What REALLY is Charity and How do You Pick Who You Support
 

I truly did not mean to derail Grant's thread on Santa's Anonymous. Therefor I thought I would start a new thread where we can discuss what effective charitable giving is to each of us. Does it come with making judgments of what organizations you should give to, how much scamming of the program is okay and at what point do you withdraw. Who are the right organizations to support in terms of them using the money effectively. Is there a difference between giving someone a hand up versus a hand out. Do the recipients have to at least be TRYING to make their own situation better or are you okay with them sitting on the couch waiting for an agency to do it for them. Are teenagers responsible to get a job if they want more material things or is free meals at school, Christmas presents, a cell phone, PS5 and the like one of their inalienable rights now.

This is from the other thread, for context.

Sledhead71 please move your focused rebuttals to this thread. Thanks.

The Red Cross is usually first on the ground, They have been in BC since the flooding began and were one of the first to be in Fort McMurray. A few times a year they will match or triple your donation.

I support the Red Cross and the Shriners as well as the other Masonic concordance bodies :)
Cat

Samaritan Purse Operation Christmas Child. Shoe box gifts are sent to kids in 3rd world countries that are truly in need.

I didn't know masons needed charity.... thats a head scratcher.


STARS and Stollery when I can. Used to donate to a cancer foundation then lost my mom to it and haven't had the heart to do it since.

One of my Office Partners was on the National Board of the Kidney Foundation.

The Fund Raising Companies (yes when they call, it is a company and not the charity), takes 25 - 50 % of the donation as their commission. Then there is the Charity's Chair Person. Many of them take a salary of $250,000 to $1,000,000 a year.

Then there is the Office staff, building (Note, I did not point a finger at WE Foundation) etc.

The net effect is that 10 - 15 % actually goes to the intended purpose.

Outfits like Santa's Anonymous, or Food Bank, is largely taking in kind donations, so there is no huge overhead, but there usually is some level of Government grants which are applied for to pay staff and buildings.

So regardless of how you pick it or what you support, understand that alot of the money never gets to what you thought you were supporting.

Drewski

Exactly why I do not donate to large charitable groups, they seem to be more charitable to themselves!

Our top three Charities are -

The Grant MacEwan University Foundation - we donate 4 Full Ride scholarships in the department of Bio-Sciences for 3rd and 4th year honours students because I believe education is a key driver of individual success as well as providing great benefits to society over all. Part of each Scholarship is the student who receives it gets a membership in the Sherwood Park Fish and Game and agrees to volunteer ten hours of their time per semester. This gives them a view of conservation not typically seen by students in this field of study.

The Local Chapter of the Salvation Army - we donate locally based on where we are living, currently the St Albert chapter, as pretty much everyone that works for local chapters do so out of a true desire to help, and at best earn a basic subsistence wage. I am not nearly as enthralled of the national organization.

The Leukemia Foundation - we have more than a few relatives and friends still alive as a result of the great work done by this group.

There are a few other organizations that took quite a while to find but the above are the main ones.

One we have dropped is CNIB - I sat on the provincial and national board for many years. When the National organization effectively took over complete control and began squandering large amounts of money, about 15 years ago, it was time to withdraw the support.

I know how this is gonna sound, but Im gonna say it anyhow...

I used to donate to several charities. I stopped after doing research and seeing first hand where the majority of the money went

So what I do now is cut out the greedy middle man and donate directly. I know needy people and I deal with them directly. And I never give cash. Ever.

They generally do not but theircwidfiws and chdren do at times , but I meantbthst I donate money to them because I KNOW it will be put to charitable use,to those that truly need it not used fir executive privilege, etc :)
Cat

What is really annoying is when big stores ask for a donation at the check out. They claim the tax deduction, not You.

Hey Dean2 there's so much there I'd like to quote that it would be half a page again.

Just so everyone knows - I donate to the Red Cross, the Canadian Cancer Society, and the Veterans' Food Bank. That's all regardless of how many sob stories I hear.

