# Do You Actively Donate To Charities?



## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

By "actively donate", I mean not just the odd donation "once a while" or so, but actively donate to charities routinely because you belief/agree with the cause. You could be donating money, time, gifts, items, whatever (maybe even classical music  ).

Just curious, nothing more, nothing less.


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I pay federal and state income taxes. That counts for "actively" donating to charities in my book. Of course I'm not allowed to choose the charities...


----------



## Kopachris (May 31, 2010)

Yes and no. I voted 'yes' going by your definition, but I could also answer 'no' in that it doesn't really take any effort on my part. Every year, the company I work for does a charity thing where they encourage employees to pick some charities to donate to. The company matches the donations and sends in the checks at the end of the event, but rather than taking the money from you all at once, the donation is taken out of your paycheck a little at a time over the course of a year.

So yes, I donate some of my money every two weeks, but the process is automated and the charities already have the money.


----------



## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Always a dodgy topic, I stick to Matthew 6:1-4 and keep stum.


----------



## Garlic (May 3, 2013)

I did regularly until fairly recently but I can't afford to right now. Before donating I need to know exactly where the money goes and how it will be used. As an anti-individualist I kind of resent the reliance on charity to solve the world's problems, but it might be the best we've got for now.


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

You certainly *have* to say no to *some* charities & you're right, Garlic - often the name means nothing, but if one looks into it, the charity may have aspects that don't appeal.

I don't like people setting out to push *guilt buttons* - for example, calling you up & asking you to organise a flag day & intimating that you're a cold-hearted so and so if you don't want to. The person calling is often a salaried fundraiser hired by the charity concerned & if you ask questions about the charity they're plugging, they can't answer them!

Similarly, distributors leave big plastic bags at your house to be filled with clothes or household goods; sometimes these distributors are *businesses* based somewhere else & the proportion they give to charity is miniscule, though, of course, they *are* a source of employment. But you also find that even big national well-known charities use business firms to distribute the bags & then only gain a quarter or at least less than half of the profits - not what the donor is envisaging.

There are also charities that shall be nameless that have been taken over by political radicals, which is not wrong per se, but at times they seem to be spending more time spreading propaganda than helping the people they are supposed to.

It's a fraught business. I am sure that many of us do give to charity, but I feel it would have been better if the poll was one of those anonymous ones that didn't give names. I reckon that the most generous givers on this site - I have a few names to guess at here - are not ones who would like their left arm to know what their right is doing.


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Disabled American Veterans.


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I have one charity in particular I contribute to when I am able. And I wish I were more able.

Update: My wife just let me know that we contribute to two others. There's an example of the right hand (me) not knowing what the left hand (my wife) is doing.


----------



## Guest (Sep 3, 2013)

Taggart said:


> Always a dodgy topic, I stick to *Matthew 6:1-4* and keep stum.


Dear Taggart,
I'm not going to open that suspicious book of witchcraft and look up the exact quote/context highlighted above. However, could you give me the gist of it (M6:1-4), so to speak?


----------



## Guest (Sep 3, 2013)

Whilst waiting to see what some guy in the past called Matthew had to say about charity, may I say that I regularly give _chump change_ to those in the street that request it. But *never to anyone who uses children* to tug at my heart strings.


----------



## Guest (Sep 3, 2013)

And yes, I regularly contribute to a charity dedicated to setting up schools in Burkina Faso.


----------



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

I have been known to dabble in charitable donations, but not on a regular basis. I am a fairly regular blood donor though - does that count?


----------



## EricABQ (Jul 10, 2012)

I do the opposite. I routinely steal from charities. I find many of them are very lax in their security.

I do all my Christmas shopping for my young nephews by just grabbing things out of the Toys For Tots bins. Saves me a fortune.


----------



## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

I would do it if I had the resources. My mother supports me financially, and I try to spend only the necessary minimum because I already feel like a parasite. I'm eager to finish my studies so I can support myself.


----------



## Guest (Sep 3, 2013)

brianvds said:


> I have been known to dabble in charitable donations, but not on a regular basis. I am a fairly regular blood donor though - does that count?


