How do you choose

We choose a couple of charities each year to donate to. They usually have a family connection. So when a family member had support from Macmillan durinn their cancer treatment they were one of our causes. We got a dog from Battersea so they got donations. We do change each year though.

We have monthly payments to a couple of dog rescue homes. We've 'adopted' a donkey in Devon and a little boy in Peru. We take part in the local hospice raffle . In fact our payments to charity haven't changed at all due to lockdown.

London Air Ambulance a local hospice and Marie Curie are my choice.

If you check on the Charity Commission’s website you will be astounded at the number of charities that you have probably never heard of.
I don’t understand why, for example, all the cancer charities can’t combine to save money on premises, etc. I certainly won’t give money to any charity that occupies splendid offices in expensive areas.
I certainly don’t give to charities that try to ‘sign me up’ on the doorstep or in the high street.

Meant to add the later two helped DH and I get through an extremely difficult time which is why I chose them.

I'd like to try to put the matter straight regarding the spending of the large charities. For 20 years, whilst living in Suffolk I was Treasure of a local group of fundraisers for Save the Children. At that time the general idea was that around 10% of funds raised went on overheads. So I looked at the 2019 Annual Report and found the following:



Institutional donors 180,000,000
Individuals and communities 73,000,000
Corporate partnerships &
major donors 34,000,000
Trading 13,000,000
Other _ 7,000,000_

Total -307,000,000_

Fundraising expenses 35,970,000
Charitable activities 270.632,000

The CEO's annual salary is £143,000 and the salaries of the other Executive Department Heads range between £112,000 and £137,000. Compare this with the CEO of M & S, Steve Rowe whose remuneration for 2018/19 was £1,667,000.

Admittedly M & S has a much larger turnover of £10.4 billion and the percentage of turnover paid to their CEO is lower than the percentage paid to the CEO of Save the Children but I don't think that the latter's salary is excessive.

On the subject of small charities, many of which are vanity projects, there is often abuse of funds which you may not be aware of.

We are all going to make very different choices, which is understandable. I know that charities benefit from consistent income, so I try and be reliable.. I like the big ones with a global reach because there is only one earth and we are all affected in one way or another by the suffering elsewhere. We are so lucky here and tend to forget it, even with (excuse me) idiot PM etc. So I do (modest) reliable donations, annual to Amnesty, monthly to Oxfam. I also like small charities such as our Air Ambulance and local hospice. I also do micro finance called Lend with Care. I really like that - you lend small amounts to a person struggling to set up a business in a poor country and when it is repaid I lend to another one, and top it up as I go. Over the last 5 years I have “lent” to over a hundred individuals.

Dinahmo
After an inspiring talk by the founder of a very local charity which was building a school in Africa, I gave them what I considered to be a large donation and a friend also told me her husband had done the same. We learnt later that the money had been used to pay for the family to go out to Africa to see how the site work was progressing. Never again

I have aimed monthly dd's to a mix of charities.
I understand larger charities need well paid people - as long as they get the funds in and manage them well I'm ok with that. Having been on committees with volunteers I know the limitations and inability to develop without paid professionals on board.

It does saddens and anger me to read if abuse of funds and position though, eg workers abroad abusing locals

To address the post...I give by dd and try to ignore the appeals but with difficulty and occasionally send off a lump sum to an urgent cause but dont sign up.

Aepgirl

If you check on the Charity Commission’s website you will be astounded at the number of charities that you have probably never heard of.
I don’t understand why, for example, all the cancer charities can’t combine to save money on premises, etc. I certainly won’t give money to any charity that occupies splendid offices in expensive areas.
I certainly don’t give to charities that try to ‘sign me up’ on the doorstep or in the high street.

Many of the small, individual charities were started in memory of cancer sufferers and they may not all donate their money to one of the bigger charities, which would be more sensible. The work carried out by the large charities differs tremendously. We all know about MacMillan and Cancer UK which is purely research. Then there are others with different areas of expertise. such as Anthony Nolan which finds donors of bone marrow, CLIC Sargent which helps families deal with childhood cancer and many others, all of which deal with different problems.

Imagine putting all of those into one building, perhaps one of the towering blocks in London. I suppose it might help the problems of Pret etc.

