How You Can Help: An Easy Guide to Doing Good Deeds in Your Everyday Life / Edition 1

by William D. Coplin

Overview

How You Can Help is a book for anyone who wants to help make the world a better place, but doesn't know how to take the first step. This is the book for anyone who's ready to get involved, to reach out to others, and to do some good. Whether you want to help make your neighborhood safer, to help local kids learn to read, to get involved with a woman's shelter, to make a donation to a national or international issue like AIDS, or to get your company to start a recycling program, How You Can Help will show you the limitless opportunities available, who to contact, and what'stephs you can take to help make a difference. Directed at people of all ages, economic backgrounds, interests, and abilities, How You Can Help oulines over 60 basic principles for incorporating good works into your daily life. Equally accessible for the first-time volunteer looking for the right group to join as well as the veteran volunteer looking to found a new service organization. Each chapter contains profiles of well-known and not-so-well-known genuine do-gooders, simple suggestions on where and how to help, recommended readings, and contact information for local and national service organizations. How You Can Help provides specific advice on how to get involved for parents, neighbors, employees, consumers, investors, donors, retirees, students and alumni. This book is an indispensable resource that will give you the advice, the tools, the information, and the resources to help others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415922975
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/02/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

William D. Coplin is Professor of Public Affairs and Director of the Public Affairs Program of the Maxwell School of Citizenship at Syracuse University. He is the co-author of Power Persuasion: A Surefire System to Get Ahead in Business, which was selected by Fortune Magazine's Book of the Month Club.

Table of Contents

Part 1 What Is a Genuine Do-Gooder?; Chapter 1 The Blessing and Curse of Mother Teresa; Chapter 2 The Mission; Chapter 3 Organize Thyself; Part 2 Ways You Can Help; Chapter 4 Effective Volunteering; Chapter 5 Donors Unite: You Have Nothing to Lose but Your Money; Chapter 6 Good Citizens and Watchdogs; Chapter 7 Careers That Serve Society; Part 3 Finding Nearby Windows of Opportunity; Chapter 8 Families; Chapter 9 Neighbors; Chapter 10 Employees; Chapter 11 Consumers; Chapter 12 Investors; Chapter 13 Social Organizations, a.k.a. Packs; Chapter 14 Retirees; Chapter 15 Students; Chapter 16 Alumn; Part 4 The Power to Create Change; Chapter 17 Cooperative Problem Solving; Chapter 18 Getting on the Agenda of Players; Chapter 19 Problem Solving through Existing Organizations; Chapter 20 Creating New Organizations;

Editorial Reviews

"This book makes doing good a little easier..." — American Way
"Shifting focus from self to others, William D. Coplin shows how to make the world a better place in How You Can Help: An Easy Guide to Doing Good Deeds in Your Everyday Life. The public affairs professor packs in self-assessment quizzes, suggested activities and extensive contact information before sending readers off to donate something (time, blood, talent, money) toward the enhancement of society. Purity of motive isn't an issue in this low-guilt book—action is. Deeming Mother Teresa an unworkable role model, he profiles 'genuine do-gooders,'such as a kindly school teacher who spent eight years of Sundays welcoming visitors to a harsh jail." — Publishers Weekly
"This is a wonderful book. It will be enormously helpful to all individuals who want to make the world a little better. Would-be volunteers with only a few hours a week or a month to spare will find very good suggestions and resources for how to get involved. Would-be doctors and even philanthropists (big donors) will find very practical ideas for getting started. And for those who want to make doing good their life's work, there is also valuable information. We often hear that people want to get involved but don't know how. This book will make it impossible for anyone to use that excuse anymore. And best of all, it's written without jargon or preaching and with lots of passion and conviction." — Sara E. Melendez, President and CEO, Independent Sector
"Highly inspirational...With clearly stated principles and real life examples, How You Can Help will inspire every reader to help make things better in our world." — Jack Brill, co-author of Investing With Your Values: Making Money and Making a Difference (1999)
"Finally we have a realistic roadmap which can be used to leverage our charitable giving and our volunteer time in ways that will genuinely improve society. This book includes all the component parts that anyone—regardless of age, sex, income level or political persuasion—can assemble into a powerful strategy that will truly make a difference." — Curtis Weeden, co-author of Corporate Social Investing: The Breakthrough Strategy for Giving and Getting Corporate Contributions
"Bill Coplin shows how you can help, no matter who you are, what you are and where you are." — Ralph Nader

From the Publisher

This book is a guide to "Transforming your life by giving something back." Coplin (the Maxwell Sch. of Citizenship, Syracuse Univ.) thoughtfully discusses how to become a volunteer in various sectors, and describes the lives of both well-known and unsung activists. Resource lists in this book are useful; game-plans and self-evaluation quizzes less so. Public librarians may want to toss a coin in deciding whether to purchase this book or The Cathedral Within (LJ 6/15/99), a remarkably similar volume by Share Our Strength founder Bill Shore. Shore's book covers much the same ground, is the more readable of the two, and is in hardcover. Heads or tails?--Ellen Gilbert, Rutgers Univ., Lib., New Brunswick, NJ Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

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