How do you choose who to give to?

Hello. I have been supporting a charity called Smalls for All by posting them some undies every now and then. Full details of sizes needed etc on their website smallsforall.org/.

My friends and I for years, have donated the money we would spend on each other for Xmas presents to charity. We have supported many local charities and also a couple of national ones. this year however we have taken a different route and we are lending money to this charity
www.lendwithcare.org/ which helps people to stand on their own feet and when their business is up and running we get interest on the money we have lent them to reinvest or keep. The charity money always comes to at least £400 so is not a small amount. I also personally support the lifeboats, help the heroes and the air ambulance and our local Sue Ryder hospice. but the TV adverts do make you feel guilty! I switch them off now!

I donate to my local Cat Protection League, having acquired my present cat and three others from there. It is run entirely by volunteers locally.

The London Air Ambulance is another worthy cause and can only run on donations.

I have Macular Degeneration so I donate once a year to them but I do get fed up being asked almost monthly to donate again.

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our Rotary club had a visit from the amazing Amanda Giles who lost her limbs to meningitis a few years ago,she runs a charity that supplies prosthetic limbs both here and in war torn countries ,her talk was so inspiring that she has secured our charity funds this year.Alongside her though was a couple of local people who have built a school and houses for teachers in Malawi a country that has had a long relationship with Scotland.They pay ALL their own expenses ,flights hotels etc and all money raised goes to the project...they have had some of my diverted funds this years as has the other charity they are involved in which supplies PANTS (knickers ..I remember the discussion about what we call them) to young african girls and women .Tens of thousands of pairs are sent every week with factories donating pants that are substandard for selling but fine for wearing.A small thing but it apparently makes a huge difference to girls to have underwear ,in all sorts of ways not just hygiene..local schools are again taking part in the shoes appeal where they leave their shoes on their desks on the last day of term and Rotary has intention...not firm plans YET to supply a 4 wheel drive mini bus to Malawi to carry pregnant mothers the long trip to the nearest hospital to save them from walking up to a hundred miles in their condition.There are many small charities who make a big difference,I also support Mary;s Meals ..none of these bombard me with glossy brochures or phone calls so money is not wasted .

It’s difficult, isn’t it? So many very good causes, and our purses aren’t bottomless. Our usuals now are Centrepoint, for young homeless people, and three local charities, including the food bank and hospice, plus the RNIB and SENSE, and the British Legion each November. All our current regular donations go to UK charities, but that’s not a deliberate decision, and hasn’t always been the case. I cancelled a small standing order to Amnesty International recently after disagreeing with a couple of their high profile and expensive campaigns. They didn’t acknowledge the two emails I sent regarding these or the one advising that we were cancelling our standing order, which in a way made us regret the 30 years of support we’d given them.

I feel exactly the same allule I was going to stop DD to all but 2 but like you am reluctant as at the moment I can afford it. My conscience is troubling me but I think I should be more selective and also do some homework as to how the money is used.

Over the years I have signed up to various charities (eg guide dogs, red cross) for small monthly direct debit payments. I am now thinking that I must have contributed quite a lot to charities which, although worthy, are not causes closest to my heart.
I am thinking of ending these payments, and start again, choosing more carefully, but it seems a bit uncharitable to stop!

Friday, I have to agree with you. My dd has worked for Oxfam for many years, starting after the 2004 tsunami when she happen to be in the area, where she was volunteering for a small charity and supporting herself by teaching English.
She has in between worked for other charities for short periods, including the American Red Cross, and still thinks Oxfam is better than most in trying to ensure that people's hard-earned donations are not wasted.

Oxfam has warehouses full of essential supplies ready to be shipped immediately to areas of natural disaster, and my dd was on the ground within just a few days, coordinating relief after the devastating Haiti earthquake and the equally catastrophic Philippines typhoon, among others.

She was recently in South Sudan - not exactly a safe area for foreigners, so I was in a bit of a tizz until she was safely back - where there are many thousands in dire need of food, water and shelter.

Just saying, but it does irk me when people who have little or no idea of how the money is actually spent (I don't mean the comments on here) like to say it is mostly wasted.

I love to see everyone here is donating.
It doesn’t matter to whom we donate, just that we are doing it.
But reading about your recipients and why you chose them is great.
I donate to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund because they eduacate this generation and future generations aboutvtgat part of our past.
My husband was a proud USMC Veterans who lost his life to diseases caused by Agent Orange so that’s why I cause this cause.
I give all of my clothing, household items to a local Veterans Organization because I believe I supporting local charities as well.
My heart breaks when I think of those with so little, I am fortunate to be able to give back.

