making Amazon purchases, use the Amazon smile program to donate a portion of your purchase to a designated charity at no additional cost to you. Check with your local markets and grocers to see if they have programs such as Krogers Community Rewards to direct donations to local charities. Keep an eye out for local restaurants and cafés that will donate a percentage of proceeds to charitable organizations, and patronize them during an eligible time period schools are frequent beneficiaries of such programs. The Make-a-wish foundation the Red Cross and Miles for Migrants all accept donations of airline miles. You may be able to donate hotel or resort points. Contact the relevant hospitality group for details. You can elect to donate credit card rewards to charity. If your health and personal philosophy allow, consider becoming a bloodplasma donor or registering for bone marrow donation You can also consider registering as an organ donor and revising your will to donate your body to research after you pass. TaxesWhen donating cash or goods in the US, qualified charitable contributions can reduce your tax bill so doing good may end up helping your wallet too. You can also consider advanced tax reduction strategies such as giving appreciated stock or bunching your donations to meet the itemization threshold. Receiving charityIf you are in need this year, please consider being the good-faith recipient of a charitys assistance. Challenge success criteriaYouve successfully completed this challenge once youve done one of the following things: Donated money, goods, or time to a charity or organization. Made an alternative donation or plans to donate. Received charitable assistance if in need.  <response>: Ill be off on Christmas day I work in food and beverage and this post gave me a great idea to spend my day off back in the kitchen to help out others in need at a soup kitchen or the like. Im away from family at the moment due to work so Im not doing anything Christmas day anyway, I may as well put my skills to good use.Thisll be the first time I donate my time to charity as well. Thank you for this post. 