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.

Comments

Local and small

[Anonymous Coward]

You need to be able to watch what they are doing.

Re:Local and small

[ganjadude]

thats always the best bet. keep it local

other than that, id say EFF is a good one

Re:Local and small

[ganjadude]

you dont have to keep it local but recirculating money in your own location is better than shipping it to other areas.

if you have homeless people in your own town, what good reason is there to donate to homeless shelters in other places??? minus a disaster its always better to keep your local economy going,

Re:Local and small

[PopeRatzo]

you dont have to keep it local but recirculating money in your own location is better than shipping it to other areas.

You bet. EFF and the Chicago Food Depository are two at the top of my list, but we've also made a sizable donation to http://www.law-arts.org/ because they helped me out a lot on several occasions when I was just starting out. Also, the Chicago Justice Project, http://chicagojustice.org/ gets some dough because they're actually trying to do some good here. They're data wonks who are fighting to get more transparency in Chicago policing and the data that Chicago policing generates. Tracy Siska is a good dude that has been a constant source of aggravation for the past few Chicago mayors and police chiefs, and I like that.

Though the old girl and I donate close to 10% of our annual income, the biggest donations I make are of my own time. Last Saturday, I spent the day busting sod over at the Englewood Community Garden, where students from Lindblom Academy (a public school in Chicago's inner city) have designed and built a terrific big organic community garden to address the food desert issue in that neighborhood. http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago... . I'm unskilled labor when it comes to vegetable gardens though. The wife does a lot better.

Re:Local and small

[justthinkit]

Great example: Friends Of Trees (or similarly themed orgs).

They always need help, of all kinds -- donations of food, money, time, etc. I happen to have a truck, so I donate that. I also love the physical workout. Looking forward to doing it again this fall.

And the net effect is almost a half million trees planted in this area in the past 25 years.

Re:Local and small

[rwa2]

That's pretty impressive, I always enjoy your posts and hope I'm half as awesome as you when I get to that certain age (though it's not actually that far off nowadays).

What percentage of income do other people spend on directing support to charity? I always feel woefully inadequate since we only do maybe a few hundred dollars per year, which comes out to fractions of a percent of our joint income. OTOH, we feel like we're pretty frugal with money and don't really waste anything... no entertainment budget for movies or Netflix, eat out cheap just a couple of times a week, maybe one vacation per year, and the rest goes to mortgage and utilities and education activities for the kids, as well as some minimal token amount for 401k and 529 savings plans.

I hear Muslims are more or less required to donate something like 5% of their income to charity, so I wonder what that says about my prospects towards society if I'm only puttering around at one tenth of that :P

Re:Local and small

[BillCable]

Or you can set up your own, as I and the members of the Pennsylvania Star Wars Collecting Society have done. Through our 501c3 we choose a local charity each year and conduct a fundraiser.

http://pswcs.com/charity.cfm

Re:Local and small

[dave420]

The third pillar of Islam says Muslims must donate 2.5% of their wealth annually to needy people. It's done for two reasons - to help the needy, and to purify oneself from the love of wealth.

Re:Local and small

[Forgefather]

In addition to that I would say that hungry organisations are good too. If the local charity is hard up for cash they are more likely to make each dollar count.

Re:Local and small

[tburkhol]

What percentage of income do other people spend on directing support to charity?

10% is enshrined in the Christian Old Testament. Some Jews read this as a donation to a class of priest no longer in existence, but also acknowledge a 2.5% terumah or a general "as much as you are able." Some also seem to interpret these as necessarily paid in food and only by farmers. Islamic zakat is 2.5%.

In the US, private charitable giving (as declared on tax returns) averages $1200 per household, or about 1.7% (keeping in mind that mean is a terrible way to measure US economic data). These guys have much more complete data that suggests something like 2-4% being 'normal.' This is still a terrible measure, because bible-belt Southerners average close to 7%, while New Englanders average under 3% (source).

Re:Local and small

[kaatochacha]

But but the drought! water wasting! plant ugly drought tolerant plants ( ie, no trees).
Sorry, knee jerk reaction, I'm from California where everyone is busy destroying the evil trees.

Re:Local and small

[justthinkit]

I realize you are speaking mostly in jest, but it is a misconcept that trees use/need/take water.

After the first 2 years, you never need to water them. They tap into the ground for their water. And during those first 2 years, the water they need is about 10 gallons per week, during the dry season. When we wash & prep the parsley we eat in one week, we create 2 gallons of waste water (that could go to that tree). Clothes washers create gallons & gallons of gray water that can be used to water trees -- in our household, we produce 150+ gallons of gray water from clothes washing alone.

It takes ridiculously small amounts of work and creativity to have enough water for outdoor plants without ever having to turn on a tap.

Re:Local and small

[Red Flayer]

This is still a terrible measure, because bible-belt Southerners average close to 7%, while New Englanders average under 3% (source [philanthropy.com]).

It's also a terrible measure because giving to a church is not always the same as giving to a charity. Not saying that all churches aren't charities, just that some spend quite a lot less on charitable works than some other charities.

Re:Local and small

[dfsmith]

If you stop watering trees in California, the trees die. We had an orchard near where I work, when they stopped the irrigation, half the trees dried up in the first year. (They're developing the lot, so there was no hope for the orchard anyway. But it was still sad.)

Re:Local and small

[KGIII]

I am not comfortable posting private information, it is potentially going to gather complaints that detract from my point. I would prefer to post this anonymously but I said it thus I own it in the sense that I am responsible for it. So... How to start?

