Who gets your money?

[LadyShea]

End of the year, charities are wanting my money. I don't have a lot to give so try to be careful.

I am really liking No Kid Hungry. They work with states to support and expand publicly funded school breakfast and lunch programs, as well as summer meal programs for kids. This approach makes sense to me, as it utilizes programs that are already in place...no need to reinvent the wheel or spend money on developing new distribution methods etc.

Who you giving to and why.

[ImGod]

United Way. Because companies brow beat their employees into donating. I try my hardest to direct the contribution to something like a battered women's shelter or homless shelter. But I hate the UW tax on it.

I don't give much through the company UW plan and spread the rest out. We normally have about 10 or so by the end of the year. Cancer is a big one after one of my younger daughter's classmates died of a tumor in elementary school and several of my wife's friends are recovering.

I'll not turn this into a UW sucks thread. But UW sucks.

[lisarea]

I used to have this detailed scheme for donations, where I'd categorize things according to:

Ideology vs. immediate need, so legal or lobbying groups vs. organizations that provide immediate food, shelter, etc.
Local vs. not local
Human vs. non-human

And we'd sit down and figure out how to distribute our donations as evenly as we could. I haven't done that in a while, but when I was being all disciplined and stuff about that sort of thing, I thought the system worked pretty well.

FYI, I do offer a "Lisa Pea's Life Complication Services" subscription for anyone who is interested.

[LadyShea]

Yeah, I don't have the money to do all the giving and membership fees and stuff I used to do. I am pretty much down to choosing one charity per year for cash donations (i give stuff to places throughout the year, volunteer when I can, write letters/sign petitions, give blood, take in strays, that kind of stuff).

[SharonDee]

Last year I gave to the local homeless newspaper thing. And also to the ACLU, I think.

I'm thinking I'll go with the hungry this year, like Shea's link and Second Harvest.

[LadyShea]

Hunger or thirst, yep. I like some of the water charities too, but want to stick with domestic this year. Kids my son sees every school day depend on those programs to get a meal every single day...that's scary and sad

I am still looking for a secular equivalent to the phrase "There but for the grace of God go I"

[SharonDee]

"There, but for the chance of fate, would I walk."

[Gonzo]

I am now accepting donations for the Church of Gonzo. We are currently one member strong.

[thedoc]

In my area there are several food banks that supply food, non-perishable items, and other supplies to needy families. Receintly they were asking for diapers and wipes, and in the fall they are looking for school supplies. I'm sure that if you look there is something similar in your area. There was also the suggestion of a way to make the contributions go farther. There are regularly coupons that allow items to be purchased for less, and the suggestion was that even if you do not use the item, it could be purchased and donated. There is also the 2 for 1 and if you only need 1 the other could be donated. Some times a donation of money to an organization gets used up in the adminstration of those organizations, in our local food bank the help is volunteer, so donations go directly to those in need. The other obvious way to help those in need is to volunteer to help at the food bank.

[thedoc]

Originally Posted by Gonzo

I am now accepting donations for the Church of Gonzo. We are currently one member strong.

And I will gladly donate my 'good will' to this worthy cause, and bless you.

[One for Sorrow]

Originally Posted by ImGod

I'll not turn this into a UW sucks thread. But UW sucks.

Yeah. There was a scandal over how much the United Way chief in Charlotte was making a couple of years ago, so I'd rather not donate to them.

So, I'm directing my payroll contributions to Doctors without Borders next year (trying to, anyway. The paperwork states that I can "designate a portion of my contribution to support a United Way partner agency, other United Ways or any 501(c)3 non-profit tax exempt organization with an eligible health and human service program. Hopefully Doctors without Borders qualifies).

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation gets my money every year, as well.

Other than that, I know so many individuals struggling with various health problems, so I try to give what I can to help. One of my co-workers nearly died from West Nile virus and has been out of work for months, and another was recently diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer (it spread to his liver. He's a good friend of mine and he's only about 35. Fortunately, the cancer seems to be responding well to chemo and he's having surgery next week).

