A Season for Charity

[DCKatie09]

Yeah, post-election we added EarthJustice and GLSEN to our current lineup of local charities.

[Bracken_Joy]

Decided with DH that if I get this job, we'll up our charitable giving substantially from my paycheck. Next goal will be 10% of our non-mortgage spending. I know that's still low, but it'll be a huge jump for us, and I need baby steps otherwise I slam into the deprivation mindset.

[MrsTuxedocat]

Seriously, all you guys rock! I have been feeling sheepish about not donating enough to charity. You all have inspired me to donate today and I just donated $50 to a cat shelter.  I will slowly continue to donate more and more. It is so important.

Thank you :)

[jodelino]

Post-election, added monthly recurring donations to:

ACLU ($10)
Southern Poverty Law Center ($20)
Planned Parenthood ($10)

Joined and donated $100 to Somos Un Pueblo Unido, an immigrants's rights organization. 
http://www.somosunpueblounido.org

Donated $500 to the Santa Fe Dreamers Project, a terrific small organization providing legal advice to young Dreamers, who may now be threatened with deportation.
http://www.santafedreamersproject.org

[overwhelmed]

Found this on #givingtuesday

Helped finish 3 DonorsChoose projects for high poverty schools today
Gave to 3 loans on Kiva

Have not been consistently donating and really would like to make that a normal part of my budget.

[Tick-Tock]

Today is Colorado Gives Day.  So far the donation website records nearly 129,000 donations totaling more than $28 million, with three hours yet to go.  Way to go Colorado!

[Guava]

I finally set up two recurring donations:  one to a food bank and one to Donorschoose.org. It isn't a whole lot but it is a start. Plus this got me talking about charity with my brother and I found out he regularly donates $1,000 a month minimum! It definitely made me want to donate more. Thanks for starting this thread!

[HAPPYINAZ]

just an fyi, for those donating to ACLU....your donations are not tax deductible, unless you donate to the ACLU Foundation.  (there is some fine print on the main ACLU donation page that says those donations are not tax deductible, but if you donate instead to ACLU Foundation, the donation is tax deductible and help the organization)

https://action.aclu.org/secure/make-tax-deductible-gift-aclu-foundation-0?s_src=FNNC160001C00&ms=web_left_nav

[Mezzie]

I've set up monthly donations to:

ACLU
Planned Parenthood
Save the Children (El Salvador)
NAACP Legal Defense Fund
MALDEF
Sierra Club
ProPublica
Another environmental group whose name escapes me right now
Democracy Now!
Another women's health group (international)

I set up my Amazon smile account to give to a local charity, and every time I forget to purchase on Smile, I have to give 5% of the purchase price to that charity. I actually *just* did that, and 5% seems small for a penalty... I may up it to 10%.

I also just upped all my auto-savings from my paycheck to my 403(b). I'm not great at determining how that tax-deferred money will affect my take home pay, so I tried overestimating (I hope!). If I successfully did so, I'll be able to add Doctors Without Borders and The Southern Poverty Law Center to my monthly contributions. I'd also like to add the local youth shelter, the local women's shelter, and a refugee fund to my donations, but those may have to wait until my raise in October. I changed too much this month to be entirely sure what my net income is going to be.

I've made some rules for my pared down budget that all involve gifts to charity as "penalties." For example, I want to limit my eating out to twice/month. If I go a third time, then I have to donate the entire check amount to one of my charities or nonprofits. That should mess with my budget enough to discourage frivolous spending, but when I decide the splurge is worth it for me, then the splurge will benefit someone else as well. I think that will be a good reminder that I'm choosing to save in a world where many people don't have that choice, and even more than it is my responsibility to save for the future, it is my responsibility to help my neighbor.