Charitable Giving

[Clutch Munny]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

Really Clutch? Because I know this charity called ME....

I know, I know. Users of that horrible system deserve all the support we can give. We should all dig deep.

[Stormlight]

Originally Posted by viscousmemories

I think I have a couple hundred dollars in Kiva now - I just re-loan it whenever the loans are paid off and sometimes add more. I'm also associated with a Secularist group on Kiva, so the unfortunate buggers who get money from me get it in the name of Satan.

Same here. We probably are in the same group, too.

Also, you can check my signature which links to HEAL Africa who are active in the DR Congo.

[curses]

I ran across this in a comic I read and thought it might interest a few people here.
Restoring Truthiness Giving Page (DonorsChoose.org)

It looks like a neat cause to donate to. You give money to the site for a specific school project listing, they buy the materials and then deliver them to the classroom.

[Crumb]

I don't mean to brag or anything, but since I began my giving program in July 2009 I have given $1,950! For 2011 I have upped my giving budget to $60 per paycheck.

[curses]

I came across this one via the Reddit sidebar tonight. Looks like a neat idea. Anyone seen it/donated to it before?

[LadyShea]

OMG reading those profiles is heartbreaking and motivating. Thanks curses. They haven't been active long enough to be on Charity Navigator or anything, so I am unsure how to go about researching them.

[Hermit]

Has anyone mentioned the Wikipedia yet? It's annual begging campaign should start any day now. I think it is a worthy recipient. Although it has no charitable status in Australia, and thus donations are not tax deductible here. The situation might be different in other countries. What I like most about it is that the Wikipedia provides the same valuable resources as the Encyclopedia Britannica, but unlike the latter, does it for free. The EB used to pretty monopolistic and rapacious pricing and its sales staff were always quick to engage in emotional blackmail (You'll disadvantage your children if you don't buy our stuff). When its first electronic publication of its flagship product was release, on all of three CDs, it had an even higher price tag than its 27 volume hardcover equivalent. At that point I began to positively hate the outfit. Sorry. Getting a bit carried away now, so...

Another one Community Aid Abroad / Oxfam. This organisation focuses on improving the infrastructure in poor regions like digging wells and building medical facilities rather than short term assistance. It also runs on reasonably small overheads, at least when I started donating to it maybe 20 or so years ago. Hopefully that is still the case.

[LadyShea]

I just got my Mom a Watsi gift cert from curses link. I also have been gifted with a donation to Charity: Water by a family member this year (charity was my choice with the stipulation that it help children).

[LadyShea]

So end of year giving? Who are you supporting this year?

[Crumb]

Unfortunately, I had to slow down my giving this year because we had to buy a new furnace. But I do look forward to starting up again next year after a get a little more padding back into my bank account. Any suggestions?

[godfry n. glad]

Nature Conservancy.

Bradley Angle House.

[LadyShea]

Watsi looks good.

[Dingfod]

I've been dropping gold krugerrands into various charity boxes and kettles.

[Watser?]

Jewish Voice for Peace Donation Drive

+972 Magazine With your support, we can do much more: break more stories, expand to more platforms, and reach more readers

Donations for Gaza

Donate and help us save and protect children's lives in Gaza

[Janet]

I don't do any special end of the year stuff. I give to Doctors Without Borders every month and United Way every paycheck. If there is an appeal during the year that catches my eye I give to it as well.

[Watser?]

Yeah, same here, I don't get any christmas bonuses, so I can't spend more than I normally do. I give to Amnesty International and some Palestinians causes throughout the year.

[Dingfod]

Originally Posted by Dingfod

I've been dropping gold krugerrands into various charity boxes and kettles.

Besides that bit of anonymous and thus not tax deductible noblesse oblige, several percentage of my paycheck are divided between a variety of local, national, and international causes at my direction, such as A New Leaf rehab center for adults and children with developmental disabilities, the American Red Cross, the International Red Cross, Campfire Green Country (a secular scouting-like program for boys and girls), Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Youth Services of Creek County, Tulsa Boys Home, the Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless, Goodwill Industries, Creek County Literacy Program, Neighbor-to-Neighbor, and last but not least, the Domestic Violence Intervention Service. I also occasionally give out free movie passes and theater snack bar coupons to homeless people, and if the theaters found out, they would probably send me to North Korea.

[ShottleBop]

I give monthly to a few charities, throughout the year to others. Bought a goat through Heifer International in the name of a friend.

[Crumb]

Oh I did do that this year. I gave to Oregon Food Bank in my mother's name for her birthday and in my nephew's name for his birthday. Actually I think it was Doctor's Without Borders for my nephew since he is a Washingtonian.

I also have been using Amazon Smile. So a small portion of my Amazon Christmas orders and all my other Amazon ordering now goes to Doctor's Without Borders.

http://smile.amazon.com/

[Janet]

I use Amazon Smile for the Friends of the Library. Self-serving, I know.

[Dingfod]

I forgot about Amazon Smile. I use it to donate to a "feed the homeless" fund set up by the local atheist group I'm in.

[LadyShea]

I use Amazon Smile, and change up the charity every once in awhile

[just me]

In addition to Amazon Smile (which I think is great), often I get asked at the grocery if I would like to 'round up for...' I generally say yes as the grocery is usually donating to a food pantry or similar.It seems many big name stores are also willing to donate to charity a tiny percentage of what we spend. Seems a waste to not sign up for this since it costs us nothing.

There is, however, one type of charity I would like to encourage everyone to donate to. A real life person. Giving money is wonderful, but it's impossible to see the effect the donation has.

I frequently find myself being spoken to by complete strangers, often older than myself when I am out and about. Often I find what they approach me with a bit odd. Today I was buying a 30 pack of beer among other things at a dept store and while waiting in line at the pharmacy this older man said 'Well that is a great Christmas present!'. Being a bit daft I just looked at him and said 'What is?' Once I got what he was saying I realized he was just trying to make conversation. I replied, 'well for me xmas is every day'. He belly laughed and I decided to step out of line, sit next to him and just chat for a bit.

To me this is a personal form of charity where the donation is time, attention and a sincere effort to be fully present with another human. So many of us find ourselves lonely and just want another human to donate a few minutes of our time. I always come away from these experiences feeling my perspective has been broadened.

[LadyShea]

Government says four cancer charities are shams - CNN.com

[lisarea]

Yes! It's about time.

These are those ones that use telemarketing soundboards (the ones that say, "Do I sound that bad? Hahahaha" if you ask if they're robots). I thought that they ran a few others, including one for MS and some others, but maybe those ones are just knockoffs. This Tampa Bay Times project is very good at keeping track of fraudulent charities, so you can see a bunch of them there.

This isn't good enough, though. Those people are real bags of shit, and if you just let them walk away without serious personal repercussions, they're going to continue doing this sort of thing. And the thing is, too, that once someone discovers a fraud that works well, other people come in and bite it as well, so it never really goes away until there's some real, serious personal risk to it.