I decline to state a percentage so this may not be what you are interested in but when I sold my business I gave away about a quarter of it. A bunch went to the employees and the rest went to a variety of organizations. Recently, for political reasons, I donated some bitcoins I had mined in the first year after they launched. Those went to EFF, I am not sure what their value was and I had to spread it out as they were not in one wallet but they totaled 48 of them. The reason for doing so was political (I do not want to be associated with them because of negative impressions) and tax avoidance. Note that tax avoidance is legal - even ethical. I would say that I donate a 5 to 6 figure sum yearly but, more importantly, I donate my time when I am able to. The financial donations? Those are tax breaks. My time is far more valuable, to me, and donating it is far more rewarding for me and also valued by those that I give it to.

I do not think it matters what percentage or how much you give total. What matters is how you live your life. Do you set time aside to help others? Do you have to be donating your time or money to a charity? How about if you are just helping an older person shovel their driveway, or if you plow it out? I plow every driveway in my neighborhood because I have the time, I enjoy it, and they do not have plows. I shovel off the roofs for two older couples. If a neighbor is ill (there are a total of six houses within about a 20 mile circle or so) then I may bring them some food, go shopping for them while I am in town, or even drive them to a doctor's office or to the hospital. I let people harvest wood from my property and do not charge them. I actively promote using my property for outdoor activities including camping, hunting, fishing, or riding ATVs. In return, a group of teens once borrowed my tractor and truck/trailer to haul off a bunch of junk that was on the property before I bought it. (It was near where they like to hold parties during the spring and summer.)

I give my time with the 4-H, I am a Mason so I donate time through them, a friend of mine and I bring my dog in to a local hospital for the folks to pet and enjoy. The kids really enjoy that part so I have learned to yo-yo better, some magic tricks, and I am getting better at making balloon animals but I am not so good. He and I will also bring in music or bring in instruments to play (as well as a drum and tambourine so that folks can play along) but those are usually limited to pediatric activities. I try to spend four days a month down at the VA hospital helping out there but that is a bit of a travel so that is not always something I can do.

I provided a trust for my children and their children (in perpetuity so long as none of them are stupid). I have provided a trust that gives enough to have five fully covered students (who are technologically minded - it requires grades and an essay as well as an interview but I have no part in the selection process though I have been asked for my opinion) to attend the same prep-school I was able to attend (it is Kent's Hill, room and board are included as well as a stipend - I would be honored if a child from a Slashdotter's lineage were to attend).

More importantly, and akin to putting my own skin in the game with physical labor and time, these things are done without my name attached (except when I seek tax deductions). I think that is the important thing. I have been fortunate - luck and not skill or effort is what enables me to do this. Skill and labor were involved but they were not the primary means though I did not start with a proverbial silver spoon in my mouth. I started with a partial scholarship and parents who were kind of sick of me. Having a school with resources and things like an observatory really make

Well lah-dee-dah

[Anonymous Coward]

As a recent college graduate

Showoff.

Re:Well lah-dee-dah

[sycodon]

I suspect this altruism won't last long.

With in a year his credit card and auto debt will become a burden and he'll keep everything for himself.

If he gets out of that, he'll meet some girl and then the money will be sucked out of him again.

THEN, he'll get her pregnant and end up paying nearly $250,000 until they turn 18...more if he's a real Dad and pays for college.

So just take that money and put it into a Roth Account or something.

Re:Well lah-dee-dah

[mlts]

You hit the nail on the head:

Student loans are the absolute worst debt one can get because they don't go away. Tell any other type of creditor other than a government entity to shove it, and they have a statute of limitations (4 years in Texas) until they have to write off the debt [1].

Say the economy hits the shitter, which it will, one winds up filing personal bankruptcy, has to use a bicycle, and has to find some cheap rent arrangement. After 7-10 years, one can continue with life. Student loan debts are permanent. When they shit on your credit score, that stays forever.

So, in a nutshell, the OP has a good heart for finding a charity, but he or she needs to first get rid of student loan debt for a better financial position to actually do more good.

Now, assuming there are no student loans, I'd probably go for local charities. The local food bank comes to mind. One never knows... they may be donating to it one day, having to get food the next.

[1]: One side note, when they do write it off, the IRS considers that as "income"...

Re:Well lah-dee-dah

[Anonymous Coward]

Rent an apartment and ride a bicycle? You make it sound like some kind of a doomsday scenario.

Re:Well lah-dee-dah

[Pfhorrest]

Hah! "Apartment!" Luxury! Only rich people get apartments all to themselves!

He'll have to rent a bedroom in someone else's house like all the other poor schmucks^W^W^W^W everybody else.

Re:Well lah-dee-dah

[Pfhorrest]

This(ish). Until you are completely out of debt — meaning, until you own your own house free and clear, because rent is a kind of debt (you're borrowing a shelter directly, rather than borrowing money to pay for one) — you are lower-class and should be focusing on being able to take care of even yourself before you start worrying about taking care of other people.

(Yes, this includes having children in the category of "taking care of other people". Most people are too poor to have kids and should not, both for their own sakes, and the potential kids').

Re:Well lah-dee-dah

[ranton]

I suspect this altruism won't last long.
With in a year his credit card and auto debt will become a burden and he'll keep everything for himself.
If he gets out of that, he'll meet some girl and then the money will be sucked out of him again.
THEN, he'll get her pregnant and end up paying nearly $250,000 [google.com] until they turn 18...more if he's a real Dad and pays for college.
So just take that money and put it into a Roth Account or something.

Stop stealing my life story.

I just finished paying off everything but my mortgage and student loans two months ago, and then promptly found out baby #2 is on the way. There is a certain guilt that my wife and I make over 3x the median household income but still give less than 1% of our income to charity. Although the costs keep adding up, especially when you want to give an upper middle class lifestyle to your children.

Re:Well lah-dee-dah

[ranton]

You hit the nail on the head:
Student loans are the absolute worst debt one can get because they don't go away.

There are many criteria for determining what the worst type of debt is. Student loan debt tends to be at a much lower rate than most loans other than mortgages. So while student loans are worse when going through bankruptcy, they are one of the better forms of debt to have for the 85%+ of people who will never declare bankruptcy. The asset the borrower bought is also likely the most valuable asset they will ever have.

