Best way to choose a charity?
Posted by: intelligent
7th Oct 2015 11:30am
how can we select which charity to help when there are hundreds of them seeking help?
You must be a member to reply to this chat topic. Click here to sign in.
Help Caféstudy members by responding to their questions, or ask your own in Café Chat, and you will get the chance of earning extra rewards. Caféstudy will match these and donate equally to our two chosen Australian charities.
Australian Marine Conservation Society are an independent charity, staffed by a committed group of scientists, educators and passionate advocates who have defended Australia’s oceans for over 50 years.
ReachOut is the most accessed online mental health service for young people and their parents in Australia. Their trusted self-help information, peer-support program and referral tools save lives by helping young people be well and stay well. The information they offer parents makes it easier for them to help their teenagers, too.
Comments 15
pasar
Choose one that aligns with your heart and passion. You get more in touch when you are involved, not just throwing $$s into the charity. If you want to get more $ per mile, make sure the people involved are no more than 2 removed from the action with a low expense/income ratio. I hate seeing good $ thrown into high operating costs where a low % gets to the intended subject
Wally the Clown
Back in the USA (go ahead, hate on me) there was a group called the "Combined Federal Campaign " which published a booklet showing how much a charity actually spent on it's cause vs how much went to "admin". If the "admin" went over 25%, they had a period (I think 3 years) to get it below 25% or they were stripped from the book and not allowed in the campaign. (Federal, government and military employees are a large group and tend to give a lot, so they were constantly approached. CFC centralized ti so you were not constantly bombarded. THey also made it easy to give).
Now I have that criteria, and another- I do not give to terrorist groups (Greenpeace, PETA) or hate groups. (This includes ALL religious charities of any kind. It has been shown that religious charities hide the fact that they spend a significant portion of their funding on proselytizing and VERY frequently make religious indoctrination a prerequisite of accepting aid. Saw it myself in Africa)
I also do not give to scam/fraud groups. THere are homeopathic groups which go to undeveloped countries and give homeopathic "vaccines" to uneducated people who don't have the resources to recognize the fraud. The people offering these products are fully aware that they are utterly fraudulent, and have a long history of failing testing (because they work by magic) and there is no way an ethical person could promote these. Even if you "believe" they work, the fact that they have been tested and shown to not only be utterly ineffective, the proponents do not even have a plausible method by which they COULD work, there is no ethical way to administer them. If you honestly believe cyanide will heal cancer, does that give you the right to administer it to uneducated people, fully knowing that science shows that it is a poison and ineffective against cancer? Same situation. (Oh-wait- that's laetrile!)
Pick a reputable charity, check it's background, and pick a cause you can actually help with.
I give a lot to animal charities (they cannot protect themselves) and anti- religion charities to support the rights of women, LGBTQ+, and non CIS-White. (I am CIS-white) These are the groups religions target
It's worthwhile to check the Southern Poverty Law Center for hate groups, and other oversite resources.
Ebony32092155
I focus on issues that are close to my heart e.g. cancer patient/family support, envrionmental causes and BLM movement. I choose ones where I know directly where the money is going I personally find it more rewarding giving to a charity which is smaller as you know directly where the money is going and seeing the direct impact of your investment.
Yqsymnx
I picked Guide Dogs, coz I like the dogs.
And it's not always money that you can donate.
With the dogs, you can foster a puppy. So you can donate time.
uruz
One way is to check them out and find out what percentage of donations go to administration. You would be horrified to know the amount that some take out. The Salvation Army takes nothing out as all their workers are volunteers. Try using Google to check them out. Good luck.
I've just donated $500 to the Salvation Army and I'm not rich by any means.
nej1941
We give to the Salvos, the Red Cross and the RSL. We have established that these charities have the lowest 'administration' charges. They don't pay collectors because they are all volunteers. The greatest percentage of the money you give will get to those who are in need, when compared to all other charities.
Anonymous
There are a lot out there to chose from but I live on the principle that what goes around comes around so I focus my support on charities that support the needs of my family and communities.
Carly
I go with my heart. I try and give a little here and there when a charity strikes a chord with me. I give to charities that have vision toward the future.
Nor4
I chose those who mean something to me, like Brain Cancer Research, Children's Hospital and Red Cross. I won't donate to any charity that rings on the phone or sends me unsolicited mail.
musicmum
Oxfam, I love the work they do empowering women to be self employed and self sufficient, setting up access to clean water, helping them grow their own food and being able to feed their families.
I also support Edgar's mission which look after unwanted and neglected farm animals.
Other excellent charities are;
Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd always fighting to stop whale hunting etc. Wilderness society, Worldwildlife, Lost dogs home, RSPCA, Guide dogs, ChildFund Australia, Save the Children fund, Carita's, Salvation army, St. vinnies and many more.
Find one or two you are passionate about what they do, or make a list and take it in turns who you donate to each week or month.
margecd
just select two or three and stick to them .. then when others ring/door knock etc tell them so. tell them you may consider them next year .... M :-)
lilli
just choose the one closest to your heart...
missmoose
My chosen charity is Guide Dogs Victoria. I have a long time family friend who started losing her vision in her 20's and have worked with a vision impaired male friend in a Telstra call centre who was one of the top performers in the centre. And being an animal lover, particularly dogs, that makes the charity even more special.
wendel
Too many, to chose from, they always after money, but I go in for Australian only and usually ones that I can also win a prize with.
flo
I agree there are way too many charities, just imagine how much of the donations go to running the charities like overheads, administration etc., So many are duplicated and should merge to cut costs. When i donate I will usually choose the more well know ones like red cross, cancer council or ones which i feel will have best chance of going towards the cause rather than in the pocket of those running it