What charities do you give to, why and ....

[monarch64]

Date: 10/1/2007 10:26:50 PM
Author: sera

Date: 10/1/2007 10:02:16 PM
Author: monarch64
Avon Foundation (breast cancer), Amvets (American Veterans), and misc. others, typically donations $50 or under annually. We don''t give cash to AmVets, I take our gently used clothing and household items to them a few times a year. Coincidentally I just dropped off 3 huge bags of my clothing to them today!

Oh yeah, donating clothes in still good condition is a great way to help. There is a women''s shelter we can do that for through the YWCA. I''m sure many of those women have nothing but the clothes on their backs.

We have the same YWCA organization here too, I forget the name of the program but it has to do with providing women with clothing they can wear on job interviews. I have several suits I no longer wear that are in great condition and the styles are very classic that I need to go ahead and donate to them.

 

[strmrdr]

Salvation Army
Gideons International
Boy Scouts
Local soup kitchens, pantries and homeless shelters.

http://www.carpentersplace.org/
My jerk of an ex-boss works there which is bad, but its a great program.

Basically I research them and they must spend under 20% on administration and fundraising or they don't get my money.
I will never give another dime to the Red Cross(misused 9/11 funds) or United Way(cut off the Boy Scouts).

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 10/1/2007 10:28:15 AM
Author: BizouMom
My favorite charity is called Modest Needs. They give small grants to average people who run into the occasional bump in the road of life. Most are self supporting but have had medical setbacks, job loss, etc. I love it because it is a safety net to keep people from slipping into worse situations. They are very open about their spending and budget and they have a very thorough vetting process. Plus, they allow donors to participate in rating grant applications and they encourage the pass it forward philosophy. Web site is modestneeds.org.

that is a really kewl charity.
Im going to research and add it too my list for when im back on my feet and have some money to donate.

 

[Stardust]

I forgot to add - one of my favorite charities to work with is Dress for Success. They give clothing, review interview skills, and offer support to women getting back into work. They take clothing donations and the one local to me that I use for my clients is awesome!

 

[monarch64]

Date: 10/2/2007 2:27:33 AM
Author: Stardust
I forgot to add - one of my favorite charities to work with is Dress for Success. They give clothing, review interview skills, and offer support to women getting back into work. They take clothing donations and the one local to me that I use for my clients is awesome!

Is that the charity that''s affiliated with YWCa? Please see my previous post (as well as thing2''s)...I need to make a donation before year''s end and want to deal with this particular charity if it''s the one where you donate business attire to the Y and it goes to women who need appropriate attire for job interviews. TIA!

 

[simplysplendid]

Lien, I think due to administrative costs, no every cent will go to the needy. In the Singapore case I think the head of the charithy associations were not flying business, they were flying first class.

I donate to SPCA and Club Rainbow and School Pocket Money Fund in Singapore.

 

[Eva17]

First on our list is our Church. It is the largest outreach church in our national chapter. You can choose local, domestic or international.

My other favorite is, a military houseing unit in our area, that has VERY young spouses and families living there. I do two runs a year, with food, toys, gift cards. We give to the families of active deployment first, then add other names to the list. The families are young, away from their own families and living at extremely low income levels. At christmas, it becomes quiet large. We need several cars to make the drop. It has become one of our church''s largest local outreaches.

 

[Stardust]

Date: 10/2/2007 2:50:53 AM
Author: monarch64

Date: 10/2/2007 2:27:33 AM

Author: Stardust

I forgot to add - one of my favorite charities to work with is Dress for Success. They give clothing, review interview skills, and offer support to women getting back into work. They take clothing donations and the one local to me that I use for my clients is awesome!

Is that the charity that''s affiliated with YWCa? Please see my previous post (as well as thing2''s)...I need to make a donation before year''s end and want to deal with this particular charity if it''s the one where you donate business attire to the Y and it goes to women who need appropriate attire for job interviews. TIA!

Monarch - I truly don''t know if they are connected to the Y. Their website is
Dress for Success. I do know that you can donate suits, shoes, scarfs, and other work related items to them. When I make referrals (to the London project) they get a one hour time slot to speak with someone about their needs and then the worker helps to dress them, reviews their CV/resume, and goes over interview skills with them.

But there may be other similar projects. Their website tells you the locations and how to donate. I seriously love the one near me, so helpful with my clients!

 

[Amandine]

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, because my sister had it.

 

[vespergirl]

I like to donate to Save the Children, because over 90% of your donation goes to the needy children, not admin costs. I sponsor a child, and also give yearly gifts to their different programs, for example, newborn health initiatives. Also to St. Jude''s Children''s Hospital who uses the funds for cutting-edge medical research to save children''s lives, and they treat any child, even if the family cannot afford treatment. I also donate to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah.

