Charitiable Giving

conv3rsion

conv3rsion

Get Money + Get Paid
Dec 14, 2008
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I'd like to find some way to find and give more money to non profits / causes and even possibly schedule automatic monthly payments. The problem in the past has been that the charities I've given to have sold my contact information and during the holidays I receive literally hundreds of requests for more donations from other charities (think address labels, mailed nickels, all kinds of that stuff). I really don't like that part because I'm just not the kind of person that will respond to random mail solicitation.

So has anyone found a good solutions to the problems of

A) finding good charities to give to (like a comparative / review website)
B) making sure to only give to groups that won't resell your contact information

I already make regular loans on Kiva, so while that's great I'm talking more here about just strictly giving to support specific causes.
 


Pisses me off too. It's like they took all the money I sent them just to remarket to me without it going to the intended cause.
I would imagine if you called them and told them no marketing materials they would oblige somehow.
 
It's a terrible annoyance, so I give by donating to thrift shops, freecycling and tossing money anonymously into the Salvation Army buckets. My mother spent years making $2 and $5 donations, so my mailbox is stuffed with beggary envelopes almost every day.
 
On a local level call up your local food bank/homeless shelter and let them know you'd like to help out- I PROMISE you they'll jump at the chnace and usually these are the folks that with $500 in additional income that week simply buy $500 more food and feed XXX more people.

Alternatively our best friend O covers the overhead on charities that she supports, claiming that 100% of contributions then go to actually helping versus overhead. No personal experience there.
 
Give back to those who bought Acai berries or whatever rebill offers thru your affiliate link...:smilie_weihn_winki:
 
Wow, that's kinda fucked.
We've got laws here about that kind of thing, and charities aren't on the exemption list.

You could always call and ask how one gives an anonymous donation because you're sick and tired of having them pass on your info to other charities that you don't care to support.

I've often found that food banks will actually accept mass food deliveries if you arrange it with them, and you know that none of your donation gets pissed away on admin costs., and a shipping container of tinned food doesn't cost much at wholesale rates.

And, slightly off topic, after the Christmas period is over, seriously consider donating a little to animal shelters. A lot of idiotic parents get puppies for their kids and do little to no research on care or responsibility issues. The number of abandoned puppies skyrockets in Jan.
 
local charities. I give my time and money to a highschool band program. I can donate to them, and I have the knowledge to teach the subject, so they keep me on as staff, and I write the music for them at times.
 
If I were you I'd donate my time. I feel as if working one on one with people in need is more valuable than just writing a check. Anybody can write a check, but actually communicating and helping people is priceless. After working with an organization, you can determine if you like what's going on and show up to volunteer with a phat check.
 
Check out Charity Navigator - America's Largest Charity Evaluator | Home - You can see what % of charity expenses go to the cause, and what % goes to administrative/marketing costs. If you ever get phone calls from charity groups, and want to donate, just hang up on the phone marketer, and donate directly - If the charity is using an outside firm for telemarketing, they'll take a good chunk in fees.
 
I always donate locally, I like seeing what my money does directly. I donate to a church around Thanksgiving and Christmas and then I go back and see what they bought with my money. It's very rewarding and like someone else said, if you want to go the extra mile you could help distribute it.
 
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