I Hate It When I'm Charitable And......

We give special attention to the food banks and shelters

The unsheltered get our attention also....maybe more so
Not the ones holding signs on street corners so much,
but I just can't drive by someone sleeping in a downtown alcove, especially in winter

In winter, we carry blankets and some coats from thrift stores for just such occasions
I imagine this coming winter, my wife's hot soup will be well received

I quit donating to organizations quite some time ago

I like giving direct
It's a feel good in both souls

I was gonna set up a soup rig for parking lots like Walmart's but got a lot of flack from authorities

The thing I can't wrap my mind around is the absolute waste here in the states

This clip is quite lengthy but rather educational;

 
I donate to "Meals on Wheels" as when I got out of the hospital a few years ago a friend signed me up and it was really a big help. I was in and out of the hospital for a few months and that hot meal each day helped me a lot. They also would bring a sandwich meal for that night which helped also. They are volunteers and do not get paid for their visits. They come in a team of two each day, use their own cars, and buy their own gas. The Houston Food Bank furnishes the food so I try to send a check when I can. I also send a small check to the cemetery fund where my parents are buried. I like their graves to look nice as I cannot get to Louisiana to keep it looking good.
 

The price of doing the right thing or doing something well is that youā€™ll be asked to do it again and again to the point of self-depletion and burn-out. ā€œGive until it hurtsā€ becomes a real thing. I have seen churches do this to people, and was one of them...
 
Sometimes I like getting the phone calls, it is someone to talk to, and when I agree to give a donation I feel like I'm helping make the caller's day.
When I was a teen I had a couple week summer job of calling businesses to sell a book of tickets to the traveling carnival (the idea of the book of tickets was so the business can give free tickets to their customers). Some business owners were so nice and some critiqued my technique (I tended to read the script too fast!), others were not so nice.
The monthly donations though can really add up. My credit card company provided a annual summary last year and I was really shocked how much the donations can add up and also found that I signed up multiple times for a couple charities.
I spent several days calling and cancelling or reducing the donation amounts because I'm trying to live on my anticipated retirement income, and hope to retire really soon.
So I've had to just pick a handful of favorites, since I'm finding out EVERYTHING has to be budgeted in order to live on a restricted income. I tried to spread them out among different categories (food, health, environment, etc.) after comparing charity scores online to make sure I was picking a decent charity of each category.
I wish I was rich and could give more, charities can really make people's lives better, I've benefited myself when I was young. I remember when my best friend and I were 16 and got our driver's license about the first place we went was a charity that provided gyn exams and birth control. And once when I was in my early twenties and broke and just starting out, a Jewish charity gave me a plate, fork, spoon, basic bed, etc, a sort of starter package for a young person and I was so grateful for that. And when my daughter was a young teen and we were in that bad economy of 2009ish and I was out of work for a year and a half, a charity provided money for my daughter to go to a summer camp.
Anyway, although it gets annoying to get a million solicitation calls and letters, I try to give what I can and pass on to others the way previous people donated to the charities I benefited from.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Do you get a lot of solicitations from various charities?
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Yes, and unfortunately too many charities have turned into businesses with marketing practices to match. And a lot of the money you donate goes to "overhead", not to the people or place you intended. Sending lots of junk mail is a red flag to me, the money they spend sending all that out is not going to the right place.

Best to give to charities you know and understand where the money is really going. That is what I try to do, however I do occasionally give to others, particularly if someone I know dies and asks for donations rather than flowers. Those seem to be the problem, or some of them anyway...

win231 said:
I don't donate to scams - which is what most charities are
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Unfortunately some are, "most" I am not sure. Problem is it is hard to sort out which is which.
 
Alligatorob said:
Yes, and unfortunately too many charities have turned into businesses with marketing practices to match. And a lot of the money you donate goes to "overhead", not to the people or place you intended. Sending lots of junk mail is a red flag to me, the money they spend sending all that out is not going to the right place.

Best to give to charities you know and understand where the money is really going. That is what I try to do, however I do occasionally give to others, particularly if someone I know dies and asks for donations rather than flowers. Those seem to be the problem, or some of them anyway...


Unfortunately some are, "most" I am not sure. Problem is it is hard to sort out which is which.
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I don't find it difficult to sort out. There are big expenses that go with running any business, including a charity.
Much like those Home Warranties & Auto Repair Warranties. The only way they can stay in business is by making more money on monthly premiums than they pay out for repairs, while making their customers think they're saving them money.
 
Alligatorob said:
Yes, and unfortunately too many charities have turned into businesses with marketing practices to match. And a lot of the money you donate goes to "overhead", not to the people or place you intended. Sending lots of junk mail is a red flag to me, the money they spend sending all that out is not going to the right place.

Best to give to charities you know and understand where the money is really going. That is what I try to do, however I do occasionally give to others, particularly if someone I know dies and asks for donations rather than flowers. Those seem to be the problem, or some of them anyway...


Unfortunately some are, "most" I am not sure. Problem is it is hard to sort out which is which.
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Have you no heart? Send your contribution to Sad Animals TODAY!
 
win231 said:
I don't find it difficult to sort out. There are big expenses that go with running any business, including a charity.
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What do you think of Charity Watch (https://www.charitywatch.org/ )? If their ratings are anywhere near close there are some big charities that look pretty good.
Judycat said:
Have you no heart? Send your contribution to Sad Animals TODAY!
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Is there a Charity by that name? I can't find one. We have donated a little to the Humane Society, and always adopt unwanted animals for our own pets. So we try, but to be honest I have more concern for the problems of people than animals...
 
