Australia is burning

I'm pretty sure everyone knows that Australia is burning. We've been burning for months now with no end in sight. It's terrifying. 

We've donated what we can.

Today I want to talk about donations and the feedback small businesses are receiving on Instagram. 

There have been a lot of small, home based businesses posting that they will donate a percentage of profits and others saying that they'll donate if you comment on their posts. 

In my opinion the ones who will donate with a comment are trying to increase their Instagram engagement/followers etc. It feels dodgy to me, but if that's their way of helping then good on them. 

As for businesses who are donating a percentage of their profit, I think that's a great idea. I've seen some comments from consumers and businesses saying that they're encouraging people to buy, but I don't see it that way. If you need the product and were going to buy it anyway, why not buy it now and help the bush fire effort?

Whilst it's easy to say that people should just donate the money they would have spent on the products, that's not always possible. Not everyone has disposable income that they can donate, lots of people have to budget. If they'd budgeted for new clothes/skincare etc, buying it from a brand who are donating their profits is a great idea.  

Also, the small business owners may not have spare funds to donate, however donating their profits is a way for them to help. When you think about it, for a small, home based business, donating a day or weeks profit is huge.

In a situation like this we all want to help and a large majority of us feel helpless. Every little bit helps.

It's easy to see the negative in every situation, but when people are trying to help, let's support them.