The business of giving is Business ...

[Xerxys]

WTF, how acurate is this?



I mean, if this was the case why haven't the economies of various countries been overturned? Why does anyone in the US claim to be either homeless or gone hungry for even just one night? Why do we claim to be in a recession then?

I'm truly puzzled. The numbers quoted are astronomical here. Almost more than government allocated funding. Various federal departments would simply love to get a tiny piece of that pie. I personally can overhaul the education system with the smallest fraction of a trillion dollars in revenue.

This is the reason I do not give.

[Baraka_Guru]

Just imagine how different things would be if that amount of charitable money were suddenly vapourized.

There would be little art, for instance. I don't think most art can survive in the open market.

[genuinegirly]

The system in the US is set up so charitable organizations skirt taxes. When that's the motivation for starting a charity, you start to have problems.

[ASU2003]

I donate blood, but I think things are setup better for conservatives to donate and volunteer since they are better organized in local groups.

I am using my money to improve things for others myself.

[Merlocke]

in Canada there are many donation scams in the form of tax shelters where the charities receive little to none of the money raised.

Many charities that are not as well known are also hard pressed to raise funds, and as such utilize methods such as telephone solicitation in order to find fundings, but this is generally a rather expensive way to do so. I ran a few research runs through charitable fundraising, and find that a lot of it is paid out to the fundraisers, which I both agree and don't agree with.

It's a necessary evil - as many smaller charities wouldn't receive support without it, but it's just so inefficient, and there are much easier methods to raise money for a local charity (churches, schools, etc). If you're interested in raising money for a school or church in Canada, drop me a line, and I'll explain my method to raise quite a bit of money for a local (Canadian) Charity if you've got the drive and willingness to do so. I'm not Anti-US - I just don't know the tax law there as well as I do up North.

[GreyWolf]

The figure shown in Xerxys' post of $300 billion annually is indeed astronomical, and there is some misinformation included there, but I tend to believe the numbers are probably reasonably good estimates.

When you look at the overall size of the US economy (as opposed to the total government spending. It does still represent about 2.3% of the total economy, but it also includes in-kind and non-monetary donations, which are a not insignificant fraction of the total amount (perhaps as much as 10% of total contributions). In addition, they don't seem to differentiate between charities and non-profits.

As well, the amount "lost" to the government through donations is somewhat overstated. The money spent by charities on salaries (such as the obscene salary of the head of the BSA) is subject to tax. In that case, the amount recouped may actually exceed the tax credit given. Never underestimate the power of the government to screw us (salaries are actually a small part of total spending, but the concept is there).

In addition, when you consider some of the "charities", such as BSA and the YMCA, for the most part, they aren't true charities. They are non-profit service businesses with a branch that does reach out to the needy and does do charitable works. But they are businesses first and foremost, even if largely volunteer driven.

And some of these charitable oranisations have become SO large, that it is hard to imagine that they are still focused on their primary raison d'etre. The American Cancer Society distributes billions of dollars a year in research grants, and turns downs many, many requests. If you had that sort of power, would you give money to someone who was going to wipe out your job? You and I would, and the vast majority of people would. What if we get someone who doesn't think like us? It's a concern. On the other hand, look what the March of Dimes did... it wiped out Polio, & kept right on trucking, re-focusing on other things to attack. It's hard to tell what will happen when you get people involved.

I mostly give local ones, but also a few international ones. I will NOT give to the United Way for 2 reasons... the first is weak, but the whole concept of "get big, get efficient, push, push, push!!!" bothers me. It's just so... American (sorry). I LIKE to give in small amounts to various charities. The second reason is petty. I was once insulted by a United Way volunteer for "wasting" my donations on charities that spend too much on fund-raising and not enough on programs. After all, she told me, the United Way was created to overcome this inefficiency and make sure that the maximum amount of my donation gets to the needy. I'm sorry (not really!), but if I want to give my money to a charity that spends 95% of its receipts on fund-raising, and still feel good about my donation, that's MY BUSINESS. And screw you if you don't like it. It's MY MONEY, and I'll do what I want with it.