Also, student loans are not always immune to bankruptcy. A 2011 study found that about 40% of bankruptcy filers who attempted to discharge student loans were at least partially successful (25% received full discharge, 14% received partial discharge). The issue is that only 0.1% of filers even attempted to discharge their student loans.

The study found 69,000 filers who were good candidates to have their loans discharged, but only 300 actually attempted them. The author couldn't be sure how many of those 69,000 filers who have succeeded, but it would almost certainly have been over 40% of them since they were very demographically similar to those who did successfully discharge student loan debt. These demographic markers where seekers who (1) have a medical hardship, (2) are unemployed, and (3) earned less income in the year before filing for bankruptcy than the median discharge seeker earned.

So it is very likely that at least 10% of bankruptcy filers who have student loan debts could discharge their student loans in full, and an additional 5% could receive a partial discharge. And I want to stress the words at least these 15% of borrowers could get help with student loans from bankruptcy.

Re:Well lah-dee-dah

[ranton]

Maybe kids will change that, but I don't expect it to. We nominally live off my income (including retirement and other savings) while my wife pays for additional school with her part-time earnings.

Obviously your altruism doesn't have to change when you have kids, but a family budget without kids is grossly different than one with kids. All of a sudden you are paying $1700 per month for day care, or you are living purely on one income. Because you are the sole breadwinner, you need $150 per month for life insurance (if you are healthy; much more if you aren't).

Then you realize the home you live in isn't in that great of a school district, and you find there are no cheap homes in good school districts (done on purpose with zoning so property taxes per child are high). Then your housing goes from $1500 per month to $2500 per month. Then you realize college already costs $25k per year at state schools now, so you better save $400 per month for your kid's college education. The cost of clothes and toys and child furniture starts to grow, and you realize how expensive supplemental formula and diapers are.

It adds up.

my wife and I (both about 30) have managed to pay off our obligations and give about 12% to charity.

I obviously cannot claim we couldn't donate over 10% of our income if we tried. We shop at Brooks Brothers and Lululemon, have one nice $200-300 dinner-date per month, and buy the latest phone & iPad every other year. We rationalize it as being necessary to stand out as elite professionals to keep our incomes growing, which is party true but mostly self-serving. We buy mostly organic foods, and an extreme amount of fruit to satisfy my sweet tooth without buying Skittles (organic grapes are not cheap).

But then again we spend almost $30,000 per year in federal income taxes after all our deductions, which is about $20,000 more than the average US household. So I guess we do give about 10% of our income in donations; its just that the government would force us to even if we didn't want to.

Doctors Without Borders

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:Doctors Without Borders

[Ayars]

Absolutely. MSF is my main charity, and I wish I could donate time as well but they have no use for physics professors. (Former students need not comment on this. :-) )

Re:Doctors Without Borders

[janek78]

I definitely second that - if you could only donate to one charity, MSF is a great choice. They make a real difference, they push no agenda, and they go to unsexy places. A charity worthy of your support.

It's so easy

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Exempt-Organizations-Select-Check

https://www.charitywatch.org/charities

How about

[bobstreo]

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.

Re:How about

[Nemesisghost]

I'd skip sending money to ISIS or the Taliban. It's probably not tax-deductible and may result in unpleasant imprisonment.

With the current administration, the same could be said for anything that they dislike. They've not only used the IRS to target groups that oppose them, but also put out a list of attributes that they are using to classify domestic terrorist which include things like having more than a month's worth of food & owning a gun.

Re:How about

[ChrisMaple]

The days when the ACLU had any care about civil liberties are long gone.

Re:How about

[Elentar]

Donated once to the EFF and the ACLU at different times. The incredible volume of spam mail, junk mail, and phone calls that I received from these two organizations convinced me to never contribute to them again, as well as likely costing them more than my donation.

My advice: Donate to a local organization, not a national or international one. They are less likely to have hordes of administrative flunkies to bother you later (and consume donation money), and you'll be helping the community you live in. There are good causes in every community in America.

Re:How about

[vux984]

classify domestic terrorist which include things like having more than a month's worth of food & owning a gun.

I'm pretty sure those are the sort of things domestic terrorists would actually have... so what exactly is your issue with it?

A bunch of food and a gun doesn't get you classified as a terrorist; its a flag that the group might be worth investigating.

An investigation isn't persecution.

Re:How about

[Nemesisghost]

The problem is when they use government resources to target organizations that they dislike & have no real cause to, and do so after issuing declarations that they consider their behavior kin to that of terrorist. Had the IRS treated left wing organizations as they did those on the right, things might be a bit different.
What are your thoughts about Bush (and now Obama) saying that if you encrypt your internet communications you must be a terrorist? And then what would happen if they used the IRS to go after the Linux foundation(or some other FOSS tech company) for making encryption readily available?

Re:How about

[dryeo]

You could come to Canada where it's the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) being used to target environmentalists and left leaning groups, have declared that anyone anti-oil is a terrorist, if you object to the government monitoring everything then this week you must be a terrorist (before, you were supporting the bullies and before that, the child molesters). Passed an anti-terrorist law that makes the patriot act look tame (law enforcement can break any law except rape in chasing down terrorists), honoured their promise of open government by being so secretive that we're jealous that you guys have the open Obama and lately want to charge anti-Israel groups with hate crimes as talking boycott is not just exercising free speech.
The truth is that all the governments seem to be doing the same thing.

Re:How about

[rtb61]

Just pay taxes and demand a rise in taxes for the 1million plus range, a huge rise. Face it so many scammy charities and they often end up getting corrupted because of a short term flood of donations only to be ignored the rest of time but the scam artists get the taste from donations floods and then bleed the charities dry during lean times.

