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Ask Slashdot: Making Donations Count
An anonymous reader writes: As a recent college graduate I now have a job and enough money to actually buy things and donate to causes. Up until now I really haven't been paying attention to which groups are best to donate and which are scams. For example, Goodwill seems like a great organization until you dig deeper and discover they hire under privileged and disabled people only to exploit the related government handouts instead of doing it to benefit those people. What are some quality organizations to donate to? Who do you donate to and why? I'm looking for improving the poor, supporting constitutional rights, and supporting issues many Slashdotters can agree on such as net neutrality and anything against the media companies. I don't care what political group the money ends up going to. The specific case is more important than some arbitrary label. I'm also in the USA, so foreign recommendations are probably less helpful.
You need to be able to watch what they are doing.
Showoff.
Just donate to OpenBSD. They produce some of the best software there is, and ever has been.
MSF/DWB. If the poor of the world get better care, then the politicians in the rich world will have less to fight about. Then your dollars can be spent on constitutional/privacy/etc. rights.
http://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Exempt-Organizations-Select-Check
https://www.charitywatch.org/charities
Since it's Slashdot:
Free Software Foundation http://fsf.org/
Electronic Freedom Foundation http://eff.org/
American Civil Liberties Union http://aclu.org/
Make sure they are registered as a 501(c)(3) so your donations are tax-deducible.
I'd skip sending money to ISIS or the Taliban. It's probably not tax-deductible and may result in unpleasant imprisonment.
Don't donate to any organized cause. Even the best run, most efficient ones still have part of your dollar go to administrative or marketing costs.
As you move through life, you will meet plenty of people that need help. Give that pan handler on the side of the road a hamburger. Help your single-working-mother neighbor by paying for a baby sitter so she can have a night out. Buy groceries for the person in line at the store behind you that is using food stamps.
Or, donate your time. Join Habitat for Humanity and build a house for someone.
While all these options take more time/effort than just entering your credit card into a website, those donations of money/time will be completely dedicated to the person in need.
Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes
Unless you want to spend several months a year of your life auditing inefficient "charity" organizations and trying to make judgments about whether they're doing it right and spending your dollars wisely...and hey if you think you're good at that you should probably start your own charity. But if you do, everyone will expect you to work for free. It's a viscous circle.
Donate your time, you'll meet people too.
Unless you're a multi-billionaire, then start a foundation and direct where the money goes.
1^2=1; (-1)^2=1; 1^2=(-1)^2; 1=-1; 1=0.
Start by investigating their financial statement. Many organizations, even large ones, hide this information. All the non-profits in the US are required to file a basic 990 financial statement--but then the government locks that up so we can't see it. Private companies gather that info and will sell it to you.
If the company won't voluntarily disclose complete financial information (not just a pretty watered-down one); steer clear.
...omphaloskepsis often...
Before donating to any charity, you want to be sure that the lion's share of the money will go where it's needed. Every charity has different overhead costs. You can research you favorite charities -- learning how much of your donation will go to the intended purpose (vs. how much will go to overhead) at Give.org, CharityWatch.org and CharityNavigator.org. ( Info from http://www.clarkhoward.com )
I usually donate to:
Children International (I like that I get to communicate one on one with the children I sponsor)
The Portland Union Gospel Mission, who feeds homeless people
Worldvision
the Oregon Food Bank
and occasionally some of the missions of a local church (but never for the church operations itself, for things like bringing drinking water to Haiti or a school in poor rural India).
Some of these are local, but I'm pretty confident that they stretch the dollars pretty far and do a lot of good with the dollars you send.
I'm looking for some others myself, but I haven't found too many that are worthy yet other than those.
I will not give to the EFF, ACLU, yet. It's not that I don't support their goals, it's that I think they exist to solve what are essentially first world problems, and there are far more intractable problems that need to be solved yet. Like hunger, clean water, etc.
Hope this helps.
For linux tips: http://www.linuxtipsblog.com
I have found getting involved is the best way to see how contributions are used. Have you considered joining a local civic organization that provides community services besides being a local bar for members only.
I found VFW has some chartiable functions in addition to their more primary function as a social gathering place similar to a local bar. Lyons and shriners have specific goals for childeren's hospitals and community support. Forresters and Rotary International seem to be solid with local community support along with Kiawanas who are big on getting the youth involved such as Little League.
I support Guide Dogs for the Blind and take an active part in their annual fundraiser and am a puppy raiser, a worthwhile volunteer project if you can commit the time nessarry to do it corrrectly.
Best advice is to see who porvides what services and what you want to support. Youth spots, emergency services, senior services, veteran's social services,childeren's hospitals, childeren's eyeglasses and hearing aids, whatever. There are lots of non profits. Some are more a business such as the Girl Scouts.than we care for. I had become good friends with a guy who's job it was to produce cookies for the scouts and was shocked at how much the wholesale cost is for the cookies. The scouts only get a very small portion of the sale price. Most goes to the supplier of the promotional material.
The truth shall set you free!
I know it sounds selfish, but put away a few percent ASAP. Then, the EFF is a good bet, unless you work in government and want them to flag you as a possible terrorist. Then, pick one that has a decent return. http://www.charitynavigator.or...
I give money to Amnesty International and Oxfam. Mainly because I believe that when people are appropriately fed, housed educated and have basic personal rights, they will work towards making the world a better place. I also volunteer my time with a local organisation that provides support for friends, family members and carers of people with mental illness.
At the end of the day though, no organisation is perfect. Charities are made up of people, and people are flawed. Both Amnesty International and Oxfam have made some questionable actions in the past, but overall the organisations achieve significant good in the world. I would suggest just picking a couple of causes that you identify with and offload a couple of quatloos on them. Giving to organisations that occasionally screw up is better than not giving anything because you can't find a perfect recipient.
