Have you changed your charitable deductions?

[CommonCents]

Have you found your charitable donations changing as you adopt a mustachian approach?  Did you downsize everywhere include charitable deducations, as it's an easy way to save money?  Or did you increase your donations as your income frees up?

We've always been relatively careful and spend well under our income, but I've recently been trying to prune it further and came across this site in the process.  (We have a good income so staying within it is never hard.)  At the same time, I've recently been working hard on a project, an auction fundraiser for the non-profit where I'm President.  Although I'm trying to reduce my eating out budget (ah, lunches, and persuading DH to reign in beers/dinners out or explain that no, fast food isn't cheaper) in particular, I have no intention of cutting back on my charitable donations.   In part, it's because as President I'm expected to make a reasonably sized donation.  In part, it's because I avoid spending friviously to let me spend where I want to spend.

What I *did* do differently, though, was to decide that this year, I would deliberately seek out items for the auction that I would normally buy as presents for family members, or use in my daily life.  (In the past I've not taken the lead on the auction,  but I'm trying to step it up this year by 25%.)  I'm still brainstorming ideas for popular items, but I'm also targeting certains areas.  For example - DH enjoys coffee.  I've got a coffee company to donate some bags of coffee.  (true win win, this means he's not buying it from Dunkin' Donuts).  I've sought out crafting companies for my mom/sister, I'm looking for golf fee donations to bid on for my DH/brother-in-law, etc.  So now I can support the auction twice - first by procuring items, and second by bidding on those items, without really any increase in my charitable donations budget.  As long as I stay within budget, that is!

When I'm FI I anticipate being able to devote more time to charity as well.

[sherr]

My wife and I have not changed how much were were giving to charity. It's hard, because I realize on the one hand that we could be FI a lot faster if that ~10% of our salary was allowed to grow instead of being given away. But it all comes down to a matter or priorities.

I think it's also perfectly reasonable to acknowledge that once you retire your time is a lot more free and you may end up spending more time volunteering. Or giving closer to 100% of any additional salary that you receive at that point away, since you don't need it. Or you may not. It just depends on how important it is to you I suppose.

[Luck better Skill]

  When charity comes from within you it gives back much in personal self worth, achievement, happiness.  It is impossible to put a value or monetary price on that. 
  Personally the better my cash flow the easier it is for me to give.  One of the appeals of FIRE to me is having more time/resources to help others.

[Nords]

Have you found your charitable donations changing as you adopt a mustachian approach?  Did you downsize everywhere include charitable deducations, as it's an easy way to save money?  Or did you increase your donations as your income frees up?
When I'm FI I anticipate being able to devote more time to charity as well.

We planned for charitable contributions in ER, but once we ER'd we had a lot more time to research a better plan.

We've read a bunch of books & websites and refined our philanthropy, but our biggest improvement has been charitable gift funds.  We can put our money into our Fidelity CGF anytime we want (for the tax deduction) and then we can make the actual grants from the CGF anytime (for the donation to the charity).  This decouples our contributions from our donations and avoids interference between our tax planning and the charity's fundraising.

So now we can make two or three years' worth of contributions to our CGF at one time, which bunches our tax deductions together.  Then we can coordinate our donation to the charity's fundraising schedule:  matching grants, campaigns, challenge grants, or whatever else they're doing.  It's the same donation that we'd be making anyway, and usually during the same calendar year that we'd be making it even without the CGF, but now we can help the charity leverage our donation.

The real bonus to this planning is that we can choose to have the CGF keep our grants anonymous.  We're no longer on every mailing list and phone campaign in town, and we can donate in peace.

We donate all the book royalties & blog income from "The Military Guide" to military charities, and I use the same system.  Instead of having to send a check in my name, I send it through our CGF and designate in honor of those who contributed to the project.  We can add new charities or change out the recipients at any time.  The charities have the website URL and my blog's e-mail address, so their fundraising efforts can go through there instead in my personal e-mail/residence address.

Personally, I prefer to donate my money instead of my time.  My free time (and my flexibility) is more valuable than the money.  I'd much rather donate side-hustle income (from laboring on my own schedule) than to volunteer my labor.  If I was volunteering at a charity every Tuesday morning then after a while that would start to feel like a real job...

[Guses]

Charitable donations have been somewhat of a hot button for me. I feel that they are another way to extract resources from citizens and funnel them to the upper layers. Very little actually goes to people in need and when it does, it only treats the symptoms, not the problem. Like putting a band-aid on a gaping chest wound.

I also feel that there is much "peer" pressure to donate and I don't feel comfortable with that.

That being said, I have been known to donate time and ressources on a case by case basis. Also, I already donate 38% of my gross salary and approximately 20% of my net to various level of government. I feel that this is plenty and don't plan to increase my contributions.   

[arebelspy]

Poll added.

We've actually upped our charitable contributions over the last several years, and this year is already close to our peak only 3/4 of the way in, and should easily surpass previous highs.

We've found that as we feel more wealthy, we want to give more back, and as we feel more blessed*, we want to help others who are not as blessed.

I'm sure it depends on the person though.

*not in a religious sense

Charitable donations have been somewhat of a hot button for me. I feel that they are another way to extract resources from citizens and funnel them to the upper layers. Very little actually goes to people in need and when it does, it only treats the symptoms, not the problem. Like putting a band-aid on a gaping chest wound.