"Welfare" and "charity" are the job of the churches, which is why they don't pay property taxes. Not the job of working taxpayers. If people want to help the "less fortunate" at their own expense, nobody will stop them.

here's what I consider "highlights":

"Do the recipients have to at least be TRYING to make their own situation better or are you okay with them sitting on the couch waiting for an agency to do it for them."

A hand UP, not a hand OUT.


"Mercedes, Lexus and 90K pickups in the food bank line ups…."

Sell the high-end vehicles and buy a used Corolla before you ask me for help.


"What I can say is if I fell on hard times first thing to go would be the high end cars and the high dollar house. If they aren't willing to give up any of the luxuries I am certainly not willing to help subsidize them."

As above.


"the United Way jumped on board...."

I wouldn't give them or the salvation my empty beer cans.



On a lighter note:

" When it was time for money they would put on the grubbiest grossest clothes you would throw away and head for welfare…"

If I were to "go on welfare" I'd steal the clothes off of some farmer's scarecrow and wear them to the welfare office.


There's some more, but I think you all get my drift.

If you look closely enough, almost all of us can find somebody who could use a helping hand - paying a month or two's rent for a single mom niece, some extra cash for neighbour struggling with terminal cancer, a Christmas wreath or centrepiece to cheer up a lonely coworker. If you don't have a direct link with anyone that could use help, ask your trustworthy friends/relatives/coworkers if they do. Pass them a handful of cash, and ask them to pass it along - no conditions - no expectations, no explanation of where it came from - or why.

Community FaceBook forums are another place where there's often call-outs for assistance. In our community, you can usually find someone you know that knows the entire story, and you can verify if it's a legit need - or not.

Childrens Hospital and Ronald McDonald House are two of the best.

I will help people that have suffered a tragedy beyond their control. The biggest is house fire.

Having every toy financed to the max and driving to a food bank garners no sympathy from me.

I won't give to gofundme no matter what the drive is for.

Ronald Macdonald house is getting a good cheque this year after my daughter was in there 70 days this year.

I will never say no to Stollery and RMH.

I also used to give to neighbors. Across the street is a young couple with 3 kids. She has said several times they are struggling to feed them. I gave them huge roasts a couple times, then saw them smoking pot and drinking beer late many nights.

Apparently the weed and alcohol budget superseded the grocery needs. No more from me.

You're right about those, I forgot to mention that I give them money too. Don't know why I forgot, they're pretty important.

I have always struggled with the corporate charity game. when working for a large company the fall United Way campaign rolls through most offices. This comes with guilt as you may be ( and I was) the last hold out in your department to sign up for a monthly UW payroll deduction so that we can be the top department in the company. And every entry get's a chance to win a prize/bribe worth ten times more that your donation. Personally there were a few charities in the UW bundle that I had issues with.

I know some of these big charities do good work and because of the large amounts and overhead do need CEOs etc. However I would like some sort of tangible evidence that my donation helps someone more than the self gratitude that some feel by the cheque writing and tax receipt.

The circle finally got completed last year. I friend of mine passed away of brain cancer and since he was very active in the curling scene asked that any donation be made to the Sandra Schmirler foundation. A few months later I got a letter thanking me for my donation and that all the money that came in associated to my friend was used to purchase special neonatal equipment for the Lethbridge Hospital. And it was less than a month later my niece gave birth to their first daughter and yes she spent two weeks in the Lethbridge neonatal ward and my grand niece turned a healthy one last week.

Currently I am giving yearly to the Alzheimer's society in the name of my Mom who passed away last year after battling through the last five years of that horrific disease which may come my way some day.

I think that any charitable donations should be personal and private ( I do see the irony in the sentence above) and don't ask me again at the Safeway checkout.

That's the spirit!

Don't hire Santa, BE Santa.

STARS is the only thing I give to regularly. Ronald McDonald House and Children's Hospital occasionally.

