Charity Minded Mustachians: Where do you donate and why?

[ysette9]

Just donated some money to Wikipedia. Looking at my donation track record, we clearly value education in various forms: Wikipedia, our local public radio station, our alma maters.

[jprince7827]

I donate 120/mo to GiveDirectly. They show up at a random Ugandan's house who is very poor, and just give them 1000-1100$(one year's salary for them) on the spot with no strings attached. They're a stats-driven org and you can easily see how such a gift dramatically changes the lives of the recipients. At 120$/mo, and knowing that 93% of each dollar goes to those in need, I change roughly one life per annum.

I figure I'll do this small favor for the world - over my lifetime, I'll help lift an entire village out of poverty.

[ClassyCat]

I've been active at the local SPCA lately. We're in the middle of kitten season right now so I've given them a lot of formula and canned kitten food. There's been loads of successful adoptions, so thankfully we have more room to help more kitties.

If you're an anti-gift person and someone insists on getting you a gift, ask them for something charity-related. For my birthday I did this with supplies for the shelter and it worked out really well.

[gt7152b]

1. Samaritan's Purse -- Seems to be a great organization for relief in developing countries and has one of the lowest administrative costs as a percentage of donations.

2. Conservation Fund -- I love the outdoors and want to take better care of it.

3. IMBA -- Mountain Biking is my favorite hobby

4. Local church -- They do alot for the community

[zephyr911]

I give to these monthly.

Because nature kicks ass and we have exactly one (1) of it:
World Wildlife Fund
Sierra Club
League of Conservation Voters

Because knowledge is awesome:
Wikipedia

Because I have a thing about fair play:
ACLU

Because slavery pisses me off:
International Justice Mission (they track down and use both legal and tactical means to extract human trafficking victims)
Love146 (rehabilitation, job placement etc. for the above victims)

I also do microcredit through LendWithCare and Sunfunder.

[zsmith]

So many good hearts and open hands here.  I wish there was a way to go beyond the 'help the victim' phase and dive into the 'eradicate the core cause of the problem' phase. Sadly, one can only keep a finger in the hole in the dam and watch the water flood over the top.

You make an excellent point here. It's so important to do your research and understand the efficacy of the organizations you choose to support. I'm a big fan of microfinance and organizations that address systemic problems with sustainable solutions. I recommend this book for a good review of sustainability in development http://www.amazon.com/Had-Water-Buffalo-Microfinance-Sustainable/dp/1614485283, as well as Peter Singer's The Life you Can Save and Nick Kristoff's book Half the Sky.

[Basenji]

I'm digging this thread for the new ideas I'm getting. Love the microfinance idea.

[tonysemail]

i volunteer at 2 charities.

1. good karma bikes
I enjoy learning about fixing bicycles as an apprentice mechanic.
I also really like how this charity provides work training and housing for young adults who graduated out of foster care.

2. we teach science
They help disadvantaged students keep up in math by providing 1-1 tutoring sessions once a week.
DW recruited me to this charity and she enjoys the convenience of helping students from her office.
I was drawn to how they conduct randomized trials to measure how effective the mentoring is.

[Bob W]

I donate time being on our local library board, we will be fundraising to match the local city's funds for building a new library shortly. I'm sure we will contribute to the building as well.

I go on 1-2 surgical mission trips a year, mostly with a rotary team out of Seattle. The yearly Guatemala trip is great, we do a lot of club foot repair on little kids, and many other surgeries that otherwise wouldn't get done. I have also spent a couple weeks doing anesthesia in Nepal, Rwanda, and Haiti. The trips are very much a selfish thing, it really gives me a huge boost to provide anesthesia to these kids.

I met a medical student in Haiti while I was down there, we happened to be there during the earthquake. He wasn't able to pay the university after the earthquake, so I started supporting him. He is now a medical doctor in Haiti working in OB, and we went to his wedding last summer.

We do some other giving (too much) that I just don't think does much good. I would like to discontinue some of our giving, but the pressure is pretty high when the kids want to raise money for various things or someone you know is asking, even if you don't think the need is all that valid.

We are definitely delaying FIRE by these things. But we are also definitely delaying FIRE by our lifestyle as well. We all make choices and charity is one area I don't think facepunches are deserved one way or another. Those that live efficiently and give little or non don't hurt me or offend me. To each his own. But I do think they are missing out. Finding a true need, not some made up "need" but something truly life changing, and meeting that need, gives a very satisfying feeling that I would wish for everyone else to have at some point. Missing out on that might be a little like missing out on love. You can get through life without love, and you might not even know what you are missing, but I wouldn't wish a life without love on anyone.

You're living the dream!

[Loretta]

I support PBS.  As I was growing up it allowed me, in a very rural setting, to learn a lot about the world and also served as my informal preschool.  Still love it.  Masterpiece Theatre, Sesame Street, high school quiz shows, I could go on and on…

I give a yearly gift to an organization that gives bikes to foster kids.  I have less of a personal connection to this one and I sometimes wonder what becomes of the bikes when the kids move along to new places or back with relatives. 

[Dicey]

We are definitely delaying FIRE by these things. But we are also definitely delaying FIRE by our lifestyle as well. We all make choices and charity is one area I don't think facepunches are deserved one way or another. Those that live efficiently and give little or non don't hurt me or offend me. To each his own. But I do think they are missing out. Finding a true need, not some made up "need" but something truly life changing, and meeting that need, gives a very satisfying feeling that I would wish for everyone else to have at some point. Missing out on that might be a little like missing out on love. You can get through life without love, and you might not even know what you are missing, but I wouldn't wish a life without love on anyone.

IDK how I missed this post, James, but Bravo! Very well said. (From one library board member to another.)