 

[firebirdgold]

I donate to Heifer Project International, it''s basic philosophy is that old "teach a man to fish.." saying. It helps the poor and hungry around the world by giving them animals and the training to raise them. By giving a family chickens (for instance) they get a great source of protein, fertilizer and bug control for their garden, and extra money from selling the eggs. Plus it''s a chain effect, the recipients will give someone else in need a baby goat or a flock of chicks who then gives someone else a baby animal or two....

I have to admit it does feel a bit like cheating since I getting a double use out of my money. Heifer.org has set up a ''shopping'' site so I can buy my family members a ''gift basket'' of rabbits, or a Llama, and I get cards to give my family saying what was given in their name. The vast majority of my christmas shopping money is spent on their site.

It''s a big hit with my family.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 10/5/2007 12:23:21 PM
Author: IndieJones
I donate to Heifer Project International, it''s basic philosophy is that old ''teach a man to fish..'' saying. It helps the poor and hungry around the world by giving them animals and the training to raise them. By giving a family chickens (for instance) they get a great source of protein, fertilizer and bug control for their garden, and extra money from selling the eggs. Plus it''s a chain effect, the recipients will give someone else in need a baby goat or a flock of chicks who then gives someone else a baby animal or two....

I have to admit it does feel a bit like cheating since I getting a double use out of my money. Heifer.org has set up a ''shopping'' site so I can buy my family members a ''gift basket'' of rabbits, or a Llama, and I get cards to give my family saying what was given in their name. The vast majority of my christmas shopping money is spent on their site.

It''s a big hit with my family.

IJ, my friend was telling me about this; I will check it out now that you gave the website!!! Thanks; I love that!

 

[oshinbreez]

Church, American Heart Association, and MDA. My dad died of a heart attack many years ago. And my son was born on Labor Day, and I was watching the MDA telethon before going to the hospital. I thank God I have healthy kids.

 

[partgypsy]

Heifer fund is great. The lab I used to work in leiu of personal gifts, we would all chip in at Christmastime and buy a family a "pig" or "goat''. We have with our daughter always involved her in purchasing items for a needy family around christmastime.

 

[Skippy123]

At out mall I like to get a couple of kids names of the holiday tree and buy gifts for a few kids who are less fortunate since it is that time of year again. Or if I am busy I do the toys for tots instead (same concept but avoiding the mall traffic). Hey, Lien!!!

 

[tberube]

I only wish I had enough $$ that I could give it away to charities!!

 

[chrono]

Date: 11/13/2007 2:43:24 PM
Author: tberube
I only wish I had enough $$ that I could give it away to charities!!

You don''t have to give a lot. If 100 people gave $1 each, it adds up to $100, which will come in handy to the receipient who may have nothing so every little bit counts.

 

[pennquaker09]

We decided that instead of gifts, we would have our guests donate to St. Jude''s Children''s Research Hospital. The mission of the hospital is important. No child should die in the dawn of life and I believe that 300% percent. I was part of a organization in college that raises money for St. Jude and it has stuck with me. It''s called Up ''til Dawn and it''s at different college campuses across the US.

The other one is the Susan G. Komen Foundation because my grandmother died of breast cancer.

Those are just two of my personal faves.

 

[Gypsy]

We have a few pet charities we give to, mostly. Every once in a while we''ll give to a human charity centered around disease or children... but most of our $$ for charity goes to animal rescues.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 11/13/2007 2:56:25 PM
Author: pennquaker09
We decided that instead of gifts, we would have our guests donate to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. The mission of the hospital is important. No child should die in the dawn of life and I believe that 300% percent. I was part of a organization in college that raises money for St. Jude and it has stuck with me. It's called Up 'til Dawn and it's at different college campuses across the US.

The other one is the Susan G. Komen Foundation because my grandmother died of breast cancer.

Those are just two of my personal faves.

That is a great idea Penn! I recently attended a wedding where the couple asked for no gifts but instead asked money be sent to a specific charity; I loved that!

 

[777_LDY]

What a great thread! I must say I mostly give back to my community. I also do a lot of fundraising for my childrens elementary school. It''s terrible how the budjet gets cut year after year. Last year we funded their computer center 100%!!! We are also able to bring in authors to visit, expand on the cultural arts programs, and hope to expand the classroom libraries and bring in some visiting educators for the teachers this year.