I've done volunteer work in places like food banks, homeless shelters etc. My experience is that 80% of those people don't need help they're just mooching off the system usually to feed a drug addiction. They should either be in forced detox, jail or working a job to earn their keep. The other 20% of those people are genuinely mentally ill and should be in institution, not receiving hand outs or allowed to live on their own.

I 'only' donate to actual people in person/on street/in stores/etc, and a solid "No" to faceless organizations,
that's a department for other good people/Ken's of the world. In 2018, I modified my style abit. Got asked
for food money, gave $50. Randomly decided to check his story/honesty. Followed him at a good distance
as he treked half a km & looking over his shoulders often. He arrived & entered the liquor store, and exited
with a black bag of free alcohol goodies. Sat there for abit disspapointed, then concluded, going forward,
anyone asking for handouts in person are 99% in it for unfruitful manifestations. Only thing that works for
me now, spotting folks, before they spot me, that are in actualpositions to receive, whether doing good
deed for another/cash strapped/etc.

Samaritans purse is a favourite of mine. I also give to people I know through how fund me. And it a homeless guy asks for cash i try to if I have some, he’s probably buying liquor with it but I probably would too

I've heard that many times before. Any idea how to check on charities to find out how many cents out of my dollar actually achieve the desired effect of the donation?

Wounded warriors gets my donations, RMH I have always considered, but never have.

They pump the United Way at my work something fierce, I have said my piece about the nature of the hierarchy of this Org enough over the past 15 years, they have actually finally stopped badgering me the last few years.

For myself it’s charities that start with “S”!

Stollery children’s hospital. The Pit Boss ended up there on day 1, and I was so impressed with the whole set up, it’s a no brainer.

STARS. If you work or play in the rural to remote areas of the province, why wouldn’t you support this Org?!

Santa’s Anonymous (Local chapter) it feels so good to donate a couple books about Canadian history, and give a couple toys of the type that make Liberal heads explode.

Ronald Macdonald House, Stars, Boys and Girls Club, Salvation Army, Habitat For Humanity, Mustard Seed, Children’s Hospital, Alberta Cancer Foundation. Many Fish and Game Associations, habitat foundations etc.

Still find it really inappropriate being ambushed into answering in a lineup at a grocery store.

Creeky....


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Food Banks, Poppy Day i.e. veteran's issues, and the Sally Ann.

The last is in response to my late Dad's experience in Halifax, upon return from North Atlantic Convoy duty WWII, in a destroyer, the only folks that greeted the ship was the Sally Ann, with mugs of tea and Coffee and kind words. Tough watching Allied Merchant Marines freeze to death in -4 degree water and burning bunker C, then turn around and do convoy duty again.

I'll never forget that conversation, from when I asked him why the Sally Ann was his Charity of choice.

We donate to the Red Cross and the Children's Hospital.

Dec 24th - 2002 our granddaughter was born premature at 26 weeks, she was 2lbs 1oz and spent 3 months at the Stollery children's hospital, she is now going to turn 19 in a couple weeks and is in her 1st year at Lakeland college thanks to the Stollery.

I have supported the Stollery children's hospital continuously since that time, they are my charity of choice along the cancer society, and 7 years ago when I was diagnosed with leukemia I was happy I had supported them because the cross cancer institute is second to none IMHO

There's a website in Canada that posts all information on how much money goes to the cause and how much directors get paid and third party funding/gathering and so forth. When I get onto my computer I'll post the link... Very transparent and shocking.

As a user once of RMH, thanks to all who donate to Ronald McDonald house. It's impossible to describe in words how helpful that place is to families who are in absolute crisis. Absolute crisis is actually very much an understatement as well.

I did "Run for the House" this summer. A virtual run fundraiser.

Kids With Cancer Society is another group that really helps families in crisis.

Stollery of course.

And I've raised funds for the MS Society 8 or 10 times doing the bicycle tours.

Parkinson Society is important to me.

I buy an Oilers 50/50 or Stars ticket from time to time as well, as I support the groups that benefit from these raffles. If I ever win the 50/50, RMH can expect to see me with a check.