I was thinking about it. I donate to quite a few charities, but they specifically mean something to me. Others I don’t really think about, though they’re good. I guess we all have a threshold or we’d be broke and for many that could be no donations at all or just a fiver the the street guy.

  • monkeyman512@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    10 hours ago
    • Planned Parenthood - Gave my wife quality routine medical care when were broke.
    • Pfblocker - fuck ads
    • Physics Girl - I gave hospice care to my Dad for a couple months. That was literally the hardest most painful experience of my life. I can’t imagine surviving giving full time care to someone for years like her husband has. Me chipping in a couple bucks every month might help reduce money stress in a small way.
    • Harris campaign - I would like Democracy to continue and the opposition seems directly against that happening.
  • punkaccountant@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    8 hours ago

    If you can, donate to your LOCAL non-profits or the local branches of larger non-profits. Get to know the people in those organizations (volunteer, visit organization open houses/orientations, go to a hosted event) and you’ll feel a lot better about where your dollars are going.

    I used to be on the board of a local domestic abuse shelter and now I’m on the board of a local food pantry. Both are amazing organizations, both have incredibly passionate people working for them, and the board is filled with mostly normal working people who have or want to have good community connections.

    My partner has a little with big brothers big sisters and that turned into a board position for him because he was super enthusiastic and active. That’s a bigger organization but his contributions are at the local level and we’ve gotten to know the local “ceo” as well.

    Also, 501©(3) orgs must publicly list their tax returns and you can find out the salaries of the executives on those tax returns. So even tho in my experience, the executives of the orgs at the local levels earn every damn penny (and it’s def not enuf) you can also find that info out for yourself. But please remember that if a non profit doesn’t have an excellent, passionate and well paid staff, they will NOT be able to get the donations and funding they need to fulfill their actual purpose. I’m talking specifically about local orgs tho, some of those giant orgs with executives making millions definitely should take a closer look at their priorities.

    And finally…if you can’t donate money of course there is always volunteering but there is ALSO serving on a board. Every non-profit ive been involved with has had problems filling their board seats with active, enthusiastic individuals. Sometimes there are monetary asks of board members but no one is going to kick you out if you truly only have time and no money. And if u experience that, find a better board, they are out there and they are working really really hard to make things better.

  • Jeanschyso@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    15 hours ago

    I used to but I don’t anymore. I can’t afford to give money away when I can’t even pay for my own bills.

  • Bruncvik@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    11 hours ago

    I used to and still do, but I see it as an investment. In the past, I used to donate to various environmental organizations. Lack of money and disillusionment with the progress in environmental protection stopped this. Nowadays, I have a small monthly direct deposit to the armed forces of Ukraine. Living in Europe, I see this as investing into a peaceful retirement.

  • Drusas@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    11 hours ago

    I donate regularly to a group which focuses on lobbying for progressive reform in the state, largely focused on improving healthcare access and outcomes. I donate occasionally to a local group which fights homelessness.

    I donate because it’s important to me, the first group has a good track record, and I am fortunate enough to be able to afford it.

  • AA5B@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    11 hours ago

    I used to but I’m really over spam.

    For example I considered donating to a political campaign this year but those are the worst for not leaving you alone. When they wanted my phone, email, and employer, I was out

  • VirtualOdour@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    14 hours ago

    I donate small amounts to open source projects and content creators that .make stuff for everyone because I really believe it’s a great way of fighting capitalism and many of the problems it’s caused.

  • PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    edit-2
    3 hours ago

    I don’t, but I should.
    I don’t because my fear of donating to a fraudulent/ineffective organization aligns with my laziness regarding figuring out the best causes and procrastinating in making a budget.

    Fear and executive dysfunction, together forming the perfect storm of neurodivergent inaction.

  • Smoogs@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    edit-2
    20 hours ago

    Lots of wealth hoarders are donating money to avoid taxes. A lot of charities profit from this and aren’t actual charities and it’s all down to syntax of what a charity is.

    And supermarkets that ask you to donate is for their own PR(and why should a money monger benefit from anyone else’s good deed when they have plenty to donate or even pay their staff a living wage instead?)

    So much of life is a layered lie and a scam.

    Just save up your loose change and give it to someone outside the liquor store. At least then you know where the money is going. And it’s possibly the more ethical option.

    • JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      14 hours ago

      Terrible, no-good, cynical, nihilist take. If everybody took your advice, the world would be a worse place in short order. Sorry to be so blunt.

    • tomi000@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      19 hours ago

      Not all charities are like that, there are many that operate very transparently and actually make a difference. Just because some people take advantage of the system behind it does not make donating less impactful if you do a bit of research.

      • Smoogs@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        16 hours ago

        What would the internet be without the no true Scotsman argument?

        Oh that’s right: scammers with no vitriol.

        • tomi000@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          edit-2
          15 hours ago

          Not sure what you mean. What would the No True Scotsman argument be in this case? It would need to make the same generalization while excluding the ones I mentioned, I dont see how that would work.

  • JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    14 hours ago

    A token amount, a few euro a month.

    BUT. One day it will all be donated. Every last cent of it.

    Money is security. It’s peace of mind. So I will keep hold of mine for now, thank you very much.

  • anon6789@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    19 hours ago

    I started donating to the local animal rescue. None of them get any public funding whatsoever, so all the money is going to the animals’ care.

    They’re pretty open with what it costs to take care of the various animals, and I feel it’s a critical job they do.

    Haven’t gotten any spam so far either, so that is respectful.

  • aramis87@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    22
    ·
    1 day ago

    I’ve given money to both charities and people. Here’s the thing about donating, though: you’ll get on all sorts of mailing lists and shit, and you’ll get lots more begging letters, emails, phone calls and texts. You know those PBS/NPR donation drives, where they’re like “We just need ten more donors this hour, it doesn’t matter how much!” or those charities that send you pre-printed labels and say “Hey, just send us five bucks, that’s all we need”? Yeah, they’re harvesting your information. If you even send them a penny, they’ll be back for more, and they’ll sell or trade your information to other charities.

    I give money to our local volunteer fire/ems department every year, but I don’t use their pre-printed mailer; I hand them cash when Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny come through on their trucks. I have one of those pre-paid Visa gift cards that aren’t tied to an actual person; if I do an online donation, I’ll use that and give them fake information. The money is legit, the information is good enough to pass, but they can’t come harass me for more.

    This includes all donations, by the way - political, religious, civic, charity, social, whatever. Do it in cash or by an anonymous Visa gift card.

    • Today@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      1 day ago

      Yeah. I gave Kamala $46.50 the day Biden dropped. It was my first political donation (even though I’m old) and i was pretty excited about it. Now i get at least 4 emails per day. I finally started unsubscribing today. Seriously, I’m voting for you, but you’re gonna need to back the fuck off.

      • MagicShel@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        20 hours ago

        I deleted 148 mostly political spam emails that I got from Saturday to Tuesday. I’m glad to have donated a few bucks, but fucking Christ. I hear from a dozen people daily (or more) plus “guest solicitors” like half of Hollywood.

      • pyrflie@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 day ago

        I gave money to Berney in 2016 and I’ve been on mailing lists ever since.