Do you give money to charity?

Mr Benevolent · 18-07-2013 12:17pm

homer911 wrote: »

The irony with a name like that...

You've obviously never heard of the BBC radio comedy 'Bleak Expectations'.

Aside from that, all of what I've said is true, and refusing to believe it doesn't make it go away.

mattjack · 18-07-2013 12:23pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I watched a programme on BBC last night about three people/families who could barely afford food. I was so saddened by it. They had celebrity chefs go in an try to eat on the same budget as these folk.

The first guy was an old irish man, he ate almost nothing and lived in a little bedsit. He could only afford really cheap tins of soup and would make them last two days.

another was a single mother who worked full time, she had a teenage daughter and made sure her daughter ate the food which they got from the food bank, while she drank 20 cups of sugary tea a day just to keep going. She had lost 3.5 stone in 6 months, was anaemic, and at risk of bowel cancer.

I wondered about these food banks, I know we have St. Vincent de Paul and the likes, but have we anything like this? It's something I would be very interested in trying to set up here.

We do , Brother Lukes give out groceries once a week.

mattjack · 18-07-2013 12:30pm

Mr Benevolent wrote: »

You've obviously never heard of the BBC radio comedy 'Bleak Expectations'.

Aside from that, all of what I've said is true, and refusing to believe it doesn't make it go away.

You made one very good a relevant point a few posts back where you comment on the failings of our state mental health services , but I'll add to it for you ... guess where people with severe mental ill heath end up ?

In the arms of the homeless low threshold services.
I've seen five sections since Christmas.

homemadecider · 18-07-2013 12:35pm

Mr Benevolent wrote: »

Yes, they can read about their spending, but that's a quarter of the story. The majority of countries that need aid don't have the administrative capacity to handle and distribute the money, so the NGOs give it to the government. The government takes it and spends it on military equipment and luxuries. A small % of the money is turned into aid supplies to show willing and rest is dumped into numbered bank accounts in Luxembourg - Switzerland is not as popular anymore due to the removal of certain privacy laws.

The NGOs know this but literally can't do a thing about it. That's the stark reality, and it's why I don't donate to foreign aid NGOs or charities that don't make an active, measurable and real difference to people's lives in Ireland.

Rubbish. Do you think the NGOs just collect money and hand it over to governments? Trocaire work in partnership with local community-based organisations and non-profit groups. Concern are direct implementers, which basically means they are directly involved (via their staff and partners) in building wells, drilling boreholes, training people, assisting farmers with new techniques, etc.

If you were bothered to read any of their literature then you would know this. As I said, it's all readily available. Concern's website is particularly full of information.

Sleepy · 18-07-2013 12:48pm

Not in any organised fashion. I'd never pass an RNLI collection tin if I have change in my pocket but that's about it these days.

I'm skeptical as to where most of the cash ends up with many charities, dubious as to the long-term benefits of aid to the developing world and don't have much in the way of spare cash anyway as my salary is fleeced by the government every month which is supposed to pay to provide health and social services.

I'd also question the inherent inefficiency of the charity sector: when 20 charities are competing to help the same causes, the duplication of effort is ridiculous.

Mr Benevolent · 18-07-2013 12:49pm

homemadecider wrote: »

Rubbish. Do you think the NGOs just collect money and hand it over to governments? Trocaire work in partnership with local community-based organisations and non-profit groups. Concern are direct implementers, which basically means they are directly involved (via their staff and partners) in building wells, drilling boreholes, training people, assisting farmers with new techniques, etc.

If you were bothered to read any of their literature then you would know this. As I said, it's all readily available. Concern's website is particularly full of information.

If you want to believe the feelgood version that an NGO pretties up on its website, then that's your prerogative. I prefer to hear this stuff from the source. No doubt some aid gets through, but when Irish law states that a minimum of 5% of donations must go to the cause itself... well, you get the idea.

And don't get me started on fluffy animal charities... Jesus, more people are conned into giving money to those than anything else. The UK's biggest charity earner is a donkey sanctuary.

You made one very good a relevant point a few posts back where you comment on the failings of our state mental health services , but I'll add to it for you ... guess where people with severe mental ill heath end up ?

In the arms of the homeless low threshold services.
I've seen five sections since Christmas.

And that's why I donate only to those charities.

mawk · 18-07-2013 1:49pm

Here is a talk that I like. It puts a different spin on the idea about charities doing things with money that are not direct aid to the poor.

<iframe src="http://embed.ted.com/talks/dan_pallotta_the_way_we_think_about_charity_is_dead_wrong.html" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe>

In case embedding is disabled:
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pallotta_the_way_we_think_about_charity_is_dead_wrong.html

Personally I give money to Kiva. I think bottom up charity beats top down. And I got a repayment yesterday from a loan I gave to a man in Georgia who bought a milking cow which was nice. Now I can think about who to give the money to next.
Keep the one investment rolling over and helping more than one person.