That just means you're doing it wrong.  Don't donate to those charities.  Or any mainstream charities at all, if that's not what floats your boat.  Find causes you support.  I, for example, am a proud supporter of the EFF and ACLU, despite the fact that they may not use my money 100% optimally - I support their causes and appreciate the work they do.

[Lans Holman]

Personally, I prefer to donate my money instead of my time.  My free time (and my flexibility) is more valuable than the money.  I'd much rather donate side-hustle income (from laboring on my own schedule) than to volunteer my labor.  If I was volunteering at a charity every Tuesday morning then after a while that would start to feel like a real job...

I generally agree with this unless the volunteering involves some very specific skill that you have.  I have no interest in sitting on committees that think up ways to raise money.  I have, on the other hand, done some volunteer literacy tutoring because I was able to use specific training that I have to offer something of value. 

I don't feel like I have dramatically changed my level of charitable giving since getting interested in Mustachianism, but I have started to question the assumptions behind some of my giving.  My wife and I have both always kicked a few bucks a year back to our respective colleges and a few other sentimental causes, and I'm thinking about making the switch to organizations that would be a little more impactful in a utilitarian sense.  Vaccines or micronutrients in the developing world, that sort of thing.  I'd be curious to hear more about what charities people here feel deliver the best "bang for the buck".

[Nords]

Charitable donations have been somewhat of a hot button for me. I feel that they are another way to extract resources from citizens and funnel them to the upper layers. Very little actually goes to people in need and when it does, it only treats the symptoms, not the problem. Like putting a band-aid on a gaping chest wound.

The upper layers of what?

We donate to a local food bank, a local homeless shelter, and AccesSurf.org.  They seem to be responsible stewards.

With which charities have you volunteered or donated?

[CommonCents]

I generally agree with this unless the volunteering involves some very specific skill that you have.  I have no interest in sitting on committees that think up ways to raise money.

Oddly, despite saying that I am working on fundraising - it's actually not really my preference.  I'm trying to lead by example, however, and work with the Executive Director and Development Officer to improve our fundraising as an organization.  Luckily I have managed to avoid brainstorming that I should cold call people, which I would truly hate.  :)

Lans, I don't know that that these necessarily give the best "bang for buck" - I give and donate time because they align with my priorities, interests and/or skills.  I've given money to my college, women & children related (e.g. women's shelters, planned parenthood, children's hospitals), libraries, hunger, and the charity mentioned earlier.  I've done legal work helping with family law clinics, 3 people obtain asylum, and helped young women obtain judicial bypass for termination of pregnancy in a state which I felt was unduly burdensome.  Those probably fall under your idea of specific training.  I like to think I have special skills, which is why I was encouraged to serve on the board and later the Presidency, but it probably is just that I was the only one foolish enough to accept!  My husband prioritizes research and cancer (he's a "recovering scientist" and there's a family history of cancer) on the very very rare times he gives.  I used to give to my law school, but like you, have decided not to do so going forward.  If I were to go to a strictly utilitarian perspective, I would probably give globally to vaccines and clean water.

[FiveSigmas]

I don't feel like I have dramatically changed my level of charitable giving since getting interested in Mustachianism, but I have started to question the assumptions behind some of my giving.  My wife and I have both always kicked a few bucks a year back to our respective colleges and a few other sentimental causes, and I'm thinking about making the switch to organizations that would be a little more impactful in a utilitarian sense.  Vaccines or micronutrients in the developing world, that sort of thing.  I'd be curious to hear more about what charities people here feel deliver the best "bang for the buck".

Lans, based on the examples you gave, I'd strongly consider taking a look at http://www.givewell.org/. It has very in-depth reviews of many international charities (primarily in the field of global health) and has a (very) short list of its "recommended" charities. It tries to find charities that: a) have demonstrated exceptional work and b) can make effective use of additional funding. It also places a very high premium on transparency, which I think is critical for finding good charities to give to (and helps allay some fears like the ones Guses expressed).

Another good website is http://www.charitynavigator.org/. I find it useful for doing basic research into a charity I'm considering giving to. Its analysis is less detailed, and it doesn't have as strong a philosophical view, but it covers a broader spectrum of charities and has great high-level data on a variety of performance and transparency metrics.

[mm31]

I've stopped giving money to charities, I give time instead when I can. I somewhat agree w/ Guses, it feels like there are tens of charities attacking the same parts of a problem, but in an uncoordinated way. Feels like waste.

[Guses]

We donate to a local food bank, a local homeless shelter, and AccesSurf.org.  They seem to be responsible stewards.

With which charities have you volunteered or donated?

These appear to be good choices depending on what you value. I can't comment on whether they are responsible stewards as I have not read their annual reports.

Aside from the amount I donate to the Government for them to develop and maintain programs for education, healthcare, elderly care, homeless people, the environment..etc, I tend to gravitate towards charities that help animals moreso than humans for some reason.

[travelbug]

We have not changed the amount we give but we have changed the charities we give to. We now support smaller, more grassroots approach places that may not get lots of corporate funding. After lots of research I feel our money goes a lot further to help and is still in line with who we want to support.

[Khan]

I think my charitable contributions, or at least "activist dollars" has increased in the last 2 years compared to before. It's not much, I don't do it for tax reasons, but I put money where I'd like to see it used, whether with the ACLU or wikipedia or wherever else.