What charities would you give money to?

[_19disnA]

Like to donate mostly food products to local charities/churches or organization handling some kind of disaster relief. Then I feel like my donation is most likely to benefit those in need. Many people probably don't realize that being incorporated as a 'non-profit' is largely for tax purposes and doesn't mean the workers are unpaid volunteers and there is no requirement relating to how much of the money donated actually goes to the organization's specific purpose. I am sure some non-profits do good work, pay their employees reasonable salaries and are efficiently run. However, paying the staff of some of these their six figure salaries or spending most of the money on advertisements to solicit more money, isn't how I want my donation to be used.

 

[georgina]

Like to donate mostly food products to local charities/churches or organization handling some kind of disaster relief. Then I feel like my donation is most likely to benefit those in need. Many people probably don't realize that being incorporated as a 'non-profit' is largely for tax purposes and doesn't mean the workers are unpaid volunteers and there is no requirement relating to how much of the money donated actually goes to the organization's specific purpose. I am sure some non-profits do good work, pay their employees reasonable salaries and are efficiently run. However, paying the staff of some of these their six figure salaries or spending most of the money on advertisements to solicit more money, isn't how I want my donation to be used.

There is a website that helps to evaluate charities and how much they put into their mission, charity navigator. My largest donation goes to Environmental Defense because they do good work and I want to leave behind an earth that is inhabitable for my grandchildren. I also give to global relief efforts as well as local food banks and community services. A local Pittsburgh charity, Brother's Brother, sends aid, particularly medical supplies, to disaster areas.

 

[RUDisney]

Charity Navigator is the website that rates charities.

 

[LostBoysClub]

Any that help animals.

 

[Skippy918]

I donate to mostly local charities that I’ve volunteered at. If I were a billionaire I would give more out to them. Many local charities have struggled during the pandemic so it would be nice to significantly help them out.

 

[SteveH]

My giving follows my involvement, over the years I've learned a lot about local charities. I give to my local Rotary as they do a combination of direct giving (with vetting) as well as International projects I also give to Rotary International. I give to my local Y as well, again because of direct involvement I know how my donation is used. I also give to my local food bank, I will never give to the big national ones like 2nd Harvest, always give local.

I pretty much refuse to support any charity that advertises on TV, if they have that kind of money they don't need mine. I don't give to our local United Way since they scalp 19% of my donation before they pass it along. While Charity Navigator is nice, do your own home work. I pull up the agency IRS 990 and have a look. When I see some of the salaries of their top level staff I know they don't really need my money. Also, take a look at their staff roster - all those people are getting paid. I love my local food bank since it is 100% volunteer run, the Executive Director is almost always retired and knows how to run a business, but without employees.

 

[godisney14]

As mentioned, everyone needs to lookup what the overhead expenses are at every non-profit and NGO they want to contribute to.
You’d be surprised at how little effort, minimum requirements, oversight there are to establish and run a non-profit.

One of the biggest “non-profit” scams that I keep telling people about (at least in my area) are those fliers that ask for monetary and/or item donation pick-up to support causes such as cancer, heart disease, poverty, etc.
These are all one or two-person “non-profits” with an extremely high expense ratio (basically pocketing all the money).

Even larger operations have shady expense ratios sometimes from what I’ve checked in the past.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I agree with you, but we don't need to be a multi-millionaire or billionaire to be able to do that. If I had that kind of money, I'd be trying to get those people off the street & into a home. I'd also make sure they always had food not just an occasional meal provided by the generosity of a stranger.

I agree but I'm not sure how a regular person could do that, thing is really wealthy people don't go where poor people go so in the ven diagram of life there is no overlap. Regular people see need but don't have the means. Still we can volunteer, deliver clothes to salvation army and give the vouchers to outreach places. Can even give items and time to Habitat for Humanity. Personally, I am not a big fan of donating to places that skim from the top. I've known some really wonderful people who move mountains for others and are volunteers themselves out and about getting their hands dirty without a dime of salary, these are the people I put my faith in and that's it. They are everywhere, call a local domestic violence shelter and just ask when they need, there are more than you can imagine & they always need help. People in libraries also see a lot of need since poor people rely on them for access to computers so, oddly, a librarian would be a good person to ask. My local library has sculptures where locals dress them with hats, gloves, coats and jackets for those who need them.

