Do you give to charity? If so, what causes do you support?

We sponsor a student in Cambodia so she can go to school rather than work at the dump. We also give to one of the orphanages in Cambodia. My wife travels there every year to help build houses and spend time with kids at some of the schools. I am hoping to join her this year.

 

I raised money for three years for the Livestrong Foundation—rode the rides, gave fundraiser concerts, asked for money from my family and friends. The sketchy stuff going on with Lance's doping investigations and the increasingly nebulous relationship between Livestrong's .org and .com finally got to be too much to look past. So now I'll be raising money for a group I'm already giving money to: the Melanoma Research Foundation, in memory of my cousin. They do good work, and they did good stuff for her.

 

Church, Urban Impact, and a child in Africa

 

On where your donation goes, my friend advises people leaving money to RSPCA to leave it for the local shelter and not to be used on administration. I would think you could do the same when making a donation - make clear what it is for and if they wish to accept it, that is what it should be spent on.
I dont give money cause I have bugger all. I was short term fostering small dogs - but the massive landing has put paid to that. I turn out for a horse rescue - Sussex Horse Rescue Trust - and check animals are okay in their new places with their loaners - they also sent me out to hunt a peahen one day. Took three months - it had the benefit of flight. It escaped at the docks whilst being loaded into a car, one of twelve from the channel islands that was at risk of death - owners kept on breeding wanting white ones, a rescue on Guernsey took them and they were distributed by sea. Anyhoo, this retired policeman had some and I asked his advice - and that was why I was walking around the docks cooing 'come to me my pretty one' (he said then you just scoop it up). Well. Did I feel old or what. A whole working dock and not one reply! I stand outside supermarkets sometimes with my friend and my dogs and collecting tin for a local animal welfare charity. We have not been for a while as my friend is in a lot of pain too, we refuse to sit, we stand proud with our backs as straight as we can force them - just like when the old soldiers go by.
We try to help any animal in need - if you dont help animal people when they are in dire need, then who will look after the animals. Sometimes a little help can make a great difference - a small sack of complete dog food is cheap, and that and a couple of tins takes stress of say someone whos marriage has just gone down the toilet, and they are left with their friend - cat or dog - and have little or no finances - one lady my friend went to - her husband even took the wheels off her car after he emptied the bank account. He left her with his animals as well as her own. Sometimes we just try and help stop good people from breaking.

 

Actually, this is a wonderful idea, and you can get/claim a charitable donation for it in some cases (if you do work in your own field for free). But after money, time (labour/volunteers) is the thing that charities usually need most, at least local ones (can't speak for the big medical ones like ACS). It's something that I always offer to people I'm counseling in financial difficulties as a way to continue to be charitable WITHOUT a significant cash outlay.

 

I am a mason so i always do what i can to donate to the lodge and the shriners (thats next for me).
My wife always donates to some sort of breast cancer orginazation.
i am always buying things from the kids where i work. i know my dads co workers did when i was a kid

 

I am really really hesitant to.

Just because I had a very bad (in my mind) experience with a major charity in the UK - NSPCC (basically children's welfare)

When I was 21 and got my first full time job, I set up a direct debit to pay them £10 a month. Fair enough, not a huge amount of money, but it was what I felt comfortable to give and I wanted to make some kind of gesture to do something good once I started earning money

Without exageration I would say they wrote to me about once every 2/3 weeks while I was donating to them, with these flyers saying "its great what you are giving, but if you could just give a bit more we could save more kids/do more good work/etc"

I was so pissed that they basically spent a significant proportion of what I was giving them writing to me with guilt trip style letters asking for more. I cancelled my donation, wrote to them and told them why, and have always been very hesitant to give again.

_

I buy a poppy every year, I have donated to one off causes when something touched my heart or impressed me (like the Boxing Day Tsunami - I donated £50 to that,?

