Charitable donations by peacekeeper

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Charitable donations

POSTED BY: PEACEKEEPER
UPDATED: Sunday, March 21, 2010 11:19
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Saturday, March 20, 2010 12:25 AM

Keeping order in every verse

Ok, so last night on UK TV, we had yet another evening of Sport Relief.Add that to BBC Children in Need and Comic Relief and various other national events throughout the year and we find ourselves forking out more and more of our hard earned cash donating to every needy person the world over,on a seemingly never ending basis.
Now I don't want to appear ungracious or overly cynical, but how much of this money actually goes toward it's intended use? I understand fully that every registered charity has administrative costs without exception.But I know a guy who is EMPLOYED by a large charity and earns about £25,000 pa for the pleasure.DISGRACEFUL.Plus, I am sick and tired of donating money to overseas causes every single year, only to be told that the corrupt government of that country has pocketed a big chunk of it for their own needs rather than pass it on to their own needy people.
I'm not against contributing to members of society that our government has overlooked or underfunded, but I want to start getting a run down of WHERE that money is going and I want to see tangible proof that it is going to who it is supposed to be going to.
Every year, there are 100's more registered charities popping up and more pressure on us to dig deep and I have just about had enough. I have made a conscious decision to keep my donations within my own borders and to only give to those charities that are established and voluntary. I will not be contributing to somebody's wage and I wish to let overseas bodies run their own affairs
We have a general Election looming here and have been told that no matter who is elected, our taxes will rise in order to balance our own books.And that is after we have given a massive amount of the public purse to the Haitian people.I know I will gain no friends for that last statement, but where do we draw the line? Any feelings on the matter?
Peacekeeper---keeping order in every verse!!!

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Saturday, March 20, 2010 3:53 PM

FREMDFIRMA

Oh you're not alone in those concerns.

You may find these links useful.
http://www.charitywatch.org/
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
Of course, caveat emptor and don't depend on one source for the figures, since any of em could be a front sponsored by one or a collective to make em look better, mind you - it really does pay off to be suspicious these days, sadly.

And even the most legit, there's concern about how efficiently they use the dosh - I noted that one charity sending solar cells over to Afghanistans impoverished villages got a terrible deal on em, cause there were more efficient, durable models that could be gotten cheaper, and a local imam took up that ball and ran with it, managing to get them sent over despite a buncha hassle from the customs and dephomsec folks.

That's *another* concern to have too, if the state dept gets a wild hair and declares one of the charities you're donating to a terrorist support org (as is likely to happen with RAWA eventually) you could find your ass on the hot seat, charged with materially supporting terrorism - this happened to Rabih Haddad, who I knew but not well, and just down the road a ways from here.
http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=6041
Hopefully Obama's going to stop that shit, but I shall believe it when I see it.
http://www.ombwatch.org/node/10108

So no, I am not gonna flame you whatever given the risks and hassle involved in an enterprise which may not even effectively use funds not chewed up by administrative costs, and who supporting or donating to could get you in legal trouble, not a bit.

I will offer a suggestion from my own playbook, and that is cutting out the middlemen - if said charity needs a certain something, get THAT and send it, if they need medical supplies, send em medical supplies, etc etc.

I've done pretty good on office equipment with some of em, cause a lotta large companies, due to the potential expense and difficulty of hiring technicians, have to pitch out whatever equipment when the warranty runs out, that being "cost effective" (although, IMHO, idiotic) on their scale of operation...

Thing is, office equipment, computers and the like contain a bunch toxic crap they don't wanna get caught dumping, so they get smacked with a recycling or disposal fee - so when some yahoo in a truck rolls up and offers to make it all go away, allowing the chump tasked with the disposal to pocket the money, or slip it into the budget as a credited savings, they jump on the ball.

So I can *always* get office equipment, and am happy to put it in the hands of a charity, even set it up for em - it costs me nothing, since I do make back operating costs selling some of the choice pieces, and it directly benefits them.

And since I do it in a fashion that leaves no paper trail, it's fairly safe too.

But sure, that ain't for everyone - just sayin, if you wanna do charity, best skip the conscience payments and make it personal, not only does that ease your mind about whether it did any good, it restores faith in humanity to those on the receiving end.

Something to think about, surely.

-F

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Sunday, March 21, 2010 11:19 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

I understand your feelings...and no doubt more things will come along begging for money; disasters happen virtually every day.

Me, I contribute regularly to a few organizations that reflect the things I believe in. In something like Haiti, I check any organization before contributing--their stuff can usuall be found on line.

The problem with donating specific things to disasters that happen outside the country is that it costs more to get those things there than reputable organizations can make happen with the money they're worth. Obviously if it's stuff you don't have to pay for, it's probably more worth it, etc.

I certainly understand it's frustrating, and most of us don't have the kind of money we can donate to every cause. Doing what seems right has to be determined by each person individually, that's kind of what it comes down to for me.

"I'm just right. Kinda like the sun rising in the east and the world being round...its not a need its just the way it is." The Delusional "Hero", 3/1/10

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