Donating to Charities

[Shortbus]

With all the recent stories of bullying and kids committing suicide as a result, it got me thinking and i now want to help aid individuals who have been bullied in 1 way or another.

After coming across: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/10/12/bullying-prevention-funding.html, i decided i would start to donate to a charity with bullying as its focus. I came across http://bullyingcanada.ca/ and chose this as the charity i will start to donate to, i figure this is a step in the right direction.

I was wondering, does anyone here donate to any charities?
How do you guys feel about donating to charities in general, do you feel it helps or is it a lost cause/money sink to you?

 

[Gatherix]

I think donating to charities is great, but the problem is that too often (in my opinion) people donate to charities for the personal satisfaction. Not consciously or deliberately of course, but when you do something like donate to a charity you make yourself feel good, and oftentimes that's the underlying motivator, especially since it's so easy to donate; for many non-profits, you never actually view or experience the support that's being done, and additionally you typically donate with a credit/debit card or a check, both of which lose some figurative value because they don't feel like cash. It's the same strategy that casinos use with chips. Though you can't blame them, as time is valuable, and handing out funds is easier than volunteering.

Regardless, it still helps out, and I'm sure people this isn't people's intent. And by no means am I accusing you of this, just voicing my opinion. Glad to see you showing your support - you may also be interested in the Suicide Prevention Hotline.

http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

 

[Narf!]

I agree with Gatherix to a certain degree. A lot of people *do* donate to charities only for personal satisfaction, but at least it gets them donating

The other problem with donating money is not all the money goes to the people who actually need it. Take United Way for example, I think only 5-10 cents of every dollar that gets donated actually go to people in need -- the remaining stuff covers the salaries of people who work for UW, or the rent of their offices. The only charity I know that allows for 100% of donation to go to families/kids is Canadian Tire's Jump Start charity. CT covers for all the admin costs.

As for me, I used to volunteer every weekend at the humane society in PEI (when I used to live/work there). Even having returned back to TO, I still keep in touch with the people there, I'll occasionally donate some money to them and they have a "wish list" of items on their site that they need (most of it like "wet dog food", etc. -- they get the dry food donated by Royal Canin -- or toys, blankets, etc.) and if it's something I can order online and have shipped to them (such as Kuranda dog beds http://kuranda.com/donate), then I will do that as well :)

http://www.peihumanesociety.com/
http://www.peihumanesociety.com/donate/wish-list/

 

[Glocky]

Donate your time, then you're 100% sure that your efforts went where you would like them to.
Be a good listener is another donation of time and energy, and could potentially save someone from needing a charity (suicide prevention for example).

In the end, some money is better than no money, so regardless of the motivating factor, I am sure each charity is happy to get what they get. I just concern myself with doing what I can and don't make a big deal about it.

 

[Mulletzorz]

I work at/donate $1.00 per/hr X 40 hrs = $40.00 bux a week for the new HUMBER RIVER REGIONAL HOSPITAL http://www.hrrh.ca/october2012photos , through the 506 LIUNA Local. Here are some pics, Vertigo eat your heart out :p

 

[Rams]

Recently donated to child abuse charity, don't mind donating to this one. But i need a job first. - so many charities and so little money. I wonder at times does the money even go to the charity.

 

[47]

ive donated $500 to juvenile diabetes association, like, a decade ago. but i did it to impress the judge, so no karma

 

[$alvador]

I've donated a few times to Wikipedia and plan to do so quite a few more times. To me, there has never been a higher priority than promoting the availability of free, unbiased, factual information to as many people in the world as possible and Wikipedia is the best thing going so far towards that end.

 

[Mulletzorz]

...there has never been a higher priority than promoting the availability of free, unbiased, factual information to as many people in the world as possible...

couldn't agree more Sal, I'd be lost without finding out tones of shit about bands and games + hotties bio's

 

[CaptinHG]

I donate to "Because Im a girl".. the world would be lest fuked up if girls could get an education everywhere in the world... I also donate to our local hospitals and to cancer charities..

 

[SynergyTM]

It has been proven that most charitys , ie: the big ones ...only 1% of the donations goes where it should

 

[SynergyTM]

so be picky when pulling out the wallet

 

[TurboTaco]

It has been proven that most charitys , ie: the big ones ...only 1% of the donations goes where it should

Proof please lol.

Its been proven 99% of people using percentages as facts to support their statements r false.

I volunteer my time for canadian blood services. Im also a regular blood donor too. Feel like a boss when i can fill 550 mL of blood in under 5 minutes. Super circulatory system ftw!

 

[Cock]

It has been proven that most charitys , ie: the big ones ...only 1% of the donations goes where it should

I would like to second Taco's request for proof.
I have heard of charities squandering money or CEO's getting millions a year but when I go and look up statistics from bbb.org it's a very different story.

Fact check or require evidence. Too much bullshit is spread these days.

 

[Brains]

I'm gonna start giving blood pretty soon, and I give a few bucks to hospitals round Christmas time.

 

[Brades]

I'm gonna start giving blood pretty soon, and I give a few bucks to hospitals round Christmas time.

 

[LillTuppen]

I've never donated once in my life - thought about it plenty of times, but there's so much organisations that "wants" them. I always feel clueless which to trust and which to not, as some stated above some charities arent that trustworthy. Now, I dont really care which or whom I give my money to, as long as they give it to the people in need.

I remember in Sweden there was a case (I believe Red Cross or BRIS, anyho!) the CEO stole money of their account from Donated money for several years, believe it was about 1 milion US dollars or more. His explanation was "I need those money so my family can afford our lifestyle". Needless to say that organisation (whatever it was) lost a lot of it's "customers".

I would rather give my time and effort to someone rather than money, since money is an easy for people to ease their consienceses away. Giving your time to someone is invaluable and often then not gives more, I would say.

It all boils down to whatever floats your boat I guess =)

 

[OG buckshot jr]

I do not donate to any charities because I feel the money is often misused and people profit. If I'm not mistaken, to be registered as a charity in Ontario, you only need to spend 7% of earnings (donations), meaning, a LOT of money is being made and funneled ___ where?

Just this week, I've read about two charities being shut down because of improper book-keeping, aka (my speculation here) money funneling..... too much bullshit for me.

I do make non-monetary charitable contributions every year. For example, helping at my mom's hospital (she's a nurse, nearby). We dress as clowns for terminally ill kids, yadda yadda.. it's fun, and they seem to love it. As for money, they can suck it, I pay taxes, and I hate seeing fat, rich white people, waiving their gold-clad hands in the air, telling me the black kids are hungry... fuck that jazz.

 

[Fumble]

Charities are nice but beware and research the organization you are donating to before you donate. A lot of them are corrupt or have hidden objectives that you may not agree with. Charities that are flavour or the month are especially dangerous such as that KONY 2012 garbage.

Also don't donate to salvation army. They have very anti-gay rights agenda and openly discriminate against gays. There are plenty of alternatives like goodwill and such. There are legitimately good charities out there but they are getting rarer.

 

[thomastronics]

I donate money to TD. Now theres a charity worth giving money to

I used to give blood. I also run a gift basket donation in our office near xmas and we bring it to the downtown mission for families in need.
That about all I really do money wise. I prefer giving time than money.