Posted on 10/06/2007 1:47:46 AM PDT by Paige
Habitat for Humanity also has very low overhead in many of its organizations. There are numerous regional associations of Habitat and some are better than others, presumably because in some areas supplies cost more to buy and transport than in others and also land on which to build the housing costs more. Not totally sure about that.
Just ignore Jimmy Carter. Habitat is a worthy cause.
Results matter and not just good intentions.? What a novel concept in this day and age.
Local charities are the most accountable to their contributors. Also you can visit them, meet the staff and see what they’re doing. It’s convenient to volunteer locally and actually feel you’re making a difference if it’s really a cause you believe in.
“I would love to be able to find a worthy charity to donate to in a number of fields, but the more I look into them, the more disappointed I am at how they spend their money.”
Yes. When I was working, we were urged and urged to donate to United Way. To the point where the Administration would make comments about those who “haven’t turned in their donation cards to the office”. There were several who didn’t, especially when the United Way was in the news in a bad way! I believe the best charity to donate to is one through one’s local church, military organizations or helping someone you know is in need.
Exactly! Walking for the Cure is a worthless activity that makes the walkers feel good.
If this were true it wouldn’t surprize me but the author needs to cite the sources of his information.
bttt
“The more I look into them, the more disappointed I am at how they spend their money.”
Thats because liberals are so good at spending other peoples money, they find a way to get themselves into the spending departments of these charities just like in the media. Often the money raisers and the givers are conservatives.
“Simply amazing, when one considers that there have been allegations of a strong link between artificially terminating a pregnancy and breast cancer.”
Yeah! That’s what occurred to me!
You could donate to a cancer center.
My mother-in-law just died at the University of Maryland Cancer Center. They did a wonderful job of treating her and giving her two pretty good years that she wouldn’t have had without them.
That is exactly what I am looking for in a charity. I don’t necessarily expect that we can eliminate poverty (”For ye have the poor always with you.”), but I do expect that the charity makes progress, that it is not just a self-perpetuating entity. Moving people off the welfare rolls and into jobs is a great definition of success. Newly poor people showing up doesn’t negate that.
For many organizations, my definition of succes would be that they work themselves out of business. For example, an organization looking to cure a disease should have an exit plan for when that disease is cured.
Thank you for mentioning Habitat for Humanity. That’s another organization I like. I especially like the idea that those who are helped have to “buy in” and not just get a never-ending handout.
As for Carter, even a broken clock is right twice a day. Habitat is the one thing that I will give him credit for.
If you want to donate, find a teaching or research hospital in your area, or in another one, and give the money directly to them. Likely, they already have a foundation that accepts donations just for this purpose. Someone in another post suggested Sloan Kettering. There are others, in other areas of the country, so you could find someone more local to you.
It is not that I do not believe you but I have been all over there web site and can not confirm what this article states about PP.
Does anyone know where this info comes from?
From my seat it says, "I'm a liberal and you should care!"
Good suggestions. I have done all three of the above. Helping someone I know, or a friend of a friend is what works the best for me (although it is not tax deductible. That doesn't stop me. I don't care about the deduction, but I do want to be a good steward and if I can get a deduction, then my money goes further.) I have sometimes been highly disappointed on how my church spends its money, so even there, I am becoming more careful. I am not keen on buying Gameboys for kids and jewelry for adults that are in a homeless shelter. If those are the things they need, then they are not very needy in my book. Bike, dolls, etc., I would buy. I have also realized by being involved with my church's charitable activities how easy it is for some people to spend someone else's money recklessly. They have thrown ridiculous amounts of money into questionable schemes that yielded no results.
Sort of like spending a work day at a golf course with your buddies, having a tournament to "raise money for (name the cause."
It's a day off work, and after you pay for the golf, only about 10 - 30 % of the take gets to the charity.
And the charity's "bigwigs" usually get to play for free.
I think you nailed it!
Great suggestion. I will do this.
I wonder if there is a website somewhere that lets users search through charities by cause, by locality, by percentage that actually goes to the needy, by CEO salary, by size, etc. That would be a wonderful service.
If I were to create such a website, I would also try to rank the organizations by how much progress they were making. For organizations with an “endpoint,” like curing a disease, I’d like to know if they had a plan for what to do when the endpoint was reached. Would they disband?
What I’d REALLY like to see is for a charity to create its own website that was totally transparent, showing how much went for admin and salaries and how much to the cause. Even within the cause, I’d like to see the breakdown. How much for lab equipment, how much for scientist’s salaries, how much for rent, etc. I DO expect admin costs, just that they are not the driving factor for the charity.
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