Yes, Brian, yes! Giving blood is a vital social action. I also do that. I try to ask for money, but I don't insist. Anyways, you get a free snack afterwards.


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

If you want to be a wee bit careful about who gets your charity money, Charity Navigator is a good place to check.

http://www.charitynavigator.org/


----------



## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

TalkingHead said:


> Dear Taggart,
> I'm not going to open that suspicious book of witchcraft and look up the exact quote/context highlighted above. However, could you give me the gist of it (M6:1-4), so to speak?





> "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.


The left hand/right hand bit is also good for aspiring pianists trying to play counterpoint.


----------



## Guest (Sep 3, 2013)

KenOC said:


> If you want to be a wee bit careful about who gets your charity money, Charity Navigator is a good place to check.
> http://www.charitynavigator.org/


Yes, quite right Ken.
I have no worries about the charity I donate to, but I do worry about my shares, not that they run into the millions, you understand?. I did inform my bank that I want my money invested in 'ethical' operations, and they follow that as far as I can tell. But how would I really know?


----------



## Guest (Sep 3, 2013)

GreenMamba said:


> The left hand/right hand bit is also good for aspiring pianists trying to play counterpoint.


Hah! Thank you GM, for the quote of M6:1-4. I will henceforth try and play any counterpoint more _charitably_.


----------



## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

No. I only donate (time and money) passively, if pestered by friends, family, or colleagues. A number of times per year, but no recurring payments or anything like that.


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

I do, albeit on a very limited scale. There´s probably a difference from most societies here, since our state is much more involved in social wellfare, paid for via taxes (usually say 40-65% of an income, plus various other fees such as VAT (25%) etc.). 

The reduction of the state´s involvement according to capitalist ideology is advancing here also, though - and regrettably so.


----------



## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

joen_cph said:


> I do, albeit on a very limited scale. There´s probably a difference from most societies here, since our state is much more involved in social wellfare, paid for via taxes (usually say 40-66% of an income, plus various other fees such as VAT (25%) etc.)


Pardon my ignorance, but I really used to believe that having a half of what you earn taken from you by the government in Denmark was a myth. Now you are saying it is actually true


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

It´s very much a matter of how to calculate this percentage ... in some other countries, people will for instance finance their pension, social security, medical and hospital expenses, and higher education, via their own economical means or via an insurance, according to what they can afford. Our basic level in these sectors, financed by our taxes, is high.


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

SiegendesLicht said:


> Pardon my ignorance, but I really used to believe that having a half of what you earn taken from you by the government in Denmark was a myth. Now you are saying it is actually true


Unless you are one of 'TPF' (The Privileged Few), way more than half of what you earn will be taken from you - by somebody. We call it 'surviving'.


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

The World Bank has Denmark as the county with the most even distribution of income. Denmark's Gini coefficient is 24.0. The United States, with a Gini coefficient of 45.0, is WAY down the list, grouped in with mostly third-world countries.


----------



## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

KenOC said:


> The World Bank has Denmark as the county with the most even distribution of income. Denmark's Gini coefficient is 24.0. The United States, with a Gini coefficient of 45.0, is WAY down the list, grouped in with mostly third-world countries.


I heard the Nordic States have some of the highest taxes to redistribute income so that's maybe why.

I think I would like to donate more if I knew where the monies go. Sometimes charities are certianly not the most honest with their monies though.


----------



## TresPicos (Mar 21, 2009)

SiegendesLicht said:


> Pardon my ignorance, but I really used to believe that having a half of what you earn taken from you by the government in Denmark was a myth. Now you are saying it is actually true


I think Sweden currently has the highest overall taxes, just ahead of Denmark. However, most people only pay 25-30% income tax, and it's only in the higher tax brackets that you reach 55% or so. But on the other hand, we have free university education, almost free health care for everyone, decent safety nets etc. And you're more likely to succeed here in working your way up from the bottom than you are across the pond.


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

The World Bank has Sweden second to Denmark with a Gini coefficient of 25 versus Denmark's 24.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality


----------

