U.S. Newlyweds Choose Charity
Charity News Online
Lisa Vronskaya
Charitable donations are becoming increasingly popular among newlyweds who are choosing them over traditional wedding gifts. Many couples in the U.S. raise thousands of dollars for charity through their weddings banking on the generosity of friends and relatives to collect as much money as possible when they get married.
James and Georgia Markarian raised more than $5,000. They, as well as Jen Crane and Tom Frohlich are part of a tiny-but-growing group of couples turning their weddings into philanthropic opportunities. It is a trend that is picking up momentum, industry officials said, with help from a handful of Webbased nonprofits that serve as virtual intermediaries between couples, charities and guests.
While these decisions are largely a reflection of couples’ altruism and other personal values many who are setting up charitable wedding registries acknowledge more practical motivations. For example, as the average age of U.S. newlyweds rises and more couples live together before tying the knot, there is not as much need for cookware and other traditional gifts as in previous generations.
Because weddings are increasingly secular "commercialized" events — Americans spend $26,000, on average — "people are looking for a way to reflect that they are deeper than all that," said Carley Roney, co-founder of the wedding information portal the Knot Inc. Some couples are making donations in honor of their guests while others are donating leftover food to nearby homeless shelters. Couples who have incorporated charitable giving into their events said it helped to keep their priorities in check.
Georgia and James Markarian, of Los Altos, Calif., felt particularly uneasy last year while planning the details of their wedding so soon after the massive South Asian tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people across 12 nations. The Markarians set up an online charitable wedding registry through JustGive.org, a nonprofit that has collected about $850,000 and directed it to various charities on behalf of newlyweds since 2003. The Markarian wedding netted $5,000 for the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Save the Children and United Way — all of which were involved in the international relief effort.
Charity News Online
Lisa Vronskaya
Charitable donations are becoming increasingly popular among newlyweds who are choosing them over traditional wedding gifts. Many couples in the U.S. raise thousands of dollars for charity through their weddings banking on the generosity of friends and relatives to collect as much money as possible when they get married.
James and Georgia Markarian raised more than $5,000. They, as well as Jen Crane and Tom Frohlich are part of a tiny-but-growing group of couples turning their weddings into philanthropic opportunities. It is a trend that is picking up momentum, industry officials said, with help from a handful of Webbased nonprofits that serve as virtual intermediaries between couples, charities and guests.
While these decisions are largely a reflection of couples’ altruism and other personal values many who are setting up charitable wedding registries acknowledge more practical motivations. For example, as the average age of U.S. newlyweds rises and more couples live together before tying the knot, there is not as much need for cookware and other traditional gifts as in previous generations.
Because weddings are increasingly secular "commercialized" events — Americans spend $26,000, on average — "people are looking for a way to reflect that they are deeper than all that," said Carley Roney, co-founder of the wedding information portal the Knot Inc. Some couples are making donations in honor of their guests while others are donating leftover food to nearby homeless shelters. Couples who have incorporated charitable giving into their events said it helped to keep their priorities in check.
Georgia and James Markarian, of Los Altos, Calif., felt particularly uneasy last year while planning the details of their wedding so soon after the massive South Asian tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people across 12 nations. The Markarians set up an online charitable wedding registry through JustGive.org, a nonprofit that has collected about $850,000 and directed it to various charities on behalf of newlyweds since 2003. The Markarian wedding netted $5,000 for the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Save the Children and United Way — all of which were involved in the international relief effort.
posted by Lisa Vronskaya at 10:00 AM
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