I go to this site when evaluating charities to donate to:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
When evaluating a charity I look to the Charity Navigator and read their reviews and user comments. I not only look at the score (must be over 90 for me) but also look at what the CEO/leader/head honcho makes. If he/she makes more than I do (I am upper middle class, over US average but not yet 6 figures) then I do not donate to them. IMO a person who truly has the charity as their life's calling takes a lower salary (less expenses) to allow more of my donation to flow to the intended recipients.
United Way.
Charity Navigator: http://www.charitynavigator.org
Also the NRA since he wants to protect constitutional rights and the ACLU has a few embarrassing gaps in that regard.
It's not on your list of causes, so perhaps you won't care, but the crew running Child's Play have been up front on where the money goes: it is spent on nothing but toys. None of the staff, such as it is, get paid out of your donations; they all work for Penny Arcade, who run Child's Play on the side.
"I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.
What do you want to accomplish? When you say you want to improve the plight of the poor, do you want to improve their health, their economic opportunity, their living conditions, or what? It seems you might want to identify a mission and then speak with people locally that are engaged specifically in the effort you find most interesting, compelling or important.
Stop listening to the lefties, if you must donate at this point in your life do so because you believe in the cause not because some activist told you it was ok to do so. Charities are businesses regardless of nonprofit status and businesses have expenses. The more effective a charity is at minimizing those expenses the more money there is to go to the actual cause. However at this point I'd focus more on your savings and planning for retirement. Later when you have actual disposable income consider charitable giving. By then you'll have had time to research and will be better equipped to decide where to put your money. One tip I will give though is pick preferably one but no more than two charities to donate to. Spreading the money around may sound like a good idea but mathematically speaking you can have more impact by focusing your effort (money) on a single charity.
WIkimedia Foundation - runs wikipedia. I donate every year (and to a local PBS station). Every dollar counts.
You may not like their politics but the charity navigator scores are top notch, the work is commendable, and the people are the real deal.
Or some other group that offers advanced and low cost health care to people who need it.
http://www.effectivealtruism.o...
You're a recent college grad. Donate to your university.
Could be to its general fund. Could be to a specific scholarship. Could be to a department. Could be to a specific professor chair. Could be to benefit smart kids, poor kids, kids from a particular place, whatever.
Help your alma mater become a better school for the next kid. Help humanity too -- education lifts individual people out of poverty, and advancements in knowledge lift humanity out of poverty -- financial or otherwise.
Support a few technologists in Washington.
Use Charity Navigator to make your choices: http://www.charitynavigator.org/
There are undoubtedly small, local, homeless shelters that need clothing, toiletries, various consumables. Those things will go directly to those who need them.
Is there a local group who recycles/reuses electronics? (maybe turning old PC's into Linux boxen, to be given to low-income families) Donate a couple items and drop off $20.
There are very small, not well known women's/family shelters that are always desperate for anything from socks, underwear, blankets, toys, to dishes, cleaning supplies, etc. Sometimes not easy to find these - they tend to keep a low profile, but their services are vital for people who find themselves in a very difficult situation.
Check the websites of local charities - they usually list the specific things they are most in need of.
I donate stuff to Goodwill... after I have offered it to groups like the ones listed above, but they don't have an immediate need.
I donate to the ACLU.
If you want to see how much of an organizations money actually gets spent on the people they claim to help check out the document from the Combined Federal Campaign. They track what and where the money actually gets spent. The Red Cross is designed to be a money laundering machine so you cannot see what actually gets spent in the communities they claim to help, They are so much overhead it is shameful, every management level gets so much of a cut by the time it reaches the people that need help it is just a pittance.
There are plenty of people already who donate to provide food and shelter to those in need. You have been blessed with the opportunity for an advanced education and, hopefully, you recognize its worth. Donate to Project Gutenberg so that those who seek knowledge may have their needs filled as well.
you better focus being a consumer
I would add Fight For The Future which has been extremely active for Net Neutrality
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
I'd recommend reading _When Helping Hurts_ by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. I think this book addresses some of the concerns you intuitively have about selecting a worthwhile charity.
Debian donations information page, for your reference:
https://www.debian.org/donatio...
Uh, Linux geek since 1999.
I'm super fond of The Salvation Army as their philosophy is a hand up not a hand out, and you can restrict your donation if you want to donate to something specific like your local area or children's camp (simply put the intended use on the memo line of your check).
I'm not big into donating money without heavy research and that's annoying. Like who knew the Red Cross was wasteful and mismanaged bullshit, EVERYONE knew that United Way is bullshit and their CEO was stealing money and they funnel money to political bribes and lobbying, and it turns out Compassion International is practically flawless but has bad rumors spread about them. That's A LOT of research time.
I tend to find out what a small, local-ish organization needs and then get them precisely that. Like if they need cleaning supplies or computers or toner and paper, I get them that. Then it's practically impossible to misuse. Money can go anywhere.
Donate to me. Up to 100 % of your donation will go towards buying chocolate milk, the only food that I eat. My bitcoin address is 35YTfyqZMvDw0HaLHyhw1YSDKp9oIkt.
I had a discussion about this with someone who has had their own NGO for over 30 years, working for children's rights around the world, who told me most organisations are quite bad at using their money efficiently - for each $ donated quite little gets done. He had respect for the following organisations though:
- Amnesty
- Doctors Without Borders
Personally, I give a monthly donation to Amnesty.
They're effective, efficient (per dollar), and badly needed. I spent some time looking for something I could be comfortable donating to monthly, and this is the one I concentrated all my charitable donations to (aside from my own volunteering in an unrelated area). http://www.msf.org/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
"Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
These guys try to assess which charities give best bang for buck...
https://www.givingwhatwecan.org
The sad reality is that in some communities children and adults are not food secure. I live in a county near Washington DC. The rate of population that are food insecure matches that of certain war torn countries.
Donate to local food pantry and non profits who are active in your local community.
I wonder what the poster is reading- how exactly does a $4B non-profit exploit anybody without losing its non-profit status? Executive compensation is legally limited, and there's no way store management gets overpaid or we'd all be lining up to work there. What else is there? Management gets free used crap?
