Sorry, but this is going to sound very general because I still need to do a lot of reading to understand the issue. And research or asking people about this seems to be very difficult, especially to find ideas generally agreed upon.
Since this is such a huge online community, it is safe to say a lot of you have done volunteer work or donated to charity, right? How do you usually decide what organisation to spend your work and/or money on? I have asked a few people in person that I trust to give educated responses and a certain volunteer leader online but some of the opinions don't match up, or I have problems accepting fully.
One has said well-known organisations like Red Cross are reliable, because they are huge and it is difficult to be corrupt without having some well-meaning volunteer or employee shout out against them. However, the counter-argument from another person is that they are huge and ineffective, like a lot of money donations end up being used as wages for employees. Or that donations for reparations after Hurricane Katrina (example) end up only having a fraction allocated to that specific cause and the rest goes to other things.
Most people I talked to have agreed that it is good to donate money only after you have personally helped in an organisation, so you know how well it is run and how resources are used. In general, this is a good idea but with my past experiences, there are times when I feel like I am being cheated as a volunteer. We get pamphlets of money allocation or what volunteers accomplished. Those pamphlets are very rose-tinted and don't tell you how some of the nurses, for example, scream and talk down to the elderly like they are stupid and useless kids. It gets dismissed. I don't want to tell personal details, but think of a similar environment like this:
http://www.slowchildren-atplay.com/ ....I cannot decide if I am contributing to a mess for volunteering alongside employers/volunteers like that, but it also hurts to know that the people who need help just continue to cry for someone to care after you leave.
Another thing that seems agreed upon is that religious organisations should not be trusted because it is hard to tell how much resources are used for conversion. Well, possibly. But one friend has said that they build a sense of community in places where everyone is scattered and suspicious of everyone else. The place of worship is built and becomes a gathering area for regular and frequent activities, even for things outside of worship, like practical skill classes or feeding the homeless. But it's hard to say. It is like they foster unity and discrimination simultaneously.
Well....this is long enough. I will maybe say more later. Please tell me how you choose to volunteer/donate. My mixed emotions have lasted for many months now, with no resolution.
Oh, and is the search very accurate? When I tried to look for "charity" or "volunteer" on the forum search, a lot of the results point to other things. Or do the keywords need to be more specific?