Why the government, because of least they will prosecute scam artists when they get caught cheating government welfare (not so much corporate welfare but certainly individual and organisation welfare). Also the welfare contributions tend to be more uniform, more organised and checked more often and the steady income tends to produce much more sound spending habits, rather than the flavour of the month boom and then bust. Not to forget the hundreds of millions of dollars wasted on advertising for charities to generate donations all that money spent on the richest and greediest media organisations.

Re:How about

[bill_mcgonigle]

Why the government, because of least they will prosecute scam artists when they get caught cheating government welfare

Government *is* the scam artist, at least in the USA. A good charity gets over 80% of its revenue to the people who need the money/services (less than 20% overhead is the required expense ratio for a serious charity).

Government averages 27% going to those in need - all the rest is consumed by the parasites in "the system". It's the least able in the society who suffer due to their repugnant greed.

Re: How about

[I'm New Around Here]

It just happens that conservative organizations were doing it more than liberal ones.

Go on. Pull the other one.

Re:How about

[vux984]

What are your thoughts about Bush (and now Obama) saying that if you encrypt your internet communications you must be a terrorist?

They never said that. Either of them. A few blowhards and talking heads have made such comments over the years; and the press eats it up because that's what the press does.

The country as a whole is grappling with rather intractable problem. It simultaneously wants it to be possible for the NSA to break encrypted data belonging to terrorists and criminals in general with a proper warrant. But it doesn't want encryption itself to be compromised with a back door so that they can get in whenever they want without leaving so much as a trace. Unfortunately meeting those two objectives right now is a fantasy. So we get loonies at both ends making nonsensical statements.

And then what would happen if they used the IRS to go after the Linux foundation(or some other FOSS tech company) for making encryption readily available?

As long as saner heads prevail who cares. Linux isn't a terrorist front and any honest investigation not run with the same mentality as the spanish inquisition will promptly discern this to be the case.

Re:How about

[Pfhorrest]

No but then I also don't want to carry around lethal force and have people legally compelled to obey me under threat of such force, and for people who do want that, sacrificing their privacy on the job for that kind of authority seems reasonable.

Re:How about

[swb]

I think local donations is a great idea. So many local organizations are the ones actually executing hands-on help where the amount of useful work done per dollar is higher than larger organizations that have larger administrative overhead.

Re:How about

[dave420]

Seeing as you seem to have a problem with civil liberties, it doesn't surprise me you don't support them.

Re:How about

[kaatochacha]

I grew tired of receiving solicitations, so I sent $1.00 to PETA under the name "Eaton Mheet".
God was it fun, for at least a year after that I continually recieved requests from them under that name.

Re:How about

[KGIII]

Passed an anti-terrorist law that makes the patriot act look tame (law enforcement can break any law except rape in chasing down terrorists),

I have dual citizenship, I am a First Nation person... I have some property just north of the border. Could you tell me more about this law? A name would be fine. Google was not too revealing and I am not sure where to dig for more information. I would like to learn more about this.

Re:How about

[dryeo]

Bill-C51 is the official number. The full name is

Anti-terrorism Act, 2015
An Act to enact the Security of Canada Information Sharing Act and the Secure Air Travel Act, to amend the Criminal Code, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts

You can start here, https://openparliament.ca/bill... and I guess I should actually read the full bill as well, unluckily this government likes to pass big bills which makes for hard reading, especially for non-lawyers.

No Organizations

[ClubPetey]

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.

Re:No Organizations

[CaptainDork]

First off, it's got to be a slow news day for this crap to show up like this.

But, anyway, this and stuff.

No one needs advice on how to help people by giving them money. You gotta be living in a fucking vacuum if you don't hear about people you know who need help.

Know anybody, personally, who's fighting cancer?

If they are traveling to/from treatments and have to take time off work with reduced or no pay, give to them directly.

Always give directly.

yw and stuff.

Re:No Organizations

[Bite The Pillow]

Help someone who shows promise.

We are going to die within +/-75 years of being born, and most of us are simply experiments in the gene pool. So quit thinking of yourself as a person who deserves to be alive, and start thinking of yourself as a step in the right direction.

Maybe you are, maybe you aren't, but these things cannot be discerned by individuals. Because to individuals, we all are important.

Pan handlers generally fall under the "don't donate" category. But you may meet someone under the "pan handler" category who deserves support. And don't just give $20 and call it good. Develop a relationship, encourage, and give when in makes sense.

The Renaissance happened in large part because people became patrons. We have Patreon to take a small percentage, or you can care about the people in your area enough to stop the parasitic investor class.

Find someone who shows promise, strike up a conversation, and figure out what they need. Offer it to them. They will be grateful, and you will have helped out a needy individual who will generate both individual profit and, most likely, profit for some bar or art store or indie label or whatever.

Boosting interest helps that individual, but it stimulates in real dollars the local economy.

Do you want to stimulate a foreign economy instead?

Re:No Organizations

[ChrisMaple]

Mercury One http://www.mercuryone.org/ gives ALL donations to specified efforts, mostly disaster relief. Staff and other overhead are paid for by special events, not donations. Be aware that this is Glenn Beck's organization, so if that offends you, look elsewhere.

Re:No Organizations

[ganjadude]

beck gives all donations back??? thats pretty awesome. he may be loony but he has a huge heart

I wonder what other people who run foundations give in relation to their intake of donations

Re:No Organizations

[Krishnoid]

As a recent college graduate, you have something particularly rare and useful to people in certain situations -- your education and skills. "Spending" that and your time to bring those things to people who need them and may not have the money to spend on them:

• provides something rarer than money, and
• doesn't involve taxes and middlemen

For example, if you're a chemistry major, helping motivated high-school kids with even basic chemistry would mean they don't have to spend their own or their parents' (likely post-tax) money on tutors, assuming their families could even afford one. Assisting also makes you better able to communicate concepts in your own field to laypeople of a variety of perspectives and skill levels, simultaneously builds your personal and professional exposure, and immediately starts assisting people in a way that only a small portion of society can. Spending a little of your own money in the course of this to improve the experience for both parties would make sense too.

