Donating

[Bus Driver]

Over the many years of my existence here, I have believed in giving to worthy causes. I do expect them to use wisely that which I send them.
The largest single donation I ever made, more than my gross salary for that year, was squandered by the organization that received it. That hurt! In other cases, a few small donations to various causes resulted in my mail box being filled with requests from organizations I never heard of before.
One of the places I was regularly supporting was selling my name and address to others. What a nice way to show their gratitude!
Pop-up ads for a new organization, Kars4Kids, are frequently on my screen as I "surf the net". My research leads me to conclude that I should concentrate my giving elsewhere.

Charity Navigator is useful for much of the information that one might want. It takes effort to earn money. Some care should be exercised when disposing of that money.

 

[Donegal Cub]

Whilst donating to charity is a good humane thing to do it often has its drawbacks. (No good deed goes unpunished) Hope you don't get put off your generosity to your fellow man.
Bernard,
Donegal Cub.

 

[Bus Driver]

For years, the word "discrimination' Has been portrayed as something very bad. And in some contexts, it is. But few among us could afford to give to every cause that makes a request for such. So we must pick-and-choose, both as to the recipient and as to how much that recipient will receive from us. So we do discriminate.
I never respond positively to those who call me asking for donations. Often the caller is a paid solicitor who may keep 70% of the amount of the donation for their services. And I never give my credit card number over the telephone unless I placed the call to that party.

 

[redfin]

Good comments on the subject. It's unfortunate that the money given for a specific cause is siphoned off for administration (fees and profits) etc. before the actual target is served. I have chosen to make many small donations to the individuals that I feel may benefit. Some refuse the offers and some are truly accepting and appreciative. This might include helping an elderly person at the grocery check out , or giving a few gallons of gas money to someone that appear to be struggling and only putting 5.00 gas in their car , maybe a warn and hard working waitress that gives excellent service will get a very nice "tip". Just my input in case someone would find it of interest.

 

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

All of our charitable giving is done through local charities that I know the money is going where it is needed, not to support a large staff. One example is regular donations to local food pantries. One example is food pantries. My wife is a retired teacher and at their monthly meetings they collect food for one of the pantries here in town. Our local antique tractor club takes up a donation every month at their meetings that results in 100 to 150 pounds of canned good every month plus several half gallons of milk that are bought by one of the members.

edit: the main exception to this is we have a few times made donations through the Red Cross for specific things, such as the tornado in Joplin a few years ago, and other catastrophes they have helped out with.

 

[ricky racer]

All of our charitable giving is done through local charities that I know the money is going where it is needed, not to support a large staff. One example is regular donations to local food pantries. One example is food pantries. My wife is a retired teacher and at their monthly meetings they collect food for one of the pantries here in town. Our local antique tractor club takes up a donation every month at their meetings that results in 100 to 150 pounds of canned good every month plus several half gallons of milk that are bought by one of the members.

I agree. Most of our charitable giving is done through area Churchs. The staff are almost always volunteer so there are no admistrative fees so I know any money if going where it's supposed to. I also agree with giving food. Money is easily corruptible but it's hard to corrupt a can of corn... :?

 

[Jim Becker]

. . . I also agree with giving food. Money is easily corruptible but it's hard to corrupt a can of corn... :?

The catch is that most pantries and such can buy food in bulk, often for not much more than half what it costs you. So unless you think your charity is siphoning off half your contribution, it is still more effective to give money. If you think half the funds are being embezzled, you might want to find a different charity anyway.

 

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

. . . I also agree with giving food. Money is easily corruptible but it's hard to corrupt a can of corn... :?

The catch is that most pantries and such can buy food in bulk, often for not much more than half what it costs you. So unless you think your charity is siphoning off half your contribution, it is still more effective to give money. If you think half the funds are being embezzled, you might want to find a different charity anyway.

Agreed in many areas and for bigger charities, but in small towns such as are around here the pantries get little to no price breaks.

 

[Rob in NH]

we usually donate to a needy family every christmas, done through the local church. i also started donating blood every couple of months, gives me a good feeling doing that.

 

[Eugene]

Great topic.

One of the major charities, nation wide, in the USA is not on my favorite list. Area had a catastrophic flood when I was a teenager. Lots of donations of items and cash flowed in at the town opened office. That was until locals found out that 75% of the donations went out of the area. Then donations immediately dried up and the office closed.

Had a discussion on the charity with my uncle, a WWII ex-marine, who didn't think much of the charity. I told uncle of my experience in Korea. My experience was that it was a photographic/advertising opportunity more than chance to provide any service to the military.

OK. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. 97% of donations to the Boy Scouts goes to their programs. The other 3% is spent on advertising, postage, and printing expense requesting donations.

Concur, support local charities.

 

[Bus Driver]

No doubt, I have become somewhat of a curmudgeon. Regarding food pantries, long years ago my late father purchased some acreage adjacent to our homeplace and it included a 3 room house. He rented it for $15 per month to the older sister (now deceased) of one of my best friends. "Welfare" provided her with some quantity of surplus food products from various government commodity programs. The items that could be eaten as-is, such as peanut butter, were eaten. Flour and lard, which must be incorporated into food being prepared, were thrown into the woods. She also abused the largess of members of her family.

More recently, I was working at a premises where the family mentioned going to two different food pantries each week. They asked me if I wanted two cans of apricots that were in their collection as they would not eat them but had planned to throw them away. My family did eat them, with gratitude. Not my favorite, but adds variety to the diet. So even the pantries might want to survey their "clients" and retain any items that the recipients would not actually use.

My wife knows a woman in her late 30s, with 11 children, present husband is in prison, who refuses to eat left-overs. She say she throws away anything not eaten at a particular meal. Fortunately, we could afford to do that but most certainly do not do so. When the wife serves a dish from leftovers, I might mention "remains" or "reruns".