My church gives 30% of donations directly back to the immediate community or individuals in need in two major metropolitan cities. Most likely there are churches in your area which do the same.
I pay a 10% tithing and donate each month to a fund to help those in my local church unit who are struggling get back on their feet. I also spend a few hours each week serving in church responsibilities. Through it, I've been able to get to know my neighbors better and seen how the money is used in my own neighborhood. Part of the service involves visiting a few assigned families each month. One couple that I visit are plagued by a variety of ongoing health issues. The mounting medical bills combined with the husband being laid off from his job due to outsourcing meant they were struggling to pay their bills and put food on the table. We were able to work with our local church leader to get some money for groceries for a few weeks and connect him with employment services to help him find a job. My family has also benefited from being an active part of the community. For example, others knew when my wife had a rough birth with our daughter and were able to come together to help her out during the day for a couple weeks once I had to go back to work.
There are certainly a lot of well meaning organizations out there that will accept your money. But contributing both your time and money to your local church congregation and community will open the door to opportunities for Christ-like service which are much more fulfilling than simply writing a check to a big, faceless organization.
There are several really good groups. I like the ACLU because they prevent the police from over-reaching. I like Planned Parenthood because the GOP attacks them. Internationally there is Rabbis for Human Rights - a Jewish organization that routinely defends Muslims. If you like animals, there is the Search Dog Foundation that takes shelter dogs, turns them into search dogs, and gives them to fire departments and police departments - where the dogs save human lives.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
The reason the government and Goodwill "exploit" each other and the disabled people is that those disabled people really don't work efficiently enough to be worth minimum wage, and consequently without a subsidy, would be unemployable. Since the government unions won't allow the disabled to be hired directly, Goodwill is the vehicle that allows them to have a meaningful job. Sure, the CEO of Goodwill makes $850K/year, not actually that good for an organization with a $5B annual revenue. They're putting about 83 cents on the dollar into the disabled, which is a very low overhead when you realize how painfully expensive it is to deal with government contracting.
is a much better source than random shit on the internet.
First donate near where you live or work so you can observe the place and how it behaves. Sometimes odd places do a lot of good. For some disadvantaged youth a boxing gym is a life saver. Or a basketball program for youth can be quite worthwhile. The Kahn Academy is a blessing for many people and deserves support. Slashdot is a good spot to donate as well. Distrowatch,com gets Linux into the hands of people who can not afford Microsoft products or who wish to know about their computer than commercial systems offer. I have noticed a tragic shortage of group homes for men whereas most communities offer a bit of shelter for women in distress. Maybe helping out a shelter with either money or time is a good idea. Oddly one also might consider supporting liberal politicians as they usually try to aid the poor or unfortunate whereas the right wing only postures about such help. Locally our Catholic Church does more for feeding the poor than any other church. And do consider taking in a person to give them a leg up for a while. I have helped several people in tragic circumstances by giving them a free room until they could save up for their own apartment. Since I had the room anyway it cost me next to nothing but made a huge difference in some of their lives.
There's probably a local organization that helps foster children who have aged out of the system. They really get a raw deal in life.
Local arts organizations are also good choices, especially if they have full-time local performers on staff.
And the usual biggies - the ACLU, EFF, Greenpeace, Amnesty International - and some smaller ones, like the American Friends Service Committee and Friends Committee on Legislation.
As many have mentioned, the best thing to do is to get involved with an organization or cause that you care about. If you actually work with the organization, you will a) be helping them out significantly with your time and talents, and b) have a better feel as to whether they are using the funds they receive responsibly. I am on the board of directors of a mid sized (roughly $3,000,000/year) 501(c)3, and I know precisely what our overhead is. I also volunteer heavily for said organization (primarily network design, and electrical type work), and donate when I can.
Despite what other people say, any organization that is viable will have overhead. It costs money to ensure the books are properly kept and audited, there are bills to pay, and non-profits of all organizations, should pay their employees a fair and reasonable wage. From a financial point of view, the real key is to ensure that the books are properly kept, and there are adequate controls in place to ensure that the money is spent in an appropriate manner.
...si hoc legere nimium eruditionis habes...
1) Sounds like you want to donate out of some sort of wanting to feel part of a group. Donate to things you care about if you want to. Don't feel like it's required.
2) Sounds like you think that Slashdot readers are some homogeneous group that all likes and believes in the same thing. As with #1, you're wanting to give because you want to feel part of a group. I think you'd be surprised that the actual community of people that read Slashdot (and occasionally post) actually has a very diverse set of beliefs and ideals. Stop trying to be part of the "it" group and do what you personally believe in. Be an individual and avoid the borg.
I donate spare CPU cycles, and my efforts in citizen science projects. It's not monetary, but more practical, and less of the donation is wasted.
I always try donate to research and specifically fund studies. I figure even with if my donated helped further a little piece of knowledge for a cure and breakthrough then I invested it wisely (not for myself but for everyone else too)
My wife and I are 25, and found ourselves in a similar position when we first graduated. When I graduated and moved to take my job, I was so poor I actually ran out of gas and didn't have any money to fill up because I was waiting on my first paycheck.
We started a scholarship at our university to give $1,000 annually to support college students who were student teaching and participating in internships. My wife and I both struggled financially through our experiences, but they provided us with the foundation to land our current jobs. We decided to give back to those who were going through similar times.
The real eye opening thing for me was getting a year-end bonus check larger than my total annual wage at the university. I had no excuse not to give back. Since that time, we have seen at least 5 other young couples from our school who followed our lead. That has been the most rewarding part.
We chose to support kids and college students. Many of them need the help.
Don't remember the URL, but it lists the major charities and what percentage of their intake actually goes to the charity. Big name losers? Susan Komen Walk for the Breast Cancer cure, well under 50%. I don't remember the others, that one jumped out at me as my MiL and a friends mother both had breast cancer, and the Walk for the Cure gets major media attention every year.