Another non-traditional option that the Internet provides is the opportunity to support individuals with less friction through sites like Kickstarter, Bandcamp, and Patreon. Even though an artist may make their work available to the general public for free, you can still support someone whose work you like, so they have the resources to continue to produce their work for everybody's benefit. This way, you have an excuse to harass your friends to check out their stuff, simultaneously promoting them financially and by word-of-mouth.

Finally, you could also consider saving your donation money for now in a separate account. This way, you can spend it once you find something that really strikes a chord with you, rather than feeling that the money is burning a hole in your pocket.

Re:No Organizations

[dcollins117]

We are going to die within +/-75 years of being born, and most of us are simply experiments in the gene pool.

How many people die 75 years before they are born? Not arguing with your statistics, but the thing that most people have in their heads that act as a central repository of thoughts and ideas seems to be malfunctioning in your case.

Re:No Organizations

[skatefriday]

Join Habitat for Humanity and build a house for someone

This is /. Find a FIRST robotics team to mentor.

Re:No Organizations

[dryeo]

I'd guess that Beck gets a lot of income from his special events and needs the tax write offs.Seems to be pretty common with foundations (being tax havens). There's been talk here of just getting rid of the tax write off for donations as the government has really been using the taxman to punish those they don't like and one of their favourites is getting really anal about what a charitable organization is and once one government does it so will the next.
Personally I like the local Mennonites, all labour is volunteer so they only have small overhead and seem to support much the same things as I do (eg homelessness locally and various disaster relief) and don't push their beliefs except through the action of being nice people.

Re:No Organizations

[rwa2]

Pan handlers generally fall under the "don't donate" category.

Yeah, pan handlers may be good at looking sad, but its actually fairly lucrative. A common fallacy is that poor people "need" money more, and your buck would go further helping them. Unfortunately, many people are poor because they are bad with money. Many pan handlers will blow their take on drugs or alcohol, or splurge on a stay at a motel when they could easily afford to use that amount of money to make rent and groceries if they had the budgeting sense.

I wish it was easier to find ways to help people... I would look at supporting the social services workers, or supplies for teachers in schools. Even in fairly good neighborhoods there are usually always low income parents that need regular assistance with books and field trip payments and stuff like that.

--
I support public education; I married a teacher

Re:No Organizations

[grcumb]

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.

So the fuck what? Do you know what happens when you insist that every single dollar goes to to projects? You can't keep staff.

When there's no core funding for NGOs, they can only hire on a contract basis, which means that most of the people you want won't—can't—work for you, because they have families and stuff. And that means you get no decent skills on the ground. And that means you're flying in a bunch of outsiders who make a career out of this kind of thing, but who, no matter how well-intentioned, cannot know what things are like on the ground. And that means you waste time and money making mistakes that no local would ever make. And that means delays. And cost overruns....

... And before you know it, you're down $500 million and you've only built six houses.

Re:No Organizations

[AmiMoJo]

Give that pan handler on the side of the road a hamburger.

It's better to give money to charities who will actually try to fix the problems that put that person on the street. A burger will feed them for a day, and encourage them to keep begging. Pooling donations to provide shelter and a fixed address so they can apply for jobs and take a shower before the interview is a much better idea. Even just for their immediate need to eat a soup kitchen where they can get other services is better.

The admin overhead of well run charities is trivial compared to the benefit of combining resources and applying knowledge and understanding of the problems.

Note for EU citizens: The European convention on Human Rights guarantees everyone shelter. Most governments interpret that as having to provide somewhere for everyone to live, even if it is a fairly unpleasant place. So, there is no reason for anyone to be on the streets any more. No matter who they are, they are entitled to a roof over their heads and usually a lot more support. Giving them money just encourages them not to accept that help, so don't do it.

Re:No Organizations

[dave420]

That's not true. Plenty of charities give 100% of your donation to their cause, as they also accept donations of infrastructure, manpower, and services which would normally come out of the donation.

Re:No Organizations

[slipped_bit]

...Give that pan handler on the side of the road a hamburger.

While there are some out there in need, too many of these are scams. There are guys who work a corner for a fixed number of hours, then hand the hat off to the next guy. I made over $140k last year (in the midwest), and many of these panhandlers are pulling in more money (tax free!) than I.

Help your single-working-mother neighbor by paying for a baby sitter so she can have a night out.

That's a nice gesture, but you might be reinforcing the problem by encouraging her to also pay for a babysitter herself in the future so she can go party. Instead of buying a babysitter for her, perhaps offer to baby sit for her.

Buy groceries for the person in line at the store behind you that is using food stamps.

Like the panhandler, many of these people are living much better lives than those who paid the tax dollars for those programs. I've seen too many people in line at the grocery store paying with food stamps. They buy name-brand EVERYTHING, all being paid for by my tax dollars, while my $140k/year is buying me store-brand equivalents at a much lower cost. But rest assured, the people paying for Coca-Cola and and other name-brand items with my tax dollars have plenty of cash to purchase high-end liquor. They seemed to have plenty of money for lots of jewelry, too, and a nicer, newer car than me. Most major cities have underground organizations that show these people exactly how to exploit the system. Don't get me wrong, I don't want anyone to starve, and there are some people out there who really need the assistance, but there is just way, way, way too much wrong with the current system.

Or, donate your time.

OK, we finally agree on something. This is something I definitely do. Not only that, but this way I can also see exactly what is needed, and will often go purchase items myself and know that they will truly be used and not wasted.