 

[happybaker]

The red cross comes to mind because my father, a WWII veteran was denied something, I don't remember what, from the Red Cross and therefore never would donate to them

My grandfather said the same thing about the Red Cross when he was in Europe during WWII. I'd only heard the story from my mother, but in his case it had something to do with his grandmother (who had raised him). The Salvation Army helped him instead, so we always donate to them over the Red Cross.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I agree but I'm not sure how a regular person could do that, thing is really wealthy people don't go where poor people go so in the ven diagram of life there is no overlap. Regular people see need but don't have the means. Still we can volunteer, deliver clothes to salvation army and give the vouchers to outreach places. Can even give items and time to Habitat for Humanity. Personally, I am not a big fan of donating to places that skim from the top. I've known some really wonderful people who move mountains for others and are volunteers themselves out and about getting their hands dirty without a dime of salary, these are the people I put my faith in and that's it. They are everywhere, call a local domestic violence shelter and just ask when they need, there are more than you can imagine & they always need help. People in libraries also see a lot of need since poor people rely on them for access to computers so, oddly, a librarian would be a good person to ask. My local library has sculptures where locals dress them with hats, gloves, coats and jackets for those who need them.

We're on the same page with all of this, but my post was addressing the topic of the thread. Your posts offer great advice to people who don't already do those things & would be an interesting topic for a different thread. This thread is about suddenly becoming a billionaire & having the money to do things that the average person would never be able to do. If I suddenly had that kind of money, I would still be the same person & wouldn't forget that there are homeless people out there who are in need of housing & food. For now, I have to try to help any way I can with the means I currently have.

 

[ronandannette]

There is a website that helps to evaluate charities and how much they put into their mission, charity navigator. My largest donation goes to Environmental Defense because they do good work and I want to leave behind an earth that is inhabitable for my grandchildren. I also give to global relief efforts as well as local food banks and community services. A local Pittsburgh charity, Brother's Brother, sends aid, particularly medical supplies, to disaster areas.

Yes - this is a great resource. Thanks!

 

[LuvOrlando]

My grandfather said the same thing about the Red Cross when he was in Europe during WWII. I'd only heard the story from my mother, but in his case it had something to do with his grandmother (who had raised him). The Salvation Army helped him instead, so we always donate to them over the Red Cross.

9/11 they redirected a LOT of money, so much so that there was a gigantic investigation, I won't forget.

When Sandy hit instead of donating we pooled money and discovered that our local Lowes and Home Depot were willing to match us $ for $ for what we bought (I am an active local volunteer and was able to give references plus it may have been the managers giving from their own pockets). We did $500, a friend did $500 and FIL did $500 so DH, that friend and FIL drove in to SI and handed things out from the back of our Jeep & helped people dig themselves out, stuff like gloves, tools, shovels, garbage bags - they just wandered around and helped whoever needed help.

There should be a Nike shirt for volunteering, 'Just do it."

 

[goofyernmost]

My father drove tanks in WWII and had PTSD issues for the rest of his life. So Disabled American Veterens (DAV) is a favorite charity.

The MSPCA as they do great work locally is another favorite charity. And numerous other regional animal charities who struggle with the mess that’s left from people not caring for their animals properly. If I had billions I would figure out a national Spay/Neuter education program to help with the disgraceful pet overpopulation problem we have. We don’t even hear much about Spay/Neuter anymore. We wouldn’t need all these rescues if we didn’t have so many unwanted animals.

Horse sanctuaries like SkyDog Ranch. And the World Wildlife Fund to educate others globally about animal welfare.

Make A Wish, for sure. And local food and Christmas charities.

I do see in news articles that the American Red Cross is almost always on scene of fires giving out blankets and such so they would receive contributions from me, too. (@goofyernmost I’d be curious to know what happened with them and your Dad.)

I’m sure there are others.

Unfortunately, my Father passed away years ago, and I just don't remember the reason he had, but I do remember him being strongly against supporting them. I didn't really pay attention, I guess, but it was strong enough that I immediately noted that the Salvation Army was there for me, but looking back they and the Red Cross had two distinct and needed jobs to do.

 

[sweetpeama]

My list would be
My church
Convoy of Hope
Give Kids the World
Montana Hope Project
My County 4-H Foundation
My State 4-H Foundation
National 4-H Foundation

 

[cabanafrau]

We just had this discussion recently as there were two lotteries with massive jackpots up for grabs. I told my husband that I wanted to set up a foundation that would provide support and guidance for kids aging out of the foster care system. I'd like to help make sure they have basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter, but also help them build for a happy, healthy and successful future. I'd want to help them be able to attend college or some type of career training if that's where their interests lie. I want some guardrail-type of guidelines to help keep them on a positive path, not just handouts with no accountability, so that they in some ways might have the feel of parental guidance as they move through the early phases of adulthood like most people do through their college years.