托福写作素材
慈善事业
在最近几个月的托福写作考题中，有相当大比例的题目考到金钱相关的话题，从国家、政府、社区、个人的钱怎么花，花得合不合适，到幼儿园、大学该不该免费等问题。其中最令考生头痛的还有要不要捐款、如何开展慈善的相关话题。
关于慈善活动，在普通人的日常生活中，我们最多作为参与者，很少会从组织者或慈善事业的有效性这样的高度去思考问题，因而在考场碰到就会觉得无从入手，今天我们就来了解一些相关的背景知识。
1.WHAT is a charitable organization?
慈善机构相比企业单位有一个最显著的特征就是它是非盈利组织（non-profitable organizations），简写为NPOs,也被称为“非政府组织”（non-governmental organizations）,简称NGOs，志愿者组织，免税组织，慈善组织等等”，目标是帮助需要帮助的某个特定人群或其它生物（underprivileged groups/ disadvantaged people/ people stricken with destitution贫困/ endangered animals）
慈善机构又可以进一步被分为两大类型：私人基金会与公共慈善机构，其差异在于资金渠道是来自大众还是单一渠道。
Private foundations私人基金会 often collect their funds from a single key source, for example, a wealthy benefactor有钱的捐助者. As such, the funds of a private foundation are controlled because they are dependent on a main source of income。
其中最典型的代表就是1997年成立的Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates捐献了个人近580亿的资产给盖茨基金会，当然也就获得了发言权。
Public charities 公共慈善机构don’t rely on a single source of income. Instead, they depend on public donations 社会捐款or governmental grants政府补助金. One of the distinguishing features of public charities then is their dependency on frequent donations from the public.
在美国这样的组织很多，以下是2019年美国入选Forbes排名前10的其中三家机构：
1.United Way Worldwide 全球联合之路主要关注教育、收入和健康领域的慈善事业（The nation’s largest charity by donations received, much of the fundraising筹款 comes from payroll deductions. ）
2.Feeding America 供养美国( the nation’s leading hunger-relief charity).是美国的食品银行网络，起初仅是向饥民提供剩余食品的一个渠道。
3.YMCA 基督教青年会（Young Men's Christian Association），Elon Musk在他的演讲中就提到他在创业之初，曾经由于经济拮据，不得不睡在办公室，去YMCA蹭热水澡。
每一个慈善组织成立的目的和帮助对象很不相同，可以是动物权益（Animal rights, such as protecting animals from abuse）,环境保护（environmental protection），自然灾难救济与应对（deal with natural calamity and provide quick relief for people in need），帮助贫困家庭（reach out to poor families who have few economic opportunities）等等。
比如Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation专注于两个大块，一是不发达国家如非洲人民的健康、温饱（help individuals lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty）；二是在美国国内帮助实现平等教育的权利（promote equal education within current education system in America)。
2.WHY Charity?
慈善事业（Philanthropy）在美国、欧洲、日本更为流行和完善，除了他们整体经济更为发达的原因，也有政治、文化因素。在美国，收入超过46.68万美元的家庭会被赋予高额的税收，高达50%, 因此，对于巨富的大佬们，成立私人基金会就是一个上好的选择（避税）。
此外美国文化中的基督教背景也为公益事业提供了很好的土壤，在圣经中就提倡个人将收入的十分之一捐出，而教会捐款本身就是慈善事业的很大一部分来源。
2006年6月，股神巴菲特（Warren Buffett） 选择把名下440亿美元中的85%投入他的好友Bill Gates的基金会。
更妙的是，他们还四处游说慈善事业的好处，说慈善是最令人满意的经历（the most fulfilling experience）,能够真正地创造积极有益的改变（make a difference/ make a dent in some areas），先后说服了100多位巨富加入他们的行列，承诺捐出50%的财产作为慈善费用。
为什么要做慈善是托福写作的一个重要考点，这里我们撇开上面提到的体制、文化因素，从社会和个人的角度来考虑，慈善也有相当多的好处：
Charitable work的好处：
1） 扩大影响力, 获得更广泛的社会认可
Whenever a major charity takes place, there is usuallya press release新闻发布 or an announcement of some sort. Your name is being recognized and your work isbeing showcased被展现. The best part from charity is that it most likely is coming from an audience that you couldn’t reach before.
2）获得满足和幸福感 a sense of fulfillment / happiness
It Just Feels Good – people get a genuinely awesome feeling when they help someone who truly deserves it. It is probably better than watching your loved ones open the presents you bought them on Christmas morning
3） 提升能力和自信（如培养领导力）
4） 社会：有助于社会公平
……
顺便提一下，志愿者活动对于个人的好处也和慈善有相同之处：
1） 增加社会经验，提升能力
2） 拓展人脉
3） 美化简历，有利于找工作
You may meet developers, designers, videographers during the course of voluntary work. Each and every one of them其中的每一个人 has a unique skill that theybring to the table提供for the one cause. During the process, people may bring up topics like what they do for a living, their best moments in life, their vision for the future, which are totally respectable and admirable. This benefit of conversing with them alone is irreplaceable不可替代的.
3.HOW- Charity and happiness
关于慈善与幸福的关系，我们来看一个TED演讲的选段
精彩片段：If any of you work for a charity, don't reward your donors with pens or calendars. Reward them with the opportunity to see the specific impact that their generosity is having and to connect with the individuals and communities they're helping.
We're used to thinking about giving as something we should do. And it is. But in thinking about it this way, we're missing out on 错失one of the best parts of being human: that we have evolved to find joy in helping others. Let's stop thinking about giving as just this moral obligation道德义务 and start thinking of it as a source of pleasure欢乐之源.
最后，让今天的文章和视频内容为你助力，尝试构思一下以下两个话题的写作思路吧：
10.10线下：
When you give money to the charitable organizations, would you prefer to choose how the donation will be used (for example, donate money on food, service or advertisement for organizations) or leave the decision to the organization?
11.2家庭版：
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement:
People are happier when they give away extra money to charity or a good cause rather than when they spend it on themselves.
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