Re:No Organizations

[n2hightech]

Wow parasitic investor class? Exactly what is that? Investers risk their money giving people jobs and providing products and services with no guarentee of a return. Many of them WORK THEIR ASSES OFF trying to make the world a better place for everyone. The "pan handler" catagory mostly are just takers. Looking for an easy buck for the next fix or drunk. I say invest your money in someone who is starting a company that is providing a good service or product that makes peoples lives better. If you invest and your money comes back do it again and help twice as many people. If thats what a Patreon does then great do that. Allowing people to live idle wasted lives by feeding their habits is not good for them or the rest of us even though you may feel good doing it.

Re:No Organizations

[KGIII]

That does not mean that you can not help them. Give a bum a $100 bill and a ride to the corner his dealer is on. Why not? He will have the time of his life and remember that day with great fondness for a long time. You gave the money away, it is up to them how they spend it. Could your money do more good? Absolutely. Would that person, the one spending it on drugs, have a hell of a time and enjoy themselves for a little while? Also true.

My only anecdote is that I once offered to buy a panhandler a sandwich for lunch. He swore at me and told me he wanted the money for alcohol. I appreciated his honesty and told him so. I gave him a $20 and he was happy. Hmm... In koan form? I gave him a $20 and I was enlightened.

Re:No Organizations

[Bite The Pillow]

Oh, that's right up the "entitled bitch" category.

Investors can buy into an IPO, supporting a business, or they can by shares on the secondary market, call themselves "investors" or "contributors to the GDP", and be worth exactly what I crapped into the toilet.

Investing money in a business is a dead end, given the highs of the market. Some bubble is about to burst, and you have to be lucky or an insider to profit.

Did you ever study History, specifically the Renaissance period? Because Patreon is exactly that, but distributed so that numerous non-rich people can support a worthy artist.

I guess you're just an ignorant idiot. Many work their asses off to suck money from the economy for the benefit of no one. Investors occasionally invest in an IPO, but more frequently engage in after-market trading, which benefits no one but either the IPO investors, or themselves, or most likely both.

Surely you know how an IPO, stock market, and investments in general work?

Donate your time not your money

[mcelrath]

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.

Re:Donate your time not your money

[vrata]

Totally agree, charity is to "Donate what you have in excess", and not necessarily money. If you have skills, knowledge, special ability then see how you can find time to share your abilities to provide someone who needs such help. Imparting skills/knowledge is long term help, money is always short term.

Re:Donate your time not your money

[hibiki_r]

There are websites whose entire reason for existing is auditing charities. You can always go for something like that.

Donating your time can be very inefficient though. Imagine you are in software, and you'd be donating time to move boxes around in a food pantry. They could hire someone at minimum wage to do this,(which is actually good for the economy) or, you could be doing some consulting, and donate that. It's also the reason you don't buy groceries for the pantry, but hand them cash instead: They will get them far cheaper than what you'd pay.

The way I donate time is to work more hours, and specifically dedicate some contracts to be directly donated to charity. Sending a check doesn't get the same public recognition as donating time at minimum wage, but it can be far more efficient, and IMO, donations are about helping a cause, not improve your social status doing it.

Re:Donate your time not your money

[Lew-the-nerd]

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.

'viscous circles' make moving around slow because viscous means sticky or gummy.
'vicious circles' are chains of events which that are self-reinforcing and with generally increasingly detrimental results.

where does the money go?

[swell]

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.

Re: where does the money go?

[DeanPentcheff]

This is wrong: 990s are public: guidestar.org is an easy source.

Donations

[Anonymous Coward]

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 )

Get involved too

[Technician]

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.

401K

[gerf]

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...

Re:401K

[Pfhorrest]

Wow, $50K a year is "only the bare necessities" to you?

That's about my annual income (and about the mean income, I should note), and I only spend about a quarter of that on things I actually consume (the rest goes to taxes, rents, and savings to eventually escape from those rents), and I feel like I spent pretty carelessly on whatever I feel like. And you realize most people in this country live on less than half of that? (The median personal income is around $25K). "Bare necessities" is more like $6K/year, or about $100/week, and it's possible to live on half of that (I should know, my disabled mom does).

$50K/year of consumption is living the fucking high life.

Worst of the worst

[Anonymous Coward]

United Way.

Re:Worst of the worst

[bobstreo]

United Way.

No kidding, every year there was an abduction to watch their "moving" testimonials and feeling "forced" to contribute, after taxes, with no deductions for it.

Constituional Rights

[Kunedog]

Also the NRA since he wants to protect constitutional rights and the ACLU has a few embarrassing gaps in that regard.

Re:Constituional Rights

[AmiMoJo]

If you prefer the ACLU's interpretation of the 2nd Amendment then donating to the NRA is actually attacking your constitutional rights. Specifically, the right to live in a society where guns are controlled by the "well regulated militia" collective right clause, rather than one where gun ownership is an individual right.

Re:Constituional Rights

[Trailer Trash]

If you prefer the ACLU's interpretation of the 2nd Amendment then donating to the NRA is actually attacking your constitutional rights. Specifically, the right to live in a society where guns are controlled by the "well regulated militia" collective right clause, rather than one where gun ownership is an individual right.

The problem is, of course, that that particular "interpretation" isn't grounded in reality. The 2nd Amendment is an individual right, both as initially expressed by the people who wrote it as well as in the recent SCOTUS Heller decision. The ACLU is simply pushing a standard liberal anti-gun line which should make you question their reading skills if nothing else.

Re:Constituional Rights

[AmiMoJo]

The 2nd Amendment is an individual right, both as initially expressed by the people who wrote it as well as in the recent SCOTUS Heller decision.

That's an opinion, not a fact. Indeed SCOTUS only voted narrowly to interpret it that way (1 vote). The ACLU's position is based on a perfectly reasonable reading of the text and is perfectly legitimate.

Re: Constituional Rights

[liquid_schwartz]

The ACLU isn't for unlimited freedom, it's for maximizing freedom.