My oldest child is now involved with student council and they also do so many wonderful things throughout the year like: hold food drives to donate to the local food shelters, a coat and shoe drive, and also a book drive. Some classrooms have also held tag sales and donated the money to schools in Africa. The school also supports UNICEF (little trick-or-treat boxes) every year and raised over $1,800.00 this year! It is so wonderful to see so many children happy that to know that they have helped someone less fortunate. Every year I also have my children give away their unopened unwanted and left over toys from birthdays and other holidays. They just don''t need to have so much when others have nothing. I think it''s important for them to be apart of giving as well.

A very good friend of mine adopted her little girl from China and held a baby blanket drive before she left to give to the orphanage. She also gave away much of what she recieved from her baby showers as well which I thought was very generous. Apparantly the conditions are terrible there for the children, it''s so sad.

 

[mela lu]

Our chruch
Breast cancer society of Canada. (My G''ma passed from it, and I have many survivors in my family).

Great thread!

 

[Jypsie]

I donate regularly to a national Cairn Terrier rescue www.cairnrescue.com and to a fund that helps to raise money for Canine Epilepsy research it''s a fantastic site for information about canine epilepsy as well - http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/

 

[isaku5]

We have three: at the top of the list is the SPCA (our Sammy was adopted from there), Salvation Army, MS ( a good friend of mine has been living with this for 25 years).

 

[Phoenix]

It's really fantastic to see so many givers on PS. I personally think there's so much one can either give or do, for example donating yr time, no matter how little. When we travel, we give our loose change to the airlines. It isn't a lot but if everyone gives a little, it would definitely add up to something. I've recently been helping some friends, this couple, with their business in reviewing and revamping their accounting / financial system and I insisted on not being paid for my time. The couple is extremely generous with their money and time, for example I know for certain they've been to Vietnam to visit orphanages, hospitals and families to help out with money, food etc. and they've just given hundreds of thousands of dollars to help renovate a local church in S'pore. I feel that because I can help them, it will free up their time so that they can do their charitable work as well as not have to pay thousands of dollars to another accountant.

I am definitely taking note of these other charities that you guys have mentioned (esp. the more "worthy" ones where there isn't abuse by mgt) and will try to give more. But I have to say though I am a bit concerned abt not giving at all to the less well managed charities, as it is the poor and less fortunate who would suffer. Not sure what to do abt these.

 

[Lorelei]

I donate where I can to cancer charities, the RSPCA, and this horse charity.

www.ilph.org

 

[Deelight]

I donate when I can but I could do more and should, this is an excellent thread because it makes you actually think of what you can do .

Donating shouldn''t just be about the money either you can donate goods, time, knowledge and services.

Everyone can do their little bit

It is so nice to see people giving

 

[ChargerGrrl]

i too like to give back to my local community, so I donate to:

Los Angeles Mission (a nonprofit organization serving the homeless living on the streets of downtown’s Hope Central- known as Skid Row)

Para Los Ninos (a nonprofit family service organization designed to bring children from some of Los Angeles’ most challenging communities out of poverty and onto brighter, more successful futures)

LA/SPCA and the local German Shepherd Rescue group.

 

[UCLABelle]

Well, I am a HUGE Goodwill supporter, if that counts...I give at least once a month. I know it goes to good use because on certain days I see my clothes there!

I give to St. Judes in memory of my grandma, a lifetime nurse who loved the organization. Not sure where the money goes...but I am sure it goes to good use, they are pretty respected.


They are not charities, but do good work, so I think they count...

I give to UCLA because it is my Alma Mater, and I want to give back to them in two areas (which I do twice a year): Athletics and UCLA FUND (scholarships for in-need students). I want to make sure that the athletics keeps thriving, because I enjoy winning (bad reason, and not a charity, I know) and want to be sure students in-need receive scholarships. UCLA has an excellent system that allows you to determine location of your donation, and then sends an update to you explaining what the money was used for (normally!)...

I give to Santa Clara, in memory of my maternal-grandfather who spent his life donating, an alum who recently passed, (my mom's brother, my uncle was an alum who also passed and was one of their major funders and my father is also an alum). I donate to their scholarship fund for in-need students...Once again, a similar system as UCLA.

 

[Octavia]

I don''t give as much as I''d like, partly because I worked for a nonprofit until recently (a.k.a. I made a miserably paltry salary) and now I''m a full-time student again (a.k.a. I''m now living on student loans and trying to minimize them as much as I can). However, I do belong to a volunteer organization, so giving some of my time makes me feel a little better. I have always given a token amount to my alma mater because alumni giving is so important. And I''m really looking forward to the pro bono work I can do once I''m past my first year of law school.

For US charities, another good website to check out is Guidestar. IIRC, there''s a free version and a paid version...but you can get a decent amount of information through the free search.