Random Acts’ mission is changing the world through small acts of kindness. While some kindness acts cost nothing — smiling at a stranger, holding a door for someone whose hands are full — other acts of kindness require funding. That’s where Random Acts comes in.
How are donations spent?
Random Acts is primarily funded by donations. Donations, according to Director of Finance David Antonelli, come from a variety of sources such as PayPal, GoFundMe, Facebook, employer matching programs, and checks. Some Amazon shoppers also donate through the AmazonSmile program. The majority of donations go into the general fund, from where kindness acts are funded. David says that “For every dollar we take in, about 92 cents is spent directly on the cause— either via small random acts or awards and grants for Haiti, Nicaragua, Childhood Hunger,” or other causes.
Aside from the general fund, Random Acts has ten restricted funds. These are special accounts where the money was raised for a specific cause and can therefore only be spent on items related to that cause. The ten restricted funds are causes you may be familiar with: Hope for Haiti and the Jacmel Children’s Center; The Free High School in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua; Childhood Hunger; the COVID-19 Support Network; Feed Hero Nurses; Stronger Than Storms; and GISH fundraisers: Change a Life Syria, Change a Life Dancescape South Africa, Change a Life Rwanda and Change a Life Laos.
The main reason Random Acts is able to spend such a high percentage of donations on kindness acts is that Random Acts, unlike many other organizations, is run entirely by a volunteer staff. That means that every one of us is here because we are committed to spending our free time making the world a kinder, better place.
Funding Kindness Around the Globe
Random Acts may be registered as a charity only in the United States, but that does not mean that we can support kindness only in the United States. That kindness goes beyond the special accounts listed above — our staff and supporters are encouraged to apply for funding for acts of kindness in their local communities and to bring issues specific to those communities to our attention.
David explains, “We do accept donations from all over the world but cannot offer tax deduction receipts for those donating outside the USA. When we spend money outside the U.S. we try to find another nonprofit or NGO (non-governmental organization) to partner with. That is one reason we do a lot [of work] with Giles Duley’s foundation, Legacy of War, that is based out of the UK. Our next big project, which will be announced soon, we are going to focus on both inside the U.S. as well as outside the U.S.”
He continues, “We spent funds in various countries as part of the Childhood Hunger campaign. We sent money to Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. We actually just got our first Regional Rep in Africa so we now have reps on every continent but Antartica. And with PayPal being accepted in more countries, we are actually able to send funds in the local currency, so there is no need for them to worry about trying to convert amounts to USD.”
If you would like to know more about Random Acts’ financial activities, more in-depth details and our tax returns are available for supporters on our website or by request.