Unless that freedom involves anything nice like a Christmas tree or something else they have a Jihad against. Sometimes the ACLU does something I like, often they don't. To depend on them them for anything would be a mistake. The have no regard for anything historical in their Athiest Jihad, not unlike how the Taliban famously blew up the historical Buddha statues in Afghanistan as described here

Here's your maximizing freedom examples:

regarding hate crimes

regarding privacy

ACLU harassing citizens

and a multitude of second ammendment ones like this

Re:Constituional Rights

[matthewv789]

Sure, if you like supporting an unscientific 'blame-the-victim for us having around 10x the rate of gun deaths as any other country when it's really just because we have so many guns" group of asshats who like to distort the constitution, and cherry-picked statistics, for their own ends.

Re:Constituional Rights

[Trailer Trash]

They also said it must be well-regulated.

That's in the Constitution as well, but the revisionist gun nuts prefer to explain that away as not really meaning what it obviously says.

No they didn't. They called the militia well-regulated. They didn't specify that it had to be. It doesn't matter, anyway, as the prepositional phrase doesn't alter the meat of the amendment: "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed".

Child's Play

[The Raven]

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.

Re:wikipeda and PBS

[xaosflux]

Have to agree with the Wikimedia Foundation - just think how much of your college education was supported by them!

St Judes Childrens Hospital

[Anonymous Coward]

Or some other group that offers advanced and low cost health care to people who need it.

Only one link is needed

[tmosley]

http://www.effectivealtruism.o...

Re:Only one link is needed

[tmosley]

"I'm lazy, so I'm just going to throw my money at someone at random rather than taking an evening to read up on how to be an effective giver"

Ok.

Donate to your university

[stomv]

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.

Re:Donate to your university

[ganjadude]

he just gave them (most likely) 100+ thousand dollars... and you want him to KEEP paying them????

no, donate to your college after you have made it, not while you are still paying for it!

Re:Donate to your university

[PopeRatzo]

You're a recent college grad. Donate to your university.

That may be the worst possible use of charity funds. University endowments do little but grow and become fiefdoms for development departments and university presidents. University of Chicago has over a billion dollars and Harvard has like twice that. They ask for money constantly (I get the mailings) but keep raising tuition, while replacing real professors with low-paid adjuncts.

Higher education in the United States has become a complete scam. When I graduated over thirty years ago, I donated to my alma mater until I spent the time to look into exactly what they were doing with the money.

Re:Donate to your university

[jeff4747]

Actually, Harvard has 36 times that.

Harvard, the world's wealthiest university, reported a 15.4% investment return for fiscal 2014. Those returns exceeded internal goals and boosted the endowment's assets to $36.4 billion as of June 30.

Re:Donate to your university

[PopeRatzo]

As someone else pointed out, I significantly underestimated the size of the UofC and Harvard endownments. Rather than $1 bil and $2 bil respectively, it's more like $8 bil and $36 bil.

I suppose I was still thinking about how rich the endowments were back when I first realized the size of the scam some years ago.

It also tells you how fast these endowments are growing.

Local, local, local

[PuddleBoy]

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.

Re:Local, local, local

[tlhIngan]

And don't forget your local food bank. Those you can help either by giving them cash (they normally have enough leverage that $1 in donations can buy at least $2 worth of food), or by buying stuff they're constantly in need of (it's not just canned goods, but stuff like fresh produce) and donating it.

Food banks are a lifeline - many users are just on the edge - food, rent, or utiltiies. No one goes to a food bank unless they really have to, and users are limited in selection to what was donated. There's typically plenty of canned goods, but lesser amounts of fresh produce. Even "fancy" foods are well appreciated by users.

And they need volunteers - when you meet the people who use them, you'll see how normal most are - they just happened to fall on hard times. but they're generally otherwise normal families/

Fight For the Future

[mcrbids]

I would add Fight For The Future which has been extremely active for Net Neutrality

When Helping Hurts

[VerdantHue]

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.

Re:When Helping Hurts

[PacoSuarez]

What terrible advice. I found a summary of that book online (http://southwood.org/files/pdf/WhenHelpingHurtsSummary.pdf) and it looks like a bunch of christian crap. A quick sample:

"Bryant Myers, a leading Christian development thinker, argues that in order
to diagnose the disease of poverty correctly, we must consider the fundamental
nature of reality, starting with the Creator of that reality. Myers notes that the
Triune God is inherently a relational being, existing as three-in-one from
eternity. Being made in God’s image, human beings are inherently relational as
well. Note that human life is not all up for grabs! God designed humans to be a
certain thing and to operate in a certain way in all of these relationships."

Then it goes on to analyze poverty as the failure of relationships, starting with the relationship to god. I stopped reading after that.

Donate to Debian

[mrflash818]

Debian donations information page, for your reference:

https://www.debian.org/donatio...

Re:Donate to Debian

[gustygolf]

I think the BSDs are much more worthwhile than Debian: they produce code; Debian mostly just packages others' code.

NetBSD, DragonflyBSD, OpenBSD, FreeBSD. Pick one.

OpenBSD seems perpetually short on cash, yet they spend their time on very important projects (OpenSSH, LibreSSL, OpenNTPD) which are worth supporting even if you don't personally use them.

NetBSD and FreeBSD are tax-deductible in the US.

The Salvation Army

[gimmeataco]

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).

Re:The Salvation Army

[Anonymous Coward]

They're also EXTREMELY Christian in who they allow to work for/with them. If you're okay with that, fine. If you happen to actually support any LGBT friends, you might want to give them a wiiiiiide berth.

good advice

[slashmydots]

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.

Re:good advice

[bluefoxlucid]

American Red Cross is actually highly-efficient, but a peripheral blog called ProPublica has been twisting facts to smear them. It's all bullshit. They do things like take Red Cross's lessons learned (a document where they address everything that goes wrong with any response and plan out what actions to take to make those problems never happen again) and waving them around to show that Red Cross can't do anything right; or they claim that Red Cross pays for services from other economic suppliers (builders, distributors, etc.) and thus pays a lot more overhead because "those contractors have overhead, too".