I made a similar donation for a charity I dont even remember which was part of a Telethon. They had all these celeb challenges (and most were a bit lame to me, like walking up a mountain or so on... I mean fair enough its hard work, but its the sort of thing a lot of people do for fun) But they had this one celeb, she wasnt even a sports star or anything but a kids TV presenter, who single handedly rowed up the Amazon. And I thought something like that is pretty incredible and she deserved something for whatever cause it was.

When they have charity things at work (like cake day or so on) I usually participate, but not actively - just give the minimum so as not to appear a spoil sport. Sponsored a couple of mates who did marathons and so on

I would consider supporting small and personal charities, but am now very wary of big and established ones.

It kind of annoys me the moral pressure some (most in my opinion) these people put on you to donate.

 

I work for the U.S. Army and they with all Federal agencies have a yearly drive called the Combined Federal Campaign. It is actually a pretty cool thing. They give us a large book of both local, state, and federal charitable organizations and you can read descriptions of each one and it even tells you what percentage of your donation goes to administrative costs rather than the actual reason for the charity. That is huge. The smaller the percentage of admin fees the more I know my dollar is going to the actual greater good. Also, you can choose a dollar amount and they will take 1/26th of that cost directly out of your paycheck each pay period. Tax free so no need to claim it on your taxes. It is a good way to give.

 

tax free. now thats the way to go

 

I donate to Sacred Well Congregation because they've done a lot to help support Wiccans in the military, and to Army Emergency Relief. I also donate my time to Civil Air Patrol as a volunteer.

 

Making certain that your money is used wisely is definitely a concern... but I do think that the first thing should be is it a cause you feel is worthwhile? There are charities out there that I simply don't believe in, but it doesn't mean that the people are well-intentioned, honest, devoted supporters of that cause. It's just not my thing. So efficiency of my donation is always at least second on my list of consderations.

 

Artistic Development
Autism Programs
I donate my time/use hockey equipment for families who cannot afford equipment or hockey for their kids....

 

Sooooo.....you can donate to my fundraising goal for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society here.

And since she's on my team, you can even donate to snowy here.

ok...I'm done bothering people.....

 

doubt it

 

If i ever figure out my financial situation I am very much inclined to donate to a local right to life group that focuses on helping girls who find themselves in an unplanned pregnancy and informing and helping them with all their choices.

 

We give.

We spread it around to various societies and causes and we're always suckers when coats for children and toys for tots comes along.

Honestly, I'd feel like an ass if I were to list who we give to. I don't know why, it's just personal for me in most cases. Toys for Tots is a bit different but I think that's only because of the bad experience I had this past xmas.

You know what's odd? I don't give to the society that funds research for the auto-immune I have. There's just too much out there for me and I'm just stubborn.

 

Be careful with phone solicitations for charity. I always ask what percent actually is devoted to fund raising and what percent is devoted to the charity. If I can't get a straight answer, then they do not get considered. It is rare that I will respond to a telemarketer for charitable giving. And then they must mail me the information.

Here are some tips
Charity Navigator - Top 10 Best Practices of Savvy Donors

 

I cant' imagine not giving to charity. On the rare occasions that I buy a lottery ticket, the first thought I have about what I'll do if I win is to set up a foundation.

It's important to know who you're giving to. Random charities might be good causes, but it's generally a good idea to check them out. Outfits that use more than 25% of their dollars on admin are not treating their contributors or beneficiaries correctly. United Way is a good way to give because they have basically pre-vetted the member organizations. And I'm with CM: I have a policy of NEVER committing to charity in response to a phone call -- I tell the telemarketer to send me something in the mail and then I'll decide. And if they keep pushing I hang up.

Causes I give to: disesases, sick kids, local food bank, local synagogue, local ambulance corps. And I make sure that at least some of every month's income goes to charity.

 

When I can, I donate to Doctors Without Borders. I was always impressed with the doctors and other health workers going to dangerous areas, rather than staying in a more comfortable place with their own practice. That says to me that they're truly dedicated to helping others rather than becoming a doctor for the status and money. At the same time, I work at a law firm that focuses on medical malpractice and some of these doctors we defend would never set foot in a war zone area. I think they're too snobby for that.