There is also my friend Kayla. She has cystic fibrosis and has already had one double-lung transplant. In less than two years, she developed rejection and has relocated from Rhode Island to North Carolina for a second transplant. They have been testing living donors for her and two are going through the final stages of testing (if they use living donors, she will need two. They take one lobe from each donor). So, it's good that she may get her transplant very soon thanks to the living donors, but it has also greatly increased her family's financial burden, because the donors will need to temporarily relocate as well, and be out of work during their recovery time.

[Anastasia Beaverhausen]

I have issues with the Red Cross.

One of the best-rated charities, that is on the ground and gets shit done, is Doctors Without Borders.

[thedoc]

One thing that must be remembered with any organization that is a part of UW, the main organization, UW, will monitor all the contributions from all soruces of the charities in the group, and they have set the proportions that each will receive. So if you sent a seperate contribution to a particular charity the UW will reduce what that charity receives from UW by a proportional amount. So in the end the UW dictates how much each receives even if many people are contributing seperately. So if 'Doctors Without Borders' is part of UW, the amount they will receive is already set by UW. UW sucks!

[vremya]

Originally Posted by ImGod

I'll not turn this into a UW sucks thread. But UW sucks.

Yep. They do. They have way too much power over organizations that get funding through them.

[One for Sorrow]

Huh. That's good to know. I need to research it more. Maybe we do need a "United Way (and other charities that suck)" thread. I did have some vague idea that many people don't like them, but didn't really know why.

[koan]

I donate to myself to avoid having to collect from charities. Does that count?

[SharonDee]

"Every dollar of it. Sometimes his wife comes and gets it."
"Whose wife?"
"Yes."

[vremya]

My issue with UW comes from when I worked for an organization that got funding from UW, and we had ridiculous hoops to jump through to get funded in the first place, then they wanted some pretty intrusive data for program evaluations, and finally, after we bent over backwards to retrofit our programs to meet their needs, they cut our funding.

They've gotten away from their original purpose, which was to allow people to donate money to one place which would cover multiple issues.

[Ari]

I've always liked Heifer International, partly because they give in livestock and plants that can provide a constant return and a large meal for those receiving them.

Kiva is also pretty cool and gives heavily to Women entrepreneurs.

[Angakuk]

You know the saying. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will spend the whole weekend on a boat drinking beer.

[Ari]

The Heifer version,
Give a man a steak and he will eat for a day. Give a man a milking cow and he will pull on every teat he can find.

[LadyShea]

Originally Posted by Ari

I've always liked Heifer International, partly because they give in livestock and plants that can provide a constant return and a large meal for those receiving them.

I was recently reviewing that, and discussed it here

[chunksmediocrites]

I was giving money to the ACLU but have lapsed.

I'm thinking about contributing to NARAL again considering the War on Women showing no signs of slowing.

I'm also thinking about a small donation to one of my senators- Wyden- for putting this Surveillance bill on hold. Though I am still non-plussed about his Wyden-Ryan Medicare Reform plan. Maybe I'll just send him a supportive letter.

The bakery I work for matches employee donations to about five different charities every December. I can't recall the entire list, but it includes a shelter for pregnant teens, a food bank, and Doctors Without Borders. I'll do something with that again to take advantage of the matching.

[specious_reasons]

This thread reminded me that I've been remiss in donating to local food banks.

[Qingdai]

I've donated medical supplies to Mercy Corps, they rank really highly in amount of money spent on programs versus administration and fundraising costs.
Charity Navigator Rating - Mercy Corps

I also like Medical Teams international, they provide a lot of dental care for the indigent in the Pacific NW. They're Christian, but also have a high charity navigator score. They provide dental care to the homeless youth (and adults) that access care at Outside In, which is usually where I give my money, time and donations.

Charity Navigator Rating - Medical Teams International

Outside In is too small to be ranked on the charity navigator.

http://www.outsidein.org/index.htm