My 3 I give to annually?
EFF - I love what they do
Alzheimers Foundation - My father in law had alzheimer's, it scares the crap out of me.
Helen Woodward (http://www.animalcenter.org/) - Diagnosed a favorite cat of mine, then got a couple replacement cats from them. Local to San Diego, but if you're an animal lover you should send some $$$ their way.
First off, I strongly suggest not donating to a charity unless they produce a 990 form.
There are still a lot of charities that are flat out scams, like breast cancer "awareness" charities who's board member owns a marketing firm, that creates awareness by calling people and asking for donations to their breast cancer awareness fund. Avoid "awareness" charities. Most of them are complete bunk.
Here are my top three websites for researching charities.
http://www.charitynavigator.or...
http://foundationcenter.org/fi...
http://www.guidestar.org/
I shoot for a 90% efficiency ratio. But that isn't always possible for all diseases. Sometimes you will have to settle for a 80-85% efficiency ratio. Whenever you find a charity that you like, look it up and see if there are any charities that address the same issue, but perform better.
Also, start looking at the 990 forms for the charities that you do give to. This will help you to evaluate charities that are too small to have 3rd party evaluations.
Also start looking at their Annual Reports to see what they have actually accomplished for the past year. This will be especially important for charities that do not provide services or do research (like political/lobbying charities). Their efficiency ratio will be much lower, but their staff may be doing what you consider to be important work. Avoid charities that are not readily transparent about how their money is spent and what their accomplishments are.
Some exceptions are small charities such as food banks or soup kitchens that do not have any paid staff or management. Those are probably some of the most efficient charities out there.
If you believe in free speech, due process, and the most basic constitutional protections on college campuses, then FIRE is good.
http://www.givewell.org/ rigorously evaluates charities and their top recommendations benefit poor people. http://www.thelifeyoucansave.o... has a longer list of recommended charities. Both websites are part of the effective altruism movement which applies evidence and reason to determine the most effective ways to improve the world.
The emerging Effective Altruism movement is full of young people figuring out how to make to make charitable donations go further. The difference in impact between typical charities and carefully targeted intervention spans many orders of magnitude. Top ranked causes tend to be in the areas of global health and catastrophic risk, particularly AI risk. A few links:
GiveWell - detailed evaluation of top charities
Giving What We Can - people who have pledged to give 10% or more of their income to the most effective causes they can find
Back of the Envelope Guide to Philanthropy - my own website; some very rough math-geek evaluations of charitable endeavors
The Most Good You Can Do - a recent book on the Effective Altruism movement by Peter Singer
Machine Intelligence Research Institute - MIRI focuses on AI risk
For staying in touch there is EffectiveAltruism.org, supposedly a very active FaceBook group (disclaimer: I don't use FaceBook), and upcoming effective altruism conferences at the Googleplex in Mountain View, in Oxford, and in Melbourne.
Recently a friend passed away. He knew he was dying, had no family, and wanted to donate all his fortune (a few million). He spent his last months researching which charities actually did a lot of good for the money. In the end, he could only find four. He split his estate equally among them.
Unfortunately I cannot remember three of them, but one of them was Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders). He was a smart guy. Worked for Nasa doing risk analysis among other cool jobs.
Play Command HQ online
Please check out GiveWell, a charity research organisation: http://www.givewell.org/
They evaluate a wide range of categories over a bunch of different criteria.
http://vhemt.org/ Consider it a "meta charity". No, I'm not joking.
An organization that does in depth research into which charities are the most effective:
http://www.givewell.org/
I do NPR and Wikipedia, but not much else. NPR because they actually do real news reporting much of the time, and Wikipedia because they are such an important source of reference for many people of the world who don't have access to reference sources otherwise.
Everything in the Universe sucks: It's the law!
You've heard that it is good to invest your money in many placements. It also helps to invest in different ways of helping others. Help your family until they're secure for some time is a good way. Donate to a homeless shelter and homeless directly. If you don't believe in NGO charities and you want to reach the poorest of the poor in the world, consider taking a trip to a poor nation on vacation security and help the locals out. Giving directly to the poorest of the poor goes further than someone who might turn around and buy drugs in the first world countries. If you're spiritual, many churches do a pretty good job helping the poor. Again, it is important to invest in many places because something somewhere will probably help the world.
Don't forget to be the change yourself in addition to donating. You can try to research diseases, increase farming techniques, make educational materials on apps and websites. In all you do, be good and loving.
God spoke to me
It's not terribly selfish to be good with money, so you can better help people who are not.
At least max out your employer match contributions to your 401k plan. Then make sure you can get your employer to match your donations to your charities.
If you can itemize deductions, then the money you donate to causes you like will also reduce the money that the IRS gets from you to let Congress fund stuff you don't like, such as wars abroad or corporate welfare or welfare queens or whatever ticks you off. Unfortunately the primary way to be able to itemize your deductions is to have a big mortgage payment on your home, since interest you pay to banks is deductable enough to get you out of standard deduction territory. Pretty sad how entrenched our government is with the financial house of cards.
On the flip side, once you have over $100k in your 401k plan you may be able to take a $50k loan out of it to pay down your home loan if your plan allows it (supposedly not many do but they're out there). Then you pay back the interest to yourself instead of the bank, so it's good for those times when the stock market isn't performing very well.
Also, if you marry a K-12 teacher or you are one you can usually deduct a small amount of classroom supplies from your fed taxes and some states.
Good luck, and keep your tax deductible receipts!
There are multiple examples of reputable and honest charities that use ALL donations to directly help those in need, and that handle administrative tasks using volunteers, or pay for them with other funds to ensure that every dollar in donations is actually used for the stated purpose.
Just one example is LDS Humanitarian Services
"1) 100% of every dollar donated is used to help those in need without regard to race, religion, or ethnic origin, and
2) Humanitarian Services helps people attain self-sufficiency so they can be self-reliant long after Humanitarian Services departs."
