In life, you are not living, unless you are giving

I think it was Kirk Douglas who said that - ‘you are not living unless you are giving’.

Anyway, as I grew older, I felt that Christmas was meaning less and less to me. Traipsing around shopping centres, the mad rush to buy presents for everyone, squabbles with distant family you see once a year for Christmas dinner.

So, in recent years, I told my family not to buy me anything, and I would donate money (as much as I could afford) to a worthy charity. I choose a different charity each year after discussing it with the family.

Last year I donated money to a women at work whose husband died of cancer and she had to look after 2 young children on her own. This year, I am giving money to St Kilda Mums, a charity that helps new mothers in the St Kilda area in Melbourne who may be struggling for various reasons, and they provide free baby stuff, support, etc. I found out about them some years ago when my kids moved beyond the baby phase and I had to find somewhere to send the no longer used cots, prams, etc. Volunteers from St Kilda Mums came around and collected the lot and found homes for everything.

My approach is to double the amount of money I donate each year, which suggests I may have to stick with the corporate job for while longer.

I don’t want to suggest I am some holly person, as I do this because it makes me feel good. So, in that sense, it is driven by an element of self interest.

But take my word for it, it does make you feel pretty good.

Merry Christmas everyone.

 

I would love to donate, however with the corporate greed out there, the cynical side of me, thinks that even if i donate, i dont know how much of my donation actually gets to the target

 

Do research into the charity. Most are run on a shoe string, with largely volunteer labour.

 

Good excuse! However, you could donate to Rotary where 100% goes to the cause.

Note: in large organisations such as the Red Cross, administrative costs are necessary as emergency and even ongoing aid needs to be planned to be effective. Also, the money needs to be managed and tracked and those services aren’t free.

In addition, the reality for many charities is that they need to employ fundraising companies because they collect more - even taking into account the fees - when they do it that way.

 

And how do you know which one 100% goes.
Now, when i see someone in need instead of giving them money, i try and give them food or something non monetary

 

And thats why i never donate to any of those who hassle you on the street or shopping centres.
I know theyre on a comission/salary,
Plus most of them, ive never heard of

 

Have a look at Kiva. I give to them rather than the big charities

 

Isn’t that a loan not a gift?

 

Give direct

 

Yes, but you can just keep circulating the money

 

Yeah, difficult. For those charities on my preferred list, I tend to read the annual reports in an attempt to ascertain how much of the funds are expended on fundraising activities and administrative expenses. Some obviously are large organisations so I do expect there will be costs involved. For the ones I look at those costs are around the 5% mark.

At this time of year I tend towards those involved in assisting people who endure the impact of domestic violence plus homelessness and mental health as the three issues are closely intertwined.

 

You can get around all of this by donating your time too.

Man an opportunity shop, bake Christmas puddings, meals on wheels, Australian volunteers, salvos, orange sky......

 

I own a pedigree cat. I feel guilty for not re-homing a cat. I now give money/food/goods regularly to animal shelters.

 

Like it. A few years ago my BIL did this and handed out envelopes from the charity he donated to on behalf of the family. It wasn't received as well as I think he anticipated. Reflecting on it, it is possibly because a. this was the first time someone in the family did it on behalf of others and b. he chose a charity on bahalf of others. There were comments like how about charity x, or y, I like charity z etc. I think your idea of discussing it with the family and making everyone part of the decision will enhance ownership of the idea and make them feel part of the process (maybe asking for them to name a charity for you to donate to on their behalf?). Great idea.

I remember this came up a few years ago. It can be difficult if/when this is highlighted as it tars all with the same brush.

Thanks! Didn't know this.

Yep, agree, I like this at a global level (or MicroPlace which is slightly different, but the same...).

I have several sub-accounts for various expenses etc (so I don't think transferring the funds after each pay), one of which is donations. I make the donations just before the end of each FY.

 

Yes, I received a lot of mail from two charities after we donated to them. I like donating directly. When I worked in the US many years ago, there was a lot of marketing material in the mail (retailers and charities). Someone told me that as long as they have 10% of the recipients take up the offer, they come out in front. When I received so much mail from the charities, I wondered how my donations were being used, but remembering that they need such a low return rate from the mass mailings, they will keep trying.

 

What about the Shane Warne Foundation?

SMH reported
"Warne's brother Jason had also been paid an $80,000 annual salary in the same year the foundation had donated just $54,600 to charity."

"The foundation was also renting office space in a building owned by Warne's parents."



https://www.smh.com.au/business/the...ne-foundation-fell-apart-20160211-gmrbjs.html

 

I like this quote from the linked article:

Is it a better charity if a bigger cut goes to the needy?
Not necessarily, and it's really not feasible to compare administrative versus service costs between charities because each measures such expenditures in different ways. Uniform standards have long been lacking in this area.

As the ACNC says:

"The main problem with using administrative costs to inform decisions about which charities to support is that the information is an unreliable indicator of the extent to which actual donations make a difference in the community.Some charities make a real difference in the community and have relatively high administration costs, and some charities may be less effective but have low administration costs."

Some urban-based charities may pay higher rent for their headquarters, for instance, and some may spend more money than others on measuring the impact of their work, leading to better outcomes for recipients.