Wills and keaving to charity

So sorry about the typos , hope you got the message. I read back everything I wrote before pressing send, I don't understand it.

When we did our (mirrored) wills we took advantage of the 'wills for free' month and the fee we would have paid to the solicitor went to our local hospice, which we know is genuinely struggling.
I too have heard that some charities are richer than they let on, but obviously have no proof of this.
However, I do know that a friend of mine made a substantial donation (many years ago now) to a well known children's charity (not Barnardos). To her amazement she received the acknowledgement letter but it stated that they had sufficient funds at that time - they hoped she didn't mind, but they had sent the donation to another children's charity!
She wouldn't have minded had they asked before sending it elsewhere!
Also I question sometimes how larger charities afford the expense of TV advertising? Maybe they get it cheaper?
We deliberately chose a local small charity that we know and love.
As far as the amount was concerned, at the time we donated what the bill would have been for the solicitors, and then left a percentage of our estate to them when we pop off this mortal coil!
I wouldn't be happy if any charity insisted on any specific amount. Our hospice is grateful for any donation.
I honestly can't comment on Barnardos or any other.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

I think when charities advertise on TV they have researched the statistics - so they pretty much know they will gain far more from the adverts than the adverts actually cost. It's the same with highly-paid executives. If they bring in far more than their salary then they are worth paying. I want to leave money to charity but I am looking into the possibility of giving some to local charities before I die for specific causes that I can actually see.

Good post Hetty. I’m not leaving anything to charity in my will - I support a variety of causes as I go along - short term, long term, one offs, special appeals, national, international, local - quite eclectic. Charities can change direction over time, others become more relevant to what I want to support - I wouldn’t want to have to change my will every now and then so my charitable giving remains well and truly anchored in the present.

I prefer to give to small, local charities run by people who get petrol money and little else but they care about what they are doing. My local Cat Protection League is one.

You might like to consider your local hospice perhaps? They only receive 11% of their funding requirements from the NHS, and the rest they have to raise through marathons, shops, selling things on eBay, and of course bequests in wills.

They are small charities, and can't afford to spend huge amounts on advertising, salaries and so on. If ever you have had a relative needing their help, you will know how invaluable they are.

Our local hospice is incredibly well funded, suggest doing your research first.

I would think of a cause dear to you, and look for the charity that seems to support it the best. I agree that it is easier to see what goes on at local charities.
If children and families are a cause you embrace, you might look at Home-Start, which is one of the most effective and efficient charities that I know. It is a national charity that operates through local branches, so you could have a look to see if there is one nearby.
Having said that, some solicitors doing the wills for free, will nominate a charity for donations. As I understand, it is acceptable to say 'no thanks' and that you are donating to something else instead.

Our local hospice closed last year due to lack of funding . The LA withdrew their contributions , they’re all heart and have some of the highest paid executives in the country, so let’s hope they or their family never need a hospice.

This is one of the poorest areas in the country and despite having a few charity shops dotted around and a lottery they just couldn’t keep going. I feel terribly sad about it but no one has a lot to give in this area and the few people with money obviously wanted to hang on to it.

DH and I have put off making wills for so long as they seem too complicated . We really must get around to it , no one knows what might be just around the corner do they?

I donate to a couple of small local charities - I gave up giving to large national charities following the publicity surrounding the pay to the top executives.

I know the usual reasoning that you have to pay to get the best people but is David Milliband really worth a salary of $1m (approx £814,000) to head a charity?

The short answer is no, no one person is worth £814,000.
I would rather put money in envelopes and put it through the doors of needy people.

We made a will several years ago during charity will month. Instead of leaving contribution to charity in the will I made a donation to Great Ormond Street Hospital, one of the charities supported in free will month. This worked out well for us.

Heartbreaking.
But Gillybob and others - do not put off making your wills. It need not be complicated or expensive, but to leave it to your nearest and dearest to sort out should you die intestate will be much more complicated.
And do you really want HMG to have it all?

You can find the accounts of any charity on the Charity Commission website. There are arguments for and against local / national / international etc etc but one measure is to look at what percentage of income overall goes to "administration". This gives some idea of how much goes direct to the people the charity is helping. 0% or thereabouts on admin does not necessarily mean it's a good charity but high admin costs may mean there is a top heavy approach.
To give a plug to but also illustrate how a bit of thought and research can help, Samaritans has a central office that has paid staff but all the local branches are staffed entirely by volunteers. If in your will, you just put "Samaritans" the money will go to the central organisation (which is fine if that's what you want) so if you prefer to make a local donation, specify the branch you have chosen eg Cambridge Samaritans

You can get the accounts of charities from the Charity Commissioners website, although they do now charge a fee for downloading them.
It is worth getting the latest copy though and having a look at the salaries.
I agree with NaughtyNana about high admin fees. They may be justified. An organisation like Barnados might have high administration fees if they are dealing with child protection as that requires good record keeping otherwise court cases can be lost. Some charities are largely administrative in nature but still do good work.
Also have a look at sites like Charity Watch.

I know you are right MawB but I have spoken to a few people about it and ours is quite complicated and therefore quite expensive. Both of my children's natural fathers are dead and my DH has brought them up as his own. He has had no contact with his own 2 children for almost 20 years (not for the lack of trying) and we no longer even know which country one of them lives in. We also have the business crap that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy...….

I agree with you Harrigran I would rather help people directly. I support my local foodbank and a woman's refuge too. I do pay a dd to a cancer charity but can't bring myself to cancel it.

Oxfam [or substitute the name of any big charity] make more positive difference to more individual people in a day than many local small scale charities make in a year. By all means support both or either, but there’s no extra virtue in choosing small over large.

Not sure what you mean geekesse ? are you saying that the bigger the charity the more they help people ?

Well I would think that would be quite obvious, however, there are many small charities that make a massive difference to individuals who wouldn't get help from anywhere else.

I am sad that our local hospice closed due to lack of funding, I truly am. if I won the lottery I know where I would send my money and it wouldn't be to one of the biggies where the executives cream off hundreds of thousands of £££ for themselves before an ounce of real charity work is done.

No, the bigger charities help more people, not help people more. I’m suggesting that it isn’t more virtuous to do a good thing because it makes us feel all warm and generous in a personal capacity. It’s good to help people, full stop. If we make an anonymous donation to a big charity that helps a lot of people, that’s good. If we make a named donation to a small charity that helps a few people, that’s good too. It’s a choice each of us makes. The tone of many posters is that big charities are intrinsically less good. I believe that is the wrong way to see the big picture.

I choose not to make a named donation to charity at all really, although I expect the cancer charity that I pay monthly by DD have got my name.

Giving to my local foodbank does not make me feel warm and generous it makes me feel very ashamed.

Well said gilly. I wonder if anybody will jump on you and accuse you of virtue signaling. Oh how I loathe that phrase.

Probably grapefruitpip but I am past caring to be honest.

The thread is after all about charities and I am trying to explain in my own clumsy way why I prefer to "give" to local small charities rather than the huge ones.

I fund raise and donate to Mary's Meals as 93% of every £ goes to feed children in poor countries by giving them a meal at school every day. mary'smeals.org.uk

Take care gilly, you are a good person.