Another poster mentioned Mercury One. There are a bunch of others in the 90+ to 100% range if you look around.
Still, as another poster points out, volunteering can sometimes be more meaningful than monetary contributions.
CharityNavigator.org lists the DAV (Disabled American Veterans) Charitable Service Trust as providing 96.5% of all donations to the disabled veterans. Visit their website at http://cst.dav.org/ to see how your donations are used to support our disabled vets.
.
I already donate a ton to charity. My taxes tend to run about $50,000 USD/yr. I don't know what more people want out of me. I'm lucky if I'll some day be able to retire comfortably on what's left.
The examples you cite make the EFF's position look pretty reasonable, at least IMHO.
Donate to a local robotics team ,helps education and stem and all of it goes to helping build an educational robot. Good few teams also are very open to what parts the money will be spent on .
Oh, I dunno, I haven't regretted making tax-deductible membership contributions to educational stuff run by our evil government, such as:
* National Parks Annual Pass - usually pays for itself within 4 visits, and always provides the best experiences our country has to offer.
* Science Museum Annual Pass - this is typically a state-funded thing, but the passes often have reciprocity at science centers across the country. Some are more amazing than others, but all are great places to take kids on rainy days.
* Smithsonian Institution - yeah, more useful if you live or visit near the nation's capitol, but these museums house or nation's treasures and make them free for all.
Can't really go wrong with any of these, all are staffed by amazing, capable, motivated, and certainly underpaid US gov't workers. But of course, YMMV.
Give to a local literacy organization. Most libraries are affiliated with a literacy orginazation, and can give you information about it. Or you might prefer to donate your time instead of your money, and be a literacy tutor.
Being able to read and write opens up so many doors.
"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, and you feed him for life."
(Of course, you want to check out any orgainization before you dontate to it.)
I can recommend Foundation Beyond Belief, at https://foundationbeyondbelief... . It is a humanist organization, so they are explicitly trying to just do good without promoting a religion.
They forward your money on to other causes (and it is clearly identified what they take as overhead, and you can reduce/increase that as you wish). They vet those causes for effectiveness. Every quarter they change who they donate money to, and you can adjust where your money goes within those groups.
They have an easy system to setup monthly payments, as well as giving you your end of year tax form, so it's painless to spread out your donation over time.
Or is it The Clinton Crime Family Foundation? Anyway, it's a fund to ensure that retired politicians don't have to fly coach.
I misread it as make donations cunt
If you want the money to go to people in some country somewhere, buy something from that location. If possible, directly from the manufacturer to avoid having the money skimmed off the top by a middle man. That gets the money really close to the people who need it, and it enables business there. And you might get a shiny new toy as well.
It is generally true that donations to rich schools are bad donations, because their endowments are amazingly high. But there aren't a lot of schools really like that--it's basically the ones that have gone need-blind internationally. Usually it makes sense to donate $1/year to keep alumni participation numbers high to sustain the value of your degree from a reputational standpoint, but that's it.
But if you know the right programs to give to, sometimes it's worth it. The public interest community at Georgetown Law is amazing, for example, and do more good in their lifetimes than you can imagine. If I had a good bit of money to donate, I would contact the students a few years out and see what they've learned from direct service work and where the money could best be spent.
The other good option that comes to mind is legal aid, dental, and medical clinics and the like--contact your local legal aid office or other group that does pro bono direct service on important issues and ask about their funding and do they take donations. You can make a huge difference in the community if you help keep a clinic afloat that deals with ten thousand aching teeth.
Do a little research into what's needed in your own community. Stay small. Give to a food bank. Buy a bunch of toys and give them to your fire department for distribution at Christmas. Ask a major chain store to sell you a hundred pairs of kids shoes wholesale and give them to a shelter for abused women (You'll have to prove to them that's where the shoes went). Buy a year of tech support or office space for a local non-profit.
Stay away from charities with big budgets, even if they're doing good work. And if there's even the faintest whiff or religion about it, avoid it like the plague.
Small charities and non-profits often operate with almost no overhead. If you want bang for the buck, you'll usually find it there. And if there IS fraud, it won't be like all those zillions of dollars that were supposed to rebuild Haiti disappearing down some rat hole with nobody even asking questions. If a hundred grand goes missing at the local level, you can bet a local guy will get perp-walked out of his home at dinner time, and tossed in jail for a few years to reflect on the nature of charity.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
Buy him or her lunch
First, save for your own retirement before you waste money on a bunch of losers.
Micro loans can help the poor, and most of the money comes back to you to lend out again. There is a suggested donation to help with the company overhead and some small percentage of loans fail. But with thousands of loans I've given out over 98% of the loan amounts have come back to my account. I found it helped my geography skills to lookup each country, its economy and cultures. Some of the folks have interesting goals, for example one man in Africa I lent to dreamed of amassing 3 cows and being able to fix the market price of milk in his village.
> I'm also in the USA, so foreign recommendations are probably less helpful.
Why? Do you think only your fellow American's deserve charity? You live in the richest country in the world; a country that has helped to fuck up large parts of the rest of the world... maybe you could share a bit?
I would highly suggest you consider your local hospital, or perhaps the hospital you were born at. Hospitals depend a lot on donations and so, if you value your local hospital - consider a donation to their foundation. I happen to work at the hospital I was also born at -- which is also a Top 15 in the nation, hospital. It is an honor to work here, they saved my life when I was born here and so, I donate as often as I can because without them, I wouldn't be here.
Just a thought.
Underprivileged and disabled people have a hard time getting work, so Goodwill gives them an opportunity to be a productive member of society. The fact that they get government handouts for this means that they have more money to spend on other projects.
