FREE NEWSLETTER

What are your favorite charities?

Go to main Voices page »

Subscribe
Notify of
18 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
baldscreen
baldscreen
6 months ago

We have a heart for local charities that help people in our community. One of these is connected to our local school system. As the teachers or other staff members become aware of a need for one of the children, they are able to meet it b/c they have some funds available. These are practical needs like eyeglasses, paying for someone’s SAT, etc.

Rick Thompson
Rick Thompson
1 year ago

Being involved with animal-related nonprofits for many years (including co-founding and operating a nonprofit from 2012-2019 to provide financial assistance to dog rescues), I know that donations are the lifeblood of nonprofits. I prefer to contribute to small, all-volunteer nonprofits that are good stewards of their finances and stay true to their mission. After doing my due diligence, my modest contributions to these small nonprofits can make a significant difference to them, unlike the same donation being just a drop in the bucket for a large nonprofit. There always ends up being a personal contact and such genuine appreciation. Sometimes my donations are used to fund a matching gift fundraiser by the nonprofit to double the impact of my giving and tp incentivize others to give.

I really enjoy my philanthropic efforts, though modest they may be. It is long been one of the primary goals of my investing–yes, having my money go to the dogs! I am looking forward to soon being eligible to make Qualified Charitable Donations (QCDs) from my IRA (the starting age for QCDs remains 70 1/2 even though the starting age for RMDs is now 72).

Doug Gary
Doug Gary
1 year ago

So many great charities to support — for almost any area of interest, passion, compassion. Some of my family’s favorites are the ACLU, Natural Resources Defense Council, Global Fund for Women, and Delivering Innovation in Supportive Housing. As an aside, I fervently disagree with those who suggest that there is a mismanagement problem in the nonprofit sector(s), though I respect one’s right to see it as they wish. To me, there is a lot of data to demonstrate that nonprofits have more external accountability levers and requirements than most for profit small and large businesses. Every sector has its small number of bad actors and its under-resourced groups — but not true of any sector as a whole, it seems to me. I’m with you in generosity and giving back. Happy holidays.

Michelle K
Michelle K
1 year ago

I spent part of my career working for non-profits. After witnessing first hand the waste and mismanagement of funds, I struggle to donate to charities. HOWEVER, I am generous by nature so I find other ways to give. I start by always tipping more than expected. I give money to street performers. I tip people that don’t expect a tip. There is a local private school that educates at-risk children. I frequently purchase specific items for the school – like a pizza party they use as a reward or sports equipment. Although this is an unconventional way to donate, I feel my money is actually helping an individual instead of increasing the bonus of executives.

I realize there is no tax deduction associated with my form of giving. A tax deduction is not my reason for giving.

Mike Zaccardi
Mike Zaccardi
1 year ago

I like what my church does. We provide financial help and serving opportunities to local groups/charities and even to international organizations. We give to City Rescue Mission and Mission House which helps homeless people in our city to get a hot meal. Heartfelt Ministries helps seniors in our area who feel isolated or simply need basic tasks done for them, like buying groceries. We also play a big role in Compassion International – sponsoring impoverish children around the world. I think what we do makes a difference because we impact our local community, while trying to be imagine bearers of God around the world too.

Thomas
Thomas
1 year ago

I’m not yet at a stage in my life where I have a lot of disposable money to donate to charity. But I’m a big fan of the effective altruism movement, and GiveWell is the charity that I know of that best adheres to the principles of effective altruism.

Jeff
Jeff
1 year ago
Reply to  Thomas

If you don’t have extra money, you can donate your time.

Wayne Koppa
Wayne Koppa
1 year ago

I love the Salvation Army. In the 1980’s I was trying to provide money from a civic organization to victims of a local flood. I met with the local representative and said “I have $1,500 we would like to get to those effected by the flood that need it”. The woman, a Major in the Salvation Army, said “we don’t give money to people that need it”. I asked for an explanation. She said “if they were any good at handling money, they probably wouldn’t need it. We found it’s not good policy to give money to people that need it.” I then asked, “so what do you do?”. She said “we send social workers in to see what goods and services they need and then purchase those goods and services at the best possible price”. I asked if she would do that with the $1,500 and she said, “young man we do that every day”. She took the money and asked for me to return in two weeks. When I came back she reported that they had visited all the households in the flood area, had purchased what was necessary and had $300 left over and wanted to know what she should do with it. I smiled and said you should use that money for whatever she thought appropriate, knowing it would be well spent.

Rick Connor
Rick Connor
1 year ago

Big Brothers, Big Sister, local food banks, medical support to third world countries.

Juan Fourneau
Juan Fourneau
1 year ago

Big Brothers Big Sisters. I think it’s a great program that gives mentorship to young kids who often don’t have a lot of that in their life.

Anika Hedstrom
Anika Hedstrom
1 year ago

I love charity:water. The founder has an incredible story and all the donations go directly to the charity. If you watch Bill Gates story on Netflix, it further shows you just how many people in this world live without access to clean water. This is why I love this charity. It gives people access to something most of us never have to think about, and prevents disease.

Sonja Haggert
Sonja Haggert
1 year ago

My favorite charities are Laurel House and Unbound. Laurel House is there for victims of domestic violence, an all too often silent killer because it is still a taboo subject. Being on the board of the agency helps me see the caring work they do for victims. Unbound gives you the opportunity to sponsor and support a child in the United States or anywhere in the world. What a joy it is to share communication with that child.

John Goodell
John Goodell
1 year ago

We adopted our kids, and it was the best decision we’ve made. Every dollar spent on helping adopting families cover their expenses to provide loving homes for the large number of orphans and foster children is money well-spent. It gives those kids a chance to succeed when the odds say they wouldn’t otherwise, and our society is much the better for it.

Jeff
Jeff
1 year ago
Reply to  John Goodell

Thank you for what you do.

Jim Wasserman
Jim Wasserman
1 year ago

I have a number of factors that I consider when choosing a charity:

  • What are my interests (I love animals, I am also very involved in helping refugees)
  • I prefer to give to local/community charities (food banks) rather than national ones.
  • I look at financial factors of the charity, specifically the ratio of admin costs to money given to actually help the cause (sites like https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=48 help).

I also like to have some sort of hands-on involvement with the charity (volunteering time) as well as money.

My biggest charity “turn-off” (other than an imbalanced admin costs to aid ratio) is when a large portion goes to “raising awareness.” That is important, but for many such causes people are already well-aware; they now need solutions!

Jeff
Jeff
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Wasserman

Well said, this is almost exactly what I do. I always check them out on Charity Navigator to see what %of my donation goes to admin and soliciting donations.

John Goodell
John Goodell
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Wasserman

Well said!

Free Newsletter

SHARE