Tween Titans
4 Tips for Making Sure Your Charity Is REALLY Helping Those in Need
Every year as the holidays approach, my mailbox is stuffed with solicitations from dozens of charities. So many charities, and they all sound so worthy! If only I were a bazillionaire, I could give to them all. But I'm not, so I have to be picky.
Fortunately I have a little help. There are rating systems that give you a snapshot of how charities use their money so you know exactly how it's being used. And I have a few other guidelines I follow.
1. Find out how the charity rates. Charity Navigator is probably the best-known charity ratings service. Last year they added an accountability and transparency dimension to their ratings. Their website includes loads of advice for donors.
2. But keep an open mind about what those ratings mean. Here's why simple ratings systems can be problematic, though. Doesn't mean they aren't still useful, just that the picture is always more complicated than that.
3. Pick one or two categories to focus on. As much as I'd love to help a whole variety of causes, I've narrowed my giving to just two types: Organizations that address hunger and that help mothers. And I could probably stand to narrow that a bit more. But it helps to remind myself that every donation can have a ripple effect in a community. Helping mothers helps our children, too, for example.
4. Think local. There are lots of smaller, local organizations that are doing great work in your community. I like to look for charities that are founded by people from within the community by people who understand its needs best, and who are coming up with creative solutions.
How do you decide which organizations to donate to?
Replies
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I'm trying to find an animal shelter that needs to rebuild after Sandy, but the closest I can find is the North Shore Animal League.
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My students (they are former foster youth in college) and i are doing a potluck and clothes swap at the end of the quarter. They will bring their clothes they don't want anymore and then they can swap out clothes with others. Any clothes remaining will go to charity. I contacted a foster youth organization and they are going to find a place for us to donate to foster youth.
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We give to local food drives, we give $ to help our church's sister parish in Haiti, and ds2's Cub Scout pack gives to Toys For Tots, so we do that.
We're more of a "give our time" family- dh is an asst Scoutmaster w/ ds1's Boy Scout troop, I'm an asst den leader in ds2's Cub Scout pack, I'm cookie mom for dd's Girl Scout troop, and I volunteer in their schools.
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I donate a small amount out of every check to our local United Way. I've donated to them for years. They work locally, and they make sure that the smaller organizations that they contribute to meet certain standards.