My biased AC recommendation is to donate to the Swedish organization DFRI to support the fight for digital freedom and rights. DFRI runs Tor exit servers in Sweden (at about 600 Mbps), and takes a stand against surveillance by trying to affect lawmakers and educating the public.
https://www.dfri.se/
https://www.dfri.se/donera/?lang=en
Donate to your pension fund if you don't want to become the poor of tomorrow.
I'm sure this wasn't quite what you meant but... isn't that just a little bit patronising? Maybe what is needed is the opportunity and the means for people to improve their own financial status -- if that is what they want. Poor != in need of improvement.
Find a small local bank that you know invests back into your local community. Ask the bank president your question. Usually they are in touch with local community needs.
I would steer clear of any national charity, as many of them are really for-profit enterprises operating under the guise of 501(c)(3) status. If you follow the money train for many of these, you'll find that much of it disappears down the black hole of lucrative subcontracts awarded to companies owned by family and friends of the national charity's executive leadership.
I live in rural, manufacturing-sector South Carolina where socioeconomic gaps are enormous. Very few people have well-paying jobs, and very few of those who do are wise with their money. Some of us are lucky to have extremely well-paying jobs, and still others are wealthy retirees who move here to live on the lakes. In any case, there are a lot of people here who need help, whether their fault or not.
So, here is my list of charitable activities I can lend you as an example:
1) Volunteering time at the local job training center. I teach people how to use basic computer applications, basic math skills, interviewing skills, and other things that could be useful to make someone more productive
2) Giving money and supplies to the local animal rescues. We have a big problem with feral dogs and cats here, and every shelter in the upstate has high kill rates. They're also always starving for supplies and money. I've already adopted all I can take care of, so every time I go to Costco to get food and treats, I get extra for the shelter, along with towels, dawn soap, treats, and so on. I also give money to the low cost spay/neuter program so that low-income people can better afford to adopt a pet. Then, we have a local community pet food bank that helps those folks provide food and heartworm preventive.
3) Giving money and support to a club at my alma mater.
4) Paying it forward: things like paying for the person behind me at the drive through, helping someone out if they're a little short at the grocery store (which often happens here because so many people are on WIC/EBT and sometime get surprised), buying toys for the holiday toy drive, etc etc
There are all kinds of ways you can help locally and with a lot less worry about how your money is used. Often you can donate needed items directly and not worry about cash use at all.
Whatever you do don't donate to the Government they are a big con who will take your donation and use it to suppress your legal rights
Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.
If you check, you will be dismayed how many people in your own hometown lack basic food and shelter. Help them.
They are all scams.
What is YMMV?
Why not try:
The OpenBSD Foundation - Funding for OpenBSD and related Projects
Website:
http://www.openbsdfoundation.o...
You can reach many useful projects with this one foundation.
Projects such as OpenSSH, OpenBGPD, OpenNTPD, OpenSMTPD, LibreSSL, and mandoc.
These guy are vital for our everyday life in: Security & Privacy.
A few related talks from them:
Exploit Mitigation Techniques:
https://events.yandex.com/even...
An OpenBSD talk by Michael Lucas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Thank you.
Here's a great way to help a small non-profit, all-volunteer, no-kill cat shelter. Due to redevelopment (malls closing down) they have lost their home twice in the past year and are currently working on moving to a new location: www.gofundme.com/PurrfectPets
Besides, helping them can only result in more funny cat videos on the internet. The internet could use more funny cat videos.
(Disclaimer: I volunteer at that shelter, scooping cat poop and making sure they have clean rooms and fresh water & food, and have also been helping get the new facility ready.)
I agree with other posters, give local if you can. Give to charities that help people help themselves if possible and by all means do your research. When I was active duty we used to get a booklet once a year of charities, their "mission statements" and the amount of overhead they took from donations.
Donate blood regularly your whole life , and you WILL save a life.
Goodwill seems like a great organization until you dig deeper and discover they hire under privileged and disabled people only to exploit the related government handouts instead of doing it to benefit those people.
The summary makes an an unsupported and unclear accusation against Goodwill. If this submission is a legitimate question it should either eliminate this accusation or cite it and explain what criteria the submitter is looking for.
Submitter: What do you mean when you say they "exploit the related government handouts instead of doing it to benefit those people?" What exploitation are you talking about? My concern here is that it sounds like you would only donate to Goodwill if they refused the government handouts. But since all non-profits get handouts, in the form of tax benefits, I fear that no non-profit will meet your requirements.
"I just reply to you when I see you spamming Slashdot with your nonsense"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)
Why agree w/ my points on hosts then? Quoting you on it next:
"I'm not denying all those things" - by dave420 (699308) on Wednesday September 17, 2014 @11:39AM (#47927435) FROM -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...
Of course you're not: It's impossible to dispute FACT on HOSTS FILES superiority to other methods!
(Since they're fact in favor of hosts doing more than so-called competitors & doing more with less for more security, speed, reliability, + anonymity online - which is, of course, more than a mere trolling stalking harassing "ne'er-do-well" like yourself could *EVER* manage).
---
"I'm simply pointing out that it takes an AdBlocker to block your spamming"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)
Then WHY DON'T YOU DO THAT, shithead? Answer that!
(You stalk/harass me instead!)
If you're "so-called 'better solutions'" are BETTER, & I bother you? Use them... OBVIOUSLY, asshole, you don't & you're just a "ne'er-do-well" troll, OR you have "other motivations" (see next):
* DO YOU WORK FOR AN ADVERTISING FIRM, or ARE YOU A WEBMASTER/WEBCODER, or ARE YOU A MALWARE MAKER, or ARE YOU AFFILIATED WITH 1 OF MY COMPETITORS?
Answer that too!
I'll be waiting (but you'll avoid every question, or lie - which only makes you look stupider than ever vs. myself)
(You must be involved with 1 of those above, especially since you're TOO STUPID to EVER "get the best of me" & you know it, witness the above - & their "so-called 'solutions' are INFERIOR TO MINE on TONS of levels, evidencing their stupidity in & of itself via inferior designwork!)