Returning mail unopened and marked ā€œMoved, Address Unknownā€œ seems like a good plan.

It felt creepy but I sent many of the weekly requests from my motherā€™s mail marked ā€œDeceased.ā€ That finally solved it. NB, she lived for many years after this.
 
Alligatorob said:
What do you think of Charity Watch (https://www.charitywatch.org/ )? If their ratings are anywhere near close there are some big charities that look pretty good.

Is there a Charity by that name? I can't find one. We have donated a little to the Humane Society, and always adopt unwanted animals for our own pets. So we try, but to be honest I have more concern for the problems of people than animals...
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Sad animals? Are you kidding?
 
Whenever celebrities play on TV game show itā€™s generally for something very specialized that Iā€™ve never heard of or a charity in their name for some unique purpose. Americans seem to have many, many charities.
 
Alligatorob said:
Yes, and unfortunately too many charities have turned into businesses with marketing practices to match. And a lot of the money you donate goes to "overhead", not to the people or place you intended. Sending lots of junk mail is a red flag to me, the money they spend sending all that out is not going to the right place.

Best to give to charities you know and understand where the money is really going. That is what I try to do, however I do occasionally give to others, particularly if someone I know dies and asks for donations rather than flowers. Those seem to be the problem, or some of them anyway...


Unfortunately some are, "most" I am not sure. Problem is it is hard to sort out which is which.
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Bob Charity Navigator breaks down how the donations are used by percentages and includes a "star" rating. Eg: When you look at the stats for one of my charities, ZFoA you'll see that 85% of their funds go to the intended cause (the program). This charity helps people worldwide so I expect their non program expenses to be a bit higher.
https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/364476244
My other favorite charity, St. Jude uses even more for their intended cause..93.17%.
https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/951643325
There are other statistical breakdowns for each charity. Both get the "Give with confidence" stamp of approval. Research a charity you may be interested in donating to and see how they rate.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
The charities keep sending me solicitations to donate more money. What's even worse is it seems to have put me on the lists of charities I never donated to!
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I learned my lesson, I only give donations anonymously. 25 years ago I sent a check to a homeless mission, it wasn't much, it was all I could afford at the time. But for at least 15 years they sent solicitations, and like in your case, sold my name & mailing address to other charities. :rolleyes:
 
If you donate anonymously you donā€™t get a tax receipt. Some will grumble that the ā€˜richā€™ donā€™t throw their $ in variety of charity collections at stores (e.g. Salvation Army at Christmas). Right, thereā€™s a tax receipt when you do it at home. A legal receipt is required in Canada.
 
I too have wondered how much is spent on postage. I have a few charities I respond to only a few times a year but receive many requests from the same charity and I ignore them.
LOL I get the one with a nickel and it is one I contribute to but not all requests..so I take the nickel and throw away the rest. I wonder how many nickels they send out..plus the cost of the printing..etc...
 
I keep track of the donations we make and am able to see when the repeat requests start to come in. Periodically I gather up all these envelopes and toss them in the trash. Today I tossed over 90 of them that have come in the last 30 days.

This situation is out of control and I feel abused at this point.
 
Serenity4321 said:
I too have wondered how much is spent on postage. I have a few charities I respond to only a few times a year but receive many requests from the same charity and I ignore them.
LOL I get the one with a nickel and it is one I contribute to but not all requests..so I take the nickel and throw away the rest. I wonder how many nickels they send out..plus the cost of the printing..etc...
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LOL - I've received those nickels, too. You're supposed to feel guilty about accepting the nickel without "Giving Back." It probably works for the gullible.
That's also why they'll send you free return address labels.
 
Jules said:
If you donate anonymously you donā€™t get a tax receipt. Some will grumble that the ā€˜richā€™ donā€™t throw their $ in variety of charity collections at stores (e.g. Salvation Army at Christmas). Right, thereā€™s a tax receipt when you do it at home. A legal receipt is required in Canada.
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I donate thousands toward my the obligatory Zakat over the course of a year. I never claim it at tax time, nor the other donations because my standard deduction of $14,050 is more than what my itemized deductions, including the donations would be.
 
Pecos said:
I keep track of the donations we make and am able to see when the repeat requests start to come in. Periodically I gather up all these envelopes and toss them in the trash. Today I tossed over 90 of them that have come in the last 30 days.

This situation is out of control and I feel abused at this point.
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Wow! I feel like I shouldn't complain MB! I don't get nearly that many and still it's annoying. Have you tried calling them and asking them to remove your name from their lists? I've done that not only with the charities but also with the Medicare solicitations. It takes a couple of months but it works. For a while I was getting Medicare solicitations in my old and "new" name.
 
Jules said:
If you donate anonymously you donā€™t get a tax receipt. Some will grumble that the ā€˜richā€™ donā€™t throw their $ in variety of charity collections at stores (e.g. Salvation Army at Christmas). Right, thereā€™s a tax receipt when you do it at home. A legal receipt is required in Canada.
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In my case that doesn't matter, not just because I don't care, but also because with my tax situation I can't do better than the Standard Deduction by itemizing deductible expenses.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
I wonder why?! :unsure:
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Well, unfortunately, corruption is everywhere - especially now. WWP probably paid them for that rating after their bad publicity when their scam was on the news.
Another example: Here in Los Angeles, they adopted a Rating System for restaurants & markets. They assigned a letter grade - just like schools use - A, B, C, D, etc. The grade was based on inspection results from the Health Department. And the grade had to be posted on the front window.
Several Health Inspectors were making a FORTUNE selling "A's" to restaurants - many that failed inspection. The ones that were caught were arrested & charged.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-nov-11-me-41653-story.html
 

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