ProPublica's last article was hyperbole, focusing on a $24 million project in Haiti where Red Cross originally was going to build houses, but instead built roads and repaired damaged schools and homes--that out of a $488 million budget with which they built hospitals, distributed food, provided cholera vaccinations (Cholera was killing thousands of people per week), trained the government in disaster response, and so forth.

I've examined Red Cross's management practices. Both from an organizational management standpoint and from an economic standpoint, the American Red Cross is a top-notch organization. They practice constant and continuous organizational process improvement: they look for things going wrong and aggressively document everything that impedes their function, and then invest a large share of their organization's overhead into ridding themselves of those problems. They also take full advantage of economic efficiency: rather than spend $100 million doing work they're not qualified for in an inefficient (and possibly dangerous) way, they'll pay a contractor $50 million--even though the contractor may absorb $20 million of that into overhead, it's still cheaper and more effective than any other option. They even push their process improvement practices outward: if the American Red Cross shows up at your locale, they're going to educate your local government on preparing for and responding to major disasters, so that the next one requires much less money and time for much better relief results.

When it comes to disaster relief, it doesn't get much better than ARC.

O.K. organizations

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Doctors Without Borders

[Prune]

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/...

Goodwill?

[Anonymous Coward]

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?

Four of my favorites

[gurps_npc]

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.

"Exploitation" is propaganda.

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Donate where you are

[JimSadler]

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.

Aged-out foster children

[excursive]

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.

Get involved and choose

[Strider-]

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.

Folding at Home

[RJFerret]

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.

Re:Folding at Home

[dave420]

Any excuse to not feel bad about not donating, huh? "More practical"? "Less of the donation is wasted"? Really? Wow.

Supporting Students / Kids

[kstatefan40]

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.

Re:Supporting Students / Kids

[ndrw]

I really, really like this idea. Community colleges and smaller universities in particular offer scholarships to needy students and will allow donators to specify the criteria. I served on a scholarship adjudication committee once and it was so fun to find people who needed the funding to continue their education.

There's a website for that

[Snotnose]

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.

Ahhh... Charties. Start with 990 forms

[JumperCable]

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.

FIRE is good

[Kohath]

If you believe in free speech, due process, and the most basic constitutional protections on college campuses, then FIRE is good.

GiveWell

[tjmather]

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.

Re:GiveWell

[rggjan]

One could add https://www.givingwhatwecan.or... which is very similar to givewell.

Effective Altruism

[gordoni2]

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.

Doctors without Borders

[Boronx]

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.

Givewell!

[trawg]

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.

The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement

[musmax]

http://vhemt.org/ Consider it a "meta charity". No, I'm not joking.

Donate according to preferences or prejudices?

[eyepeepackets]

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.

Re:Donate according to preferences or prejudices?

[thekohser]

Before you keep throwing money at the Wikimedia Foundation, educate yourself on whether they actually NEED any more money: http://wikipediocracy.com/2015...

Re:Donate according to preferences or prejudices?

[bluefoxlucid]

Unfortunately, NPR is a blind mouthpiece for ProPublica.

Invest in many places

[GoodNewsJimDotCom]

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.

Re:401K c-c-c-combo breaker!

[rwa2]

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!

Re:How about the government

[rwa2]

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.

Support a literacy organization

[myid]

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.)

Re:Support a literacy organization

[myid]

Hah!! I'll have to proofread my posts before submitting them. "organization". "donate".

Foundation Beyond Belief

[Orion]

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.

I swear to god

[ruir]

I misread it as make donations cunt

Donate to GOOD public interest

[Etherwalk]

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.

Small Is Beautiful

[hyades1]

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.

Re:Small Is Beautiful

[myid]

I agree with supporting local organizations.

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).

Once I went to the local Barnes & Noble, and bought several hundred dollars worth of books for our local library. The library official said thank you very much, but just for my information, I could have gotten them more books if I had given them a check instead of books. That's because the library could buy books at a discount (I guess because it was an institution).

So assuming you trust the organization, you might want to give them a check instead of a large number of items.

microloans http://www.kiva.org

[phoonly]

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.

Why is that a bad thing?

[91degrees]

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.

Too early

[nospam007]

Donate to your pension fund if you don't want to become the poor of tomorrow.

Seek advice from a trusted banker

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Government

[Big Hairy Ian]

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

Local food pantries and shelters

[azemon]

If you check, you will be dismayed how many people in your own hometown lack basic food and shelter. Help them.

Don't Bother...

[splatacaster]

They are all scams.

The OpenBSD Foundation - Funding for OpenBSD and r

[someone69]

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.

Help teh kittehs!!!!!

[slipped_bit]

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.)

What is your interest?

[Coffeesloth]

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.

Re:wikipeda and PBS

[thekohser]

Couldn't be more wrong about the "dollars counting", I'm afraid. See this: http://wikipediocracy.com/2015...

First Step - Donate Blood

[DudeFromMars]

Donate blood regularly your whole life , and you WILL save a life.

Accusation against GoodWill

[MobyDisk]

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.

Re:Accusation against GoodWill

[bluefoxlucid]

He's mad that a company hires cheaper workers instead of more expensive workers.

Re: How about the government

[rwa2]

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.

Effective Altruism

[SylviaCaras]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... Give Well evaluates, effective altruism sites suggest individual giving strategies, Peter Singer has a new book, ...

Nature Conservancy

[klek]

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.

Employer Match

[vtTom]

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.

Re:How about the government

[KGIII]

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.

Re:How about the government

[rwa2]

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?

from the perspective of a small nonprofit

[drew30319]

First, I think it's great that not only are you interested in supporting worthwhile causes but are also interested in educating yourself about how different orgs use their resources. So . . . kudos!

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

Here is my list...

[Taed]

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