APK
P.S.=> SEE Dave420 SQUIRM everybody, lol - evasions galore from him to ensue are almost guaranteed... apk
"I just reply to you when I see you spamming Slashdot with your nonsense"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)
Why agree w/ my points on hosts then? Quoting you on it next:
"I'm not denying all those things" - by dave420 (699308) on Wednesday September 17, 2014 @11:39AM (#47927435) FROM -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...
Of course you're not: It's impossible to dispute FACT on HOSTS FILES superiority to other methods!
(Since they're fact in favor of hosts doing more than so-called competitors & doing more with less for more security, speed, reliability, + anonymity online - which is, of course, more than a mere trolling stalking harassing "ne'er-do-well" like yourself could *EVER* manage).
---
"I'm simply pointing out that it takes an AdBlocker to block your spamming"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)
Then WHY DON'T YOU DO THAT, shithead? Answer that!
(You stalk/harass me instead!)
If you're "so-called 'better solutions'" are BETTER, & I bother you? Use them... OBVIOUSLY, asshole, you don't & you're just a "ne'er-do-well" troll, OR you have "other motivations" (see next):
* DO YOU WORK FOR AN ADVERTISING FIRM, or ARE YOU A WEBMASTER/WEBCODER, or ARE YOU A MALWARE MAKER, or ARE YOU AFFILIATED WITH 1 OF MY COMPETITORS?
Answer that too!
I'll be waiting (but you'll avoid every question, or lie - which only makes you look stupider than ever vs. myself)
(You must be involved with 1 of those above, especially since you're TOO STUPID to EVER "get the best of me" & you know it, witness the above - & their "so-called 'solutions' are INFERIOR TO MINE on TONS of levels, evidencing their stupidity in & of itself via inferior designwork!)
APK
P.S.=> SEE Dave420 SQUIRM everybody, lol - evasions galore from him to ensue are almost guaranteed... apk
What is YMMV?
"Your mileage may vary" ... just a disclaimer in the way of a bad car analogy that someone else may not necessarily get as much out of the experience as I did while politely implicating that it may have had more to do with their driving style.
the most important thing is that your donations cannot be truly effective if they treat symptoms
you have to address the root of the problems in order to really solve things and improve life for the future.
In that vein I'd suggest
1) addressing the problems of aging - applies to everyone
https://mfoundation.org/donate
2) managing existential risk
possible impact impossible to calculate but scaling above all other threats
really cant emphasize the possible returns from this investment
https://intelligence.org/donate/
good on you for donating
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... Give Well evaluates, effective altruism sites suggest individual giving strategies, Peter Singer has a new book, ...
The Nature Conservancy is doing truly positive work, globally, for conservation. Having seen their mechanisms from the inside, I support them wholeheartedly to this day.
EFF, SPLC are both good.
You could consider Sea Shepard also.
Look at www.guidestar.org to figure out if they are actually effective. Some "charities" seem to be more interested in their wallets than the cause.
Beyond that, I personally stick to a small handful of (tax deductible) organizations across time that I think need supporting, and that are consistent in their focus. I avoid the "emergency du jour" funding because they tend to be fairly inefficient.
Have fun with your philanthropy!
These sites rate charities by their effectiveness and trustworthiness, and also lists them by category, and help you avoid fraudulent orgs. Also shows what causes are most currently in need.
http://www.universalgiving.org/
"UniversalGiving is an award-winning website that helps people give and volunteer with the top-performing projects all over the world. All projects are vetted through UniversalGiving's trademarked, proprietary Quality Model. 100% of each donation goes directly to the cause."
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
"Founded in 2001, Charity Navigator has become the nation's largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities. In our quest to help donors, our team of professional analysts has examined tens of thousands of non-profit financial documents. We've used this knowledge to develop an unbiased, objective, numbers-based rating system to assess over 8,000 of America's best-known and some lesser known, but worthy, charities."
One thing to consider is whether or not your employer has a program for matching employees' charitable contributions. If they do, check with them for what types of organizations they will or will not match contributions to. It's a great way to make your giving go further.
Those seem more like purchases than donations. It is not that I am attempting to diminish anything and they are seemingly good value for the dollar but I do not think they equate as donations which is the subject at hand unless I missed something. This is, of course, my opinion. I would not recommend against purchasing these things but I am not sure I would consider them in the same category as donations even if you can deduct them from your taxes or even if they fall under the same line item. They just do not seem to be the equivalent though they are certainly noble causes.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
You are absolutely right. And the reason for that is that I am a cheapskate.
Most museums have language saying how much of the membership fee is tax deductible, so you wouldn't be able to deduct a portion of your membership fee that represented the "fair market value" of any merchandise or "admission tickets" that your annual passes represent. But then the bulk of the fee actually goes on to support the operation and is tax deductible. And of course you can simply donate more than the minimum recommended membership amount. But money that goes to a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit is charity as far as the IRS is concerned, so why not include it in your calculation for your charitable giving? It's not like the girl-scout cookies you buy from your neighbors is tax deductible (well, apparently it is if you donate the cookies to someone else).
Anyway, we may all hate playing taxes, but why not take some joy in the tax incentive meta-game?
Just give back to your alma mater, helping pay into endowed scholarship funds help ensure your money will keep giving out money for a long time
Note: I run a nonprofit organization and have a different perspective (+ bias!) about donations.
[1] Generally, I think it's best to begin as you already have by identifying those causes which are most important to you.
[2] Next, ask yourself if you're interested in pursuing a global / regional / local approach? The local org might focus on issues which matter to you - and it might be directly related to issues in your neighborhood. On the other hand "big" issues like constitutional rights might only be addressed at the national level.
Also, are you looking for a large well-established nonprofit or a small up-start where your money will have a more significant impact? For example a donation of $1,000 to the Red Cross will certainly be welcomed but likely not celebrated. If instead you made that $1,000 donation to a nonprofit running on a shoestring budget of $20,000 a year then you've just increased their budget by 5% - which is definitely cause for celebration!