Sir Humphrey Appleby · 18-07-2013 1:53pm

whirlpool wrote: »

Do you give money to charity and if so, do you believe your donation is going to make much of a difference?

If you don't give money to charity, is there any particular reason(s)?

Yes I do, and like most people if I didn't think it would make much of a difference I wouldn't be giving it.

fishy fishy · 18-07-2013 3:25pm

ted1 wrote: »

The government give it for me. A huge % of the tax I pay is given to people without jobs, sick people and foreign countries.

A lot if charities are used to make up the shortfall in government funding, such as Crumlin Hispital. There should be tax benefits for making donations to state run organisations

what's a hispital?

mrmanunited · 18-07-2013 3:38pm

mawk wrote: »

Personally I give money to Kiva. I think bottom up charity beats top down. And I got a repayment yesterday from a loan I gave to a man in Georgia who bought a milking cow which was nice. Now I can think about who to give the money to next.
Keep the one investment rolling over and helping more than one person.

Kiva is fantastic and shows how charities have evolved with the digital world. im waiting to see the first company to setup a kickstarter style charity... eg, please help fund a well in africa. £10 buys 100 bricks, £100 buys a pump etc. then shows all the costs behind, like admin, travel whatever... once the funding is complete, then it takes the money. and they update the donators etc!

Femme_Fatale · 20-07-2013 12:28am

Mr Benevolent wrote: »

They're mostly information services and do very little to actively and positively help except to be a relatively ineffectual lobby group. The majority of the homeless have mental illnesses, so I consider Simon and Focus Ireland to be one of the very few who make a real contribution, if only in providing some comfort to those in dire need.

Mental health treatment in this country is appallingly bad. It's still at the sweep it under the carpet/village loony stage. The UN actually had to step in in 2011 and tell the govt to change the laws. It's a sick joke at this stage.

There's nothing wrong with people being choosy re what charity they support, if they support any - very few of us have the resources to support them all, but with regard to mental health charities: Pieta House and Aware do excellent work.

I'm not seeing any real evidence from you that most mental health charities just piss the money away. Is it more that you just have that feeling?

Reindeer · 20-07-2013 11:48am

I spend most of my weekdays volunteering at an animal rescue.

corktina · 20-07-2013 11:56am

Keith wrote: »

Drunk one night, I decided to sponsor a Panda, it was £10 a month. Paid it for over a year before noticing. Its probably dead now anyway.

sponsored a Panda to do what? Could be worth a tenner if it was fire-walking or something cool..well hot I guess like that

MonstaMash · 20-07-2013 12:50pm

Personally I don't, but as a member of a motorcycle club, we contribute funds from rock nights etc. annually to a different charity.

MiseryMary · 20-07-2013 1:13pm

The charities that I support is the Cancer Society and Autism, when the ladies have the buckets there I throw in a few coins ,I never give my bank details to no charities and I absolute hate it when you walk around town someone is doing their charity normally guys wearing the t-shirts they try to get your attention to them and they keep blocking your way when you try to pass, "can i have a few moments" I tell them no and the still try to block you ,I hate it when the try to force it on you and its like 10e a month or whatever and bank details ,I'm like no sorry and walk away.

JuliusCaesar · 20-07-2013 1:19pm

Jumboman wrote: »

I'd much rather give money to someone on the street than a charity.

I never give money to beggars, it only encourages them. Most of them get Social Welfare anyway.

I contribute to a couple of charities.

Femme_Fatale · 20-07-2013 1:19pm

greenflash wrote: »

Not really. Occasionally extremely hostile towards street chuggers but generally I just walk on or say 'no you're ok'. Once or twice I've explained why I support the charities I do over those opposing puppy farms or such. In my head they can all **** right off but because I'm civilised and not overly confrontational, I just smile politely and move on or close the door as appropriate.

"My charity is better than yours."

Just support whatever charity you want but adding an afterthought as to how you don't give a FUK about other charities... renders your charitable nature a lot less so.

Chuggers are a scourge though, for sure.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k · 20-07-2013 1:50pm

I used to donate to concern I think it was 21 euro a month, and I stopped as I got fed up of those jerks that work for concern leaping out in front of me when I would be just trying to make my way to work. "I already donate to concern"
"That's great, could you afford to donate another 2 or 3 euro a month"

Fock off. If a regular donation isn't enough, and my money is helping keep those bastards on the street, it'd be better off in my bank tbh.

Now i give to local charities but mostly SPCA ones or cancer. Wouldn't be too bothered with any other ones tbh

Pumpkinseeds · 20-07-2013 3:34pm

I donate to small animal rescues, particulary ones that don't get much or ofen no government funding. All of the money goes on the needs of the animals and even very small donations make a huge difference to them. It's just making a small contribution to the welfare of animals in my community and I prefer to have the money spent helping animals in Clare and Limerick.

Do you give money to charity?

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