[Playing with Fire UK]

I have a follow up question about how people decide on how much money to give away?

I'm not looking to judge and am more interested in the decision making process than the % or $ values. I have seen people say 10% of net/gross as this is a traditional church thing, what else?

At my first 'real' job I started with £10 (~$15) from my first paycheck and increased with half of every payrise until I was maxing out the company match (which I think was £200 from a £1800 paycheck) and I felt good about that. It also meant that the tax I saved went to the charity too.

Then I moved jobs and they didn't have a regular payroll giving scheme so I just gave when I saw a useful charity or a news report. This was less structured, but probably a similar amount (although I had a bigger paycheck so a lower percentage).

Then I had a financial emergency/cashflow crunch so stopped giving money and gave time/blood etc instead. Now I'm back on the level and thinking more about my financial future I want to start giving money again but don't know how much is right (as in appropriate for me, not as in a moral absolute).

Any thoughts from you folks?

[birdman2003]

Iowa Public Television (IPTV) - because of their high quality programs

Local church - they pass my money on to people in our church, our city, North America and around the world who have needs.  I also donate time here (setting up for meetings and running sound equipment).

Habitat for Humanity - donate time and money through United Way because even "poor" people deserve to have affordable housing (plus the new homeowners contribute their time and money to pay back the interest free loan, and then are required to help build homes for the next group).  Plus it's good to work alongside coworkers outside of work.

Summer camp - money and also volunteer 1 week a year to work with kids from all sorts of backgrounds, because most kids don't have great parents.  And because I am basically a kid.

Pregnancy Center - money to help them counsel pregnant mothers on their options to deliver the child.  They also support the mother for several months if she decides not to go the adoption route and keep the baby herself.

Homeless Shelter - they have been operating in my city since early 1900's.  Nobody is turned away.  Free meals 3x a day.  Eat meals and talk with the people who are there.  I also buy supplies and then enlist the kids at my local church on a mini assembly line to build toiletry kits (quart sized ziplock bag with a washcloth, toothbrush, travel toothpaste, travel deodorant, razor, shaving cream, mouthwash, soap, and travel shampoo).  Each man receives one of these when they enter the shelter.  We do a batch of toiletry kits a few times each year.

Buy sandwiches for people I meet on the street who need food

[freezerburn]

Money: I donate to a couple of arts-related non-profits via monthly debits. One focuses on visual arts education, and one is a non-profit radio station. They're relatively small amounts, but I know it helps them to have money coming in on a regular basis. They "why" is because I believe both create things that are educational, and that I relied on as resources in the past.

Time: I volunteer at a no-kill animal shelter. Sadly, I will have to stop since I moved too far away to commit to regular hours. I will probably switch to making a monetary donation instead, or start volunteering at a shelter nearer to my new location. I chose that particular shelter because I know people who have adopted animals there and know that they work hard to get the best outcomes for all the animals. Plus I love dogs but can't have one right now, so I get some dog-time that way while helping dogs cope with the stress of shelter life in the process.

Once I've paid off a few more debts in the next year I plan to start making monthly donations to my undergrad college. In the distant future I hope to have enough stashed away that I can set up a scholarship fund there, maybe as a bequest. I received a scholarship there that made a big difference to me (financially, but also in terms of my confidence as a student) and I want to pay that forward.

[gaja]

I like the idea of Kiva because I can direct where it goes and theoretically, it will come back and I can lend it out again.

That has been one of the coolest parts for us!

Kiva is currently offering $25 free for new users to make a 'risk free' trial loan in case anyone is interested in trying it!

I just withdrew my money from KIVA, because I wasn't able to find a loan to give where the recipient didn't have to pay horribly high interest. Many of the loans had interest rates of over 30%.

Thanks to Zephyr for the tips about SunFunder and lendwithCare. I will look into those options. Especially SunFunder looked really cool, supporting people and renewable energy at the same time.

[Roots&Wings]

I just withdrew my money from KIVA, because I wasn't able to find a loan to give where the recipient didn't have to pay horribly high interest. Many of the loans had interest rates of over 30%.

Thanks to Zephyr for the tips about SunFunder and lendwithCare. I will look into those options. Especially SunFunder looked really cool, supporting people and renewable energy at the same time.

In Kiva advanced search filters, you can filter for the average interest cost to borrow (many are 0%).

And thanks Zephyr, I'm also interested in other microlending options, though SunFunder seems to only be available to accredited investors with $1M net worth excluding primary residence :)

[Digital Dogma]

Adopted a cat yesterday and will be donating to my local animal shelter this year, next year Ill likely donate to the animal shelter in the next town over (one cat at a time though...).

[desertadapted]

I’m resurrecting this really helpful thread (or trying to) because my family has been implementing a resolution to do a better job giving to charity.  We do not itemize, and the recent changes to the tax code had a real impact on our giving.  We’ve reflected on this, and are done making excuses for weaker-than-usual charitable giving.  While we have a number of individual charities we support, I want to make sure that we’re also choosing the best (most effective) charities.  The MMM blog turned me on to Givewell.  I’ve also used Charity Navigator to try to cut out weaker charities.

Do you recommend any other robust charity evaluators?  Are there other charities that stand out for efficiency and effectiveness?  I'm shooting for a feeling of "smug self-satisfaction for abundant and smart charitable giving" for 2020.   Thanks in advance for helping out with that. 

[Dicey]

Lol, @desertadapted, I consider myself a robust charity navigator as well. A good portion of our charitable giving is to groups/causes we are directly involved with. We contribute time and money and find both rewarding. IMO, the best part of achieving FIRE is having more money available for charitable giving. You might also read up on using Donor Advised Funds to make your giving tax deductible.