This post started off as a simple short little post but the deeper I got into it the more I realized how complicated giving to charities can be. I have two basic requirements for our gift.
I want the money to go to the cause, not ridiculous salaries. Here is looking at you goodwill.
The organization needs to be doing effective work, (impact). No sense giving money to a company that is peeing in the wind.
Part 2 is a little harder. www.Globalgiving.org vets organizations to see if they are actually doing what they saying they are doing. https://www.impactm.org/
These reports are pulled into charitynavigator. They are a very small team
www.Classy.org
some good educational info on how to give to charities.
Lots of these websites are pulling info from the same sources so I’m not entirely sure how useful they are.
Then there is the usual google searches, news, trade magazines etc.
Honestly, this whole process isn’t all that different from investing.
Here is my current charity I’m interested in.
Trees for the Future. https://trees.org/ tree planting and conservation to help break the cycle of poverty. This one is near and dear to my heart. I grew up in an area that did slash and burn. The people have slashed and burned themselves out of having useable farm land.
Most of our giving these days goes to local organizations: public library, food pantry, museums, land trusts, all of which focus on our immediate area. We donate via a DAF which simplifies the giving.
Most of our giving these days goes to local organizations: public library, food pantry, museums, land trusts, all of which focus on our immediate area.
That’s what we do also. We keep “most” of our donations “local” like fire departments, libraries, churches, and also … individuals (families) that really need the help. We usually find these out from the churches.
Might I suggest the book “One Minute Millionaire.” It stresses GIVING as a way increase your income which can also increase your giving Little known fact: Usually the richest of people like the Gates, Buffetts, etc. give, give, and give.
Last year, Fools raised an amazing $150k for hurricane relief in Puerto Rico with All Hands and Hearts Smart Response. And and this year, for the first time ever, the 2018 Foolanthropy campaign is returning to this same organization, but not to Puerto Rico. Instead, we’re going to Mexico! But more on that in a second…Foolanthropy 2018 announced they were going to bat again for All Hands & Hearts Smart Response. But while rebuilding homes after a natural disaster is a big part of what they do, All Hands & Hearts also has a focus on education and schools, and that’s where Foolanthropy is taking us this year, the Celso Muñoz Primary School in Oaxaca State, Mexico.
One particular school hit by earthquake is the focus. The school, hit in Sept 2017 has not been able to finish projects to get the school safe and ready for children to return.
From the years I’ve been around Foolanthropy has focused on education. We’re hoping for $80K.
Fistula Foundation! A no-nonsense, highly rated charity who’s sole purpose is to provide a simple medical procedure for women that changes their lives for the better after they’ve suffered from a fistula post-pregnancy. Great folks doing great work, and the Motley Fool’s Bill Mann is on the Board.
As a person who is getting really old, I’m not afraid of being dead, but I’m afraid of the possible process of dying horribly, and in great pain. As a physician I saw too much of that. Therefore, the charity I donate most to is Compassion and Choices: https://compassionandchoices.org
They campaign and lobby for older men and women to have more end-of-life choices. In other words, if you are dying slowly and painfully, from a metastatic cancer (for instance), to have the option of having a medication from your doctor so that if the pain becomes more than you can bear, you can take the medication at home, in peace, surrounded by your loved ones, and just go to sleep. Seven states and the District of Columbia have so far set up laws for this starting with Oregon, ten or twenty years ago, and now including Washington State and the District of Columbia, California (our largest state), Montana, Colorado, Hawaii and Vermont, and many other states are still in the process of approving it. There are usually all kinds of safeguards (the person has to request it himself or herself, two physicians, one of whom is the person’s primary doctor, have to confirm that the person has a terminal illness, etc).
People who object seem to worry about the imagined danger of someone being given the medication against their will, but in all the years that Oregon, for instance, has had it available, there has never even been a single CLAIM of abuse. And most of the people who ask for and receive the medication to keep at home never actually take it, but just feel it to be wonderfully comforting to know that they have an option if things get too bad for them. It would sure be comforting for me. It seems incredibly cruel to me to deny a dying person, in great pain, that right and for society to decide that: No, he or she has to suffer. And that is why that is my largest charity.
I don’t usually comment here, but I have learned a lot from the board and appreciate all the knowledge shared.
One charity I believe in, however, is The Diabetic Youth Foundation. They run a summer camp where children with diabetes can learn to live a completely normal life and still take care of themselves well. I have personally seen many children, many who have no other options for learning about the complexity of diabtic care because of financial restriction, positively affected by this program.
DYF.org, and you can specify that your donation is for camperships.
Sorry to be so late to this conversation. We have been…pretty busy.
My wife and I went through the same process that you’re talking about. We wanted our charity dollars to create as much good for the most people as possible. What we figured out very quickly was that the organizations that have the most impact are ones that address easy-to-solve health issues that exist in deeply impoverished areas.
This led me ultimately to the Fistula Foundation, and I became so impressed with their work that I joined the board. But there are several others that fit the bill.
One book I can’t recommend highly enough is The Life You Can Save by Peter Singer. The Life You Can Save also suggests several worthy charities (full disclosure: the Fistula Foundation is one if them) through its website.
One challenge for charitable giving is that the charities don’t have to be any good at their goals to attract lots of money, and comparing outcomes is really hard. If you haven’t heard of the Quality Adjusted Life Year measurement, I highly recommend checking out the topic.
Little known fact: Usually the richest of people like the Gates, Buffetts, etc. give, give, and give.