I'm giveing a hive for christmas.

[texas.410]

I am going to give a hive to a needy family this year. On behalf of my mom.
I think she would think its neat that a family was helped with a hive in her name.

 The charity is Heifer International. They supply poor families around the world with hives.

Here is what they say on there page. I cant post a link yet. :-\ You can give a hive for 30 bucks.

     

The Buzz About Bees

From Uganda to El Salvador, bees from Heifer International help struggling families earn income through the sale of honey, beeswax and pollen.

Beehives require almost no space and, once established, are inexpensive to maintain.

As bees search for nectar, they pollinate plants. Placed strategically, beehives can as much as double some fruit and vegetable yields. In this way, a beehive can be a boost to a whole village.

Although most Heifer partners keep bees as a supplement to family income, beekeeping can be a family's livelihood. Your gift can help Heifer provide a family with a package of bees, the box and hive, plus training in beekeeping.

[Natalie]

Yup, its a great idea. There is another thread going about this right now as well. I gave them as gifts and people really like it. Reinbeau mentioned in the thread that her club has purchased them in the past which is a really great idea to get groups involved in purchasing.

[tlynn]

Thank you for reminding me of this organization.  I had researched them before and appear to be well respected.  I had some concerns over administrative overhead, and they, like many large charities, get criticized for high CEO salaries (made 236k in FY 2006).  I personally don't think that's unreasonable given the size of the organization.  Some people think a global organization such as this one can just operate for free and their officers should effectively be volunteers.  Well they need high quality leaders to drive and grow them, and large support structures don't come free either.  I decided to go with them this year mostly because of their global reach and the fact that they strongly encourage the "pay it forward" paradigm - many recipients of animals agree by contract to gift offspring to others.

We got a water buffalo, a goat, and a beehive and are sending gift cards to friends and family (actually got 10 shares of water buffalo which equals a whole animal so we can send to 10 people) to spread the word.  I am doing this at the same time as typing this message, and actually, after sending one e-card it looks like you can send many cards, so I think you don't have to make it a one animal-to-one gift.  Still not sure since the e-card thing was a bit confusing to me.  I think all it takes is to make any donation and then you can send as many gift cards as you want.

[Bee-Bop]

Our Church is big on the Heifer International giving;

Reading the pamphlet, at the bottom of the page, it said something to the effect of " heifers, & animals etc. are just symbolic ideas, the donation can be used for other chairtable givings "

Again this is not a exact quote, but that is what it meant.

I believe it is a good Charity, just uses a different method of promotion.

Bee-Bop

[NWIN Beekeeper]

[...heifers, & animals etc. are just symbolic ideas...]

In the fine print it does say they will use the money as they see fit (perhaps cows or chickens instead of bees).

I like that they are 'watching out' for the needs of the community (if they are reputable).
But what I don't like is, if I am trying to promote beekeeping, I'm not going to be so excited about them building chicken coups.
Help is help, I'm not down playing the worth or need of the organization.
I just feel the animal icons are a little misleading (regardless how they disclaimer them).

But I suppose Platinum, Gold, Silver level memberships seem less warm than giving an actual animal (which you aren't giving anyway?).

 

[tlynn]

As I understand it, donations are used for acquisition of animals, animal care training/husbandry, and company overhead/administrative costs.  If the website just said, "Please donate to our cause.  Your money will be used to help struggling people feed themselves," it's not going to have the same pazzazz as pictures of cute farm animals being hugged by smiling, appreciative Ghanans or Peruvians.  It's marketing, THE most important skill in business.  Charities struggle to receive donations and unless they are deceiving people, which I don't believe this organization is doing, then they have to create at least a good marketing program just to survive and a masterful one to thrive. 

If I'm standing in my stall at the farmer's market and offer 20 people a sample of my honey and say, "Would you like to try some honey," as opposed to "Would you like to taste a delicious sample of honey produced right here in Clearwater, Florida, honey that comes from the nectar of a tapestry of fragrant wild flowers and budding fruit trees?" "And if you have pollen allergies, did you know it's been suggested that consuming local honey may actually help reduce those symptoms?"  in which situation do you think they will buy more often?  (okay, a little extreme for my point :-) ).  It's a USP, unique selling proposition.  What's unique about my product or service?  That's what sells.  My honey is locally produced from a diversity of plant sources (rare).  I can actually contribute to donating a water buffalo to a Fillipino farmer to plow his fields.  Cool!

[Irwin]

I donate local we have starving people here and people who need help paying there power bill to stay warm. Our power company has a program that you can donate money and it goes to help low income people.

[Natalie]

Irwin, thats cool that your power company does that. I don't know of any of our utilities doing that here.
We donate through our church for that type of thing.
People in the community know that we have a program for families who need help with rent, utilites and food but it would be nice to see large companies get involved, they could do so much more.

[tillie]

I do this for six of my nephews and nieces and their parents every year.  I always get a good response and even if the money may not go directly to purchase a hive, it raises bee awareness for the Heifer project to do this and makes me feel like I am raising awareness of the importance of bees by introducing the idea to my brother and his children.

http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2008/03/heifer-hope-honey.html

Linda T in Atlanta