Nobody expects everyone to donate to everything and the charities are often only following their own remit to collect funds - some would say that if some of the bigger charities just stopped paying their CEOs, for a while, they would all be better off financially!
I only support the ones that I feel I have a connection for - or it is something that has personally affected me through my own experience or family and friends.

I give to a couple of charities which were so helpful to my late husband during his terminal illness as I know that the money will be well spent on the things which matter.
We can only look to our conscience and do our best, can't we?

I put aside a certain sum each month for charity work and when it's gone, I do nothing until the next month. All charities I regularly support are close to my heart. Cancer for my Mum, British Heart Foundation for my Dad, Alzheimers for my Gran. What's left over for that month goes as a one-off donation for current appeals.

But you have to remember that there are other people out there who wouldn't touch those 3 charities because (say) dogs, cats and horses are nearer their heart. They are not relying solely on your donation, so I would suggest you give where your heart lies and stop when your budget ends for the month.

May I make a suggestion,please?
There is an excellent Charity called "52 lives." which my son told me about.
Each week people recommend somebody who desperately needs help but somehow isn't getting it.

One person ,is chosen.and 100% of the money is donated to that cause during that week.
If you can't afford to give anything you can send a little note instead.

If you haven't heard of this Charity please look it up .

I would love someone to reply to this and agree with me that it is very worthwhile.
Thank you.

Air Ambulance and Alzheimer's lotteries as well as actively volunteering for a local Charity and a National Charity. I do tend to buy Charity Christmas cards too and support my GC scout group from time to time.

Thanks for all the replies - as I said there are charities which I support regularly but it's the daily appeal from the small local charities which upset me. I obviously can't donate to every appeal - I think Unigrans monthly charity budget idea is a good one

Mary,s Meals and Keech Hospice get my support. Both for children and spend money carefully. I agree with others about large charities with big salaries for the CEO.and avoid them.

Arthur Rank Hospice in Cambridge.

Oh just a reminder (I keep forgetting) that if you have a bit of an Amazon habit, you can order through their Smile website which is exactly the same as Amazon and you can choose what charity to donate part of the profits to. There’s a big list and though it isn’t a huge proportion it all adds up. They might not pay much in tax but they can give a bit to good causes.

My younger DD is the service manager of a small local charity, and her partner is an outreach worker. I would estimate that they work at least twice the hours that they are paid for, simply because it is not the sort of work that you can switch off when it's time to go home. When you are dealing with desperate people, you have to keep working for them. It's not easy work. Her partner is currently getting death threats from a man with mental health and alcohol issues. It's all fun in the charity sector!

I don't know how this applies to other charities but their charity's wages are funded by grants, such as the lottery grant and various other ones that they can apply for. They don't come from the public donations, which all go to fund the work. It is quite a precarious way to live, as they never know whether they will get grants in the future. Frankly, with the low wages, long hours, insecurity, and the demanding nature of the work, it isn't everyone's cup of tea. My DD loves it because every day is a challenge and you can actually make a difference to someone's life. There are people walking around today who would be dead if the charity hadn't stepped in to help them.

There is no logical way to choose a charity to support. It's a gut feeling. Some people support my DD's charity because they are helping local people, or they are small, or the donor cares about the issues involved. I think some people support a charity because they have a personal connection to it, such as an illness. Others because they care passionately about the issues, eg cruelty to children, animal welfare, etc. Or it's just an emotional reaction - something touches you and you can't ignore it. I am afraid that I tend to fall into that category.

Albangirl14

Mary,s Meals and Keech Hospice get my support. Both for children and spend money carefully. I agree with others about large charities with big salaries for the CEO.and avoid them.

Surely you can agree that a charity like Save the Children, with total income of £307 million in the last year is not paying huge salaries to its executives?

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

The one charity I refuse to give to is McMillan. When my mothers sister died of lung cancer they had been of no use to her but my mother gave them a donation anyway. After that they wouldn’t leave her alone . She was a widow who couldn’t pay all her bills but felt guilted into giving them more cash . I’d go to visit her to find her in tears . I answered the next phone all and ranted at them to leave her alone , and high they did . Several years later when my mum was dying of cancer there was no sign of them and again when my stepfather died of cancer the McMillan nurses contacted me the day before he died to see if they could help. No thank you you’re a bit late was the reply they got from me .

I give to 2 charities and have resolved to not donate to any more. There is only so much you can do.