The reason I asked is because I know that's the amount they had going through their organisation this year. They do have some very small charities on their books, but as WIWYA says above it is possible to give to charities anonymously through them and save the hassle of being bombarded with begging letters.

Yes, CAF is an umbrella organisation. I mentioned it in a post on 14/12 at 17:26:06 as a way of giving anonymously to almost any charity you want (smaller local ones are probably not all on their list) but any money it has in its coffers belongs to those who have accounts and is available for them to give away when they want to.

Grannyactivist - no, is CAF an umbrella organisation?

I regularly support Mary's Meals and my DGD recently helped me to fill up a backpack for a little girl of her age. It contained a variety of 'basics' and school supplies as suggested in the appeal.
Around the world, over 1 m children are fed a basic meal in school every day.
I'm just about to donate the cost of a couple of Christmas dinners. A plate will be set at their 'virtual' Christmas table and this amount (about £25) will feed 2 children for a full school year.
My donation will then be doubled thus feeding another 2 pupils for the year.

Are you referring to Charities Aid Foundation Elrel?

I hope that wasn't aimed at me Friday, I do donate, but not to the big charities. I know plenty of people earning high wages, who haven't a clue. Local charities and hospices get my money. In fact, a local man who rescues cats is in dire straits, I'm hoping to take in a couple of his cats soon.

Are you allowed to tell us Elrel?
I need to sort my giving out for 2018.

Sometimes when I want to save the world and feel that I should be doing more, giving more etc. The Wonderful Man reminds me that through paying tax we do actually contribute to what the state provides as well. Not just income tax either, but also VAT. So everybody pays tax.

World, not 'works'.

There one big charity with £680 million in its coffers. I shall no longer respond to its impressive professional tv ads which can bring me to tears. It also has 'planning' meetings straight out of WIA which have prompted many resignations.
Another one provides free yoga classes to relax staff. Really?!
Knowing a few people who work for charities can help me decide who will best use my small donations. A close relative is out in the field in Africa doing their best for people in desperate straits. Someone must decide exactly how to use the money, it happens to be them.
Then there's a man who voluntarily organises support for a specific African village, providing what the people need, visiting regularly. Other people collect warm clothes for Calais and provide hot meals there.
Sometimes it's obvious someone on the street would get immediate benefit from your scarf or gloves, a hot drink or a sandwich.
KirbyGirl - in short, I don't know either. What a state our works is in, greed, waste, and ostentatious luxury on one hand, people without clean water, adequate food or medical attention on the other. I guess we just do our best.

Most pleas for donations drop into my inbox, though a fair few come in envelopes as well. Strength of mind is required. Zap the emails without reading and bin the envelopes. You will feel some pangs of fake guilt but they wear off. You cannot escape TV appeals but there is a mute button. You can only donate within your means. I am a cat lover,but apparently animal charities are the chief receivers of money in the UK

I used to volunteer to do house to house collections for the NSPCC. I explained the ethos of the charity to my 6 year old son. One day after school, I took him with me to show him the value of giving a little to the less fortunate. It was December and already dark and a bit chilly. After a few streets he said if I didn't take him straight home he would report me to the NSPCC. Well. he'd listened something I'd said!

Hi KirbyGirl, it's lovely that you care so much. If you accept that you alone can't help everyone in need and choose a charity close to your own heart that is the very best you can do. And good for you that you care so much.

I support Crisis. A £25 donation to Crisis buys a homeless person a day of hot meals including a full Christmas dinner, a doctor's check up, job advice, a change of clothes and a warm bed for the night on Christmas Day. And most importantly, a sincere welcome and some encouragement. I get a lot out of it because I enjoy my Christmas dinner more knowing that someone else is enjoying themselves at the same time. It may not be your charity of choice, just go with your heart.

Like do I got my GS involved, but with the shoeboxes. I was having difficulty getting the lid on so left it until the next day.
Next day- no problem, the lid went on easily. He’d” liberated” the bag of sweets! He did confess when asked and told me where he’d hidden them for consumption at a later date. He was 5. I wonder what lesson he learnt. At least he didn’t profit from his dastardly deed.

grannyactivist I love that pocket money idea. What a wonderful way to teach children to think of others.
dj I love your idea too of involving the GC in choosing the charities and getting them to do the reading and research. It will certainly help them to think about how these particular charities operate, how their donations are spent etc.

Perhaps these ideas are the better interpretation of the maxim that 'charity begins at home'.

My older grandchildren have started doing that for me, Monica. A toilet or clean water is a lovely gift.