[3] By now you should have at least a handful of charities which meet your criteria and can begin validating their effectiveness, transparency, and legal status.
A good place to start is GuideStar ( http://guidestar.org/ ). You will get information on IRS status, financials, mission statements as well as reviews. CharityNavigator ( http://charitynavigator.org/ ) is another great resource and they provide independent ratings of charities. One important distinction though is that CharityNavigator focuses on larger nonprofits (total revenue must be > $1million in the previous fiscal year).
My nonprofit has a listing with CharityNavigator but no rating because we are (much much much) too small. On the other hand at GuideStar we have a "Gold" rating based on the amount of information which we have shared with them. So either of these are great resources but my bias is showing when I lean toward GuideStar.
If for some reason you'd rather not use either of these sites I would suggest that at a minimum that you verify that the nonprofit has a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS and that it has not been revoked. You can search for orgs by name or EIN here: http://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/
For more on charity scams here's some helpful info from the FTC: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/a...
[4] Once you have narrowed your list down to 1 or 2 then you can decide if there's a specific funding mechanism which appeals most to you (e.g. PayPal, cash, check, bitcoin). Some donation methods can take 5% (or more!) of the donation off the top before the nonprofit gets the donation.
For example, PayPal charges nonprofits a reduced fee of 2.2% + $0.30 per transaction (details here: https://www.paypal.com/webapps...). Also, BitPay does not charge us anything for bitcoin donations through our site.
Hopefully by going through this you will wind up with at least one charity which meets all of your criteria and can then just confirm their status in the future without going through all of these steps every time. Thank you on behalf of nonprofit organizations everywhere for supporting their efforts!
Shameless Plug
Of course I have to say something about my nonprofit's work: Jennifer Ann's Group is a nonprofit charity preventing teen dating violence. Our most successful program is producing video games to help young people, parents, and educators learn more about this issue and how to seek help if needed. We have produced 20+ video games through an annual video g
JAGga.me ----> Producing video games addressing emotional health and wellness issues affecting teens.
I would recommend finding someone who is a local member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They have a fund you can donate to, called Fast Offering, that 100% of the funds go to help to feed, clothe and house local residents. In addition, each recipient is interviewed by a bishop to ensure that they are doing all they are capable of to get themselves out of the hardship for the long term (education, habit changes, etc).
I don't know that you can really take suggestions on what should be your charities. You want to find those groups and issues that you're interested and hopefully passionate about. That said, this is my list, sorted with those that I'm most charitable towards first:
* Local public schools (who also get my time running a tech club and other activities)
* SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence)
* Southern Poverty Law Center
* Planned Parenthood
* The Planetary Society
* National Organization for Women Foundation
* GEDMatch (DNA matching tools)
* Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF)
* Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
* Wikimedia
"I just reply to you when I see you spamming Slashdot with your nonsense"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)
Why'd you agree w/ my points on hosts then? Quoting you here:
"I'm not denying all those things" - by dave420 (699308) on Wednesday September 17, 2014 @11:39AM (#47927435) FROM -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...
Of course you're not: It's impossible to dispute FACT on HOSTS FILES superiority to other methods!
Since my points of fact in favor of hosts SINGLE FILE native kernelmode faster part show hosts doing more, with less, vs. so-called 'competitors' many part messagepassing + other overheads laden slower usermode FAR MORE COMPLEX 'solutions' doing less than hosts do for more security, speed, reliability, + anonymity online!
I make creating a superior more efficient solution EASIER!
(Which is more than a mere trolling stalking harassing "ne'er-do-well" like yourself could *EVER* manage).
---
"I'm simply pointing out that it takes an AdBlocker to block your spamming"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)
Then WHY DON'T YOU DO THAT & use 'em? Answer that!
(You stalk/harass me instead!)
I bother you? Use them!
OBVIOUSLY, you don't & you're just a "ne'er-do-well" troll, OR you have "other motivations" (see next):
---
* QUESTION:
DO YOU WORK FOR AN ADVERTISING FIRM, or ARE YOU A WEBMASTER/WEBCODER http://slashdot.org/comments.p... , or ARE YOU A MALWARE MAKER, or ARE YOU AFFILIATED WITH 1 OF MY COMPETITORS?
Answer that!
No, instead as per your usual, you'll avoid every question, or lie!
(You can't EVER "get the best of me" & you know it, witness the above - & their "so-called 'solutions' are INFERIOR TO MINE on TONS of levels, OR YOU'D USE THEM, merely evidencing their stupidity in & of itself via inferior designwork & YOU HAVE BEEN EXPOSED as to your "true motives" in that last link above!)
APK
P.S.=> SEE Dave420 SQUIRM - evasions galore from him will ensue, guaranteed... apk
Years ago my wife and I decided to focus on local organizations. We also volunteered for some of them. So my recommendation is - keep your money local.
Giving to a smaller cause can allow you donation to have greater impact. MAPS is developing novel treatments for PTSD and anxiety with relatively little funds.
Both rate organizations based on their effectiveness and trustworthiness. They also have the ability to browse by category.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
"Founded in 2001, Charity Navigator has become the nation's largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities. In our quest to help donors, our team of professional analysts has examined tens of thousands of non-profit financial documents. We've used this knowledge to develop an unbiased, objective, numbers-based rating system to assess over 8,000 of America's best-known and some lesser known, but worthy, charities."
http://www.universalgiving.org/
"UniversalGiving is an award-winning website that helps people give and volunteer with the top-performing projects all over the world. All projects are vetted through UniversalGiving's trademarked, proprietary Quality Model. 100% of each donation goes directly to the cause.
Find Gift Packages and Volunteering Opportunities, or read more here about our features and ways to give.
Our Mission is to connect people to quality giving and volunteer opportunities worldwide. UniversalGiving is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, whose vision is to "Create a World Where Giving and Volunteering Are a Natural Part of Everyday Life.""