Do you give money to "charity" ?

i71jskz5xu42pb · 07-02-2017 05:07PM

Regularly http://kiva.org (microlending), https://watsi.org/ (fund medical procedures) and occasionally to Merchants Quay.

I'm no longer a big fan Irish charities, too little governance, too many of them doing the same thing.

Arcade_Tryer · 07-02-2017 05:09PM

I previously donated €5 per month to Amnesty International but cancelled my subscription when I stopped working full time to return to study. Now I just follow Colm O'Gorman on Twitter.

There are homeless people (Well Roma Gypsy so they don't count as people obviously) in the town where I live and I often throw them a few cent too.

Very hard to believe in the charity sector in Ireland. In a decent, fair society charity should merely be a subsidy, an addition, to Government failings. Obviously the charity sector is now an industry in Ireland, and like all lucrative industries, tends to incorporate the worst of Irish institutional behaviour, seen in the cases of Console and Rehab recently for example.

Elemonator · 07-02-2017 05:14PM

Tom05 wrote: »

I think "charities" are some of biggest scams going.

Over 80% of the money they bring in can go into "administration" before they even give out a penny to the people that need it.

If someone from a "charity" asks me for money the first question I ask them is how much their CEO is being paid.

When they tell me the salary of the CEO I say to them "you must be joking your asking me for money when your CEO gets 140k".

A far better solution to having "charities" would be to give money directly to the people that need it. With the likes of gofundme etc.

I think GoFundMe take a small fee but its fairly nominal.

I admit I don't anymore. I used to a bit but between multiple scandals and extortionate pay to employee pay, I have stopped. In many of these charities, a large percentage of the money will not see its intended benefactor. I have friends who worked with UNICEF doing door to door donations recently to pay for college and they were getting 12 euro an hour. I am nearly sure I have seen an Oxfam job ad for the same amount.

Then you have the Console etc. scam, is there any real charities who work with mostly volunteers out there who give most of the money to the ones who need it the most? I'm sure there are but few, all of which have suffered because of the stuff mentioned above.

07-02-2017 05:16PM

Arcade_Tryer wrote: »

There are homeless people (Well Roma Gypsy so they don't count as people obviously) in the town where I live and I often throw them a few cent too.

Walter H Price · 07-02-2017 05:18PM

Depends on the charity , have monthly direct debits with Phibsboro Cat rescue , Dogs Trust the DSPCA and Cat's aid.

I'd give money ad hoc to the asthma people or the cancer society if there was a bake sale in work or that

Arcade_Tryer · 07-02-2017 05:19PM

Omackeral wrote: »

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pilly · 07-02-2017 05:22PM

Have monthly direct debit to Focus Ireland because 80% of the money goes directly into services. I don't really care what the CEO earns to tell the truth if he's doing a good job and keeps that % at 80.

Also directly give money to anyone who asks me on the street because I reckon if they're desperate enough to beg then they need it. Don't care what their back story is or whether they buy drink or smokes or whatever out of the money.

Kalimah · 07-02-2017 05:30PM

baby and crumble wrote: »

I may get piled on, but I work for a charity.

I get a decent wage (I'm not CEO!), it pays the mortgage and the bills.

I'm doing what I love, using my skills to effect change.

We don't collect money from the public though. Never have and I sincerely doubt we ever will.

I urge everyone who is thinking about donating to a charity to look them up, check them on the regulators website, look at the financial statements (they should have them on the CRA site and their own site, but if they aren't there ask for them), there are lots of good charities out there that are doing a lot with quite a little.

99% of the charities I know are so keen to prove their worth and demonstrate transparency. We hate what the scandals have done, that's not what we got into the sector to do. I could be making a lot more money if I had stayed in my original career path, or if I moved out of the sector, but I won't.

I couldn't agree more! I have worked for two separate charities and before I went to work for either, looked through annual reports and checked that they were compliant with recommended accounting practices for charities. I also had a look at salary levels. I was manning in the phones in one charity and when the whole Rehab/CRC scandal broke, the veritable hit the fan. We came out of it well but i was practically sending my payslips out to donors to prove our bona fides.
I give a €10 a month to a tiny Irish charity, and €10 to an international one.I cancelled my contribution to Rehab many moons ago when the scandal broke. As I work for a charity and donate on a regular basis besides the odd donation here and there I reckon I'm doing my bit.

freshpopcorn · 07-02-2017 05:58PM

We'd have a relative who's a priest in Africa and we'd give him money to buy supplies because he does a lot out their for charity. Would also donate to local charities around our area.
I generally wouldn't donate to charities that require your bank details and we used to always give to animal rights charities but wouldn't anymore.

diomed · 07-02-2017 07:32PM

I give bicycles to World Bicycle Relief, not old second-hand inappropriate choppers or mountain bikes shipped out at enormous expense, but I pay for bikes World Bicycle Relief make in Africa (employing Africans) that are designed for local conditions and given to secondary school students in rural areas. I'm well into double figures. Anytime I win on the horses I contribute and also at Christmas when some kind rich person contributes a bike for every bike bought.

I contribute by monthly debit to an orphanage in northern Argentina.
And money to build a school at Lodwar in northern Kenya.

You might notice I don't contribute to the six figure salaries of charity management in Ireland.

Beasty · 07-02-2017 07:35PM

Yes I give money to charity and other good causes

However I am quite choosy over who I make my donations to. I need to have trust that it will not be wasted

I also like to donate to causes where I think I can make a big difference either to the cause as a whole or individuals in need.

sbsquarepants · 09-02-2017 02:34PM

baby and crumble wrote: »

We don't collect money from the public though. Never have and I sincerely doubt we ever will.

Where does the money come from then?

pilly wrote: »

Also directly give money to anyone who asks me on the street because I reckon if they're desperate enough to beg then they need it.

You've a lot to learn pilly.

pilly · 09-02-2017 02:41PM

sbsquarepants wrote:

You've a lot to learn pilly.

I'm a middle aged Dub so I don't have much to learn about people. I prefer not to always assume the worst, true. What harm if I give someone a few euro and they buy drink? No skin off my nose.

Mr. FoggPatches · 09-02-2017 02:58PM

sbsquarepants wrote:

I think in the case of Dan Pallotta, what he says is true - you pay the big bucks to get someone who has the skills to make a real difference, there are people out there who would like to help and who have the skills and education to make a real difference, but at the end of the day why should they sacrifice their own families future to do so when they could be earning big bucks elsewhere. There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to do well for yourself and your family.

The corollary to Dan's beautifully crafted idea is:
Why should anyone give anything to charity instead of keeping it for themselves and their own family?

mickmac76 · 09-02-2017 03:55PM

I've given €30 a month to charity for the last six years. I know we in Ireland have had financial problems since the celtic tiger collapsed but we're still an awful lot better off than most of the world and I feel obliged to help when I can.

Temptamperu · 09-02-2017 03:59PM

"yes"

Silo18 · 09-02-2017 04:01PM

I do.

I've been to enough disadvantaged places to realise how fantastically lucky I've been through a mere accident of birth.

Mr. FoggPatches · 09-02-2017 04:06PM

I threw a bucket of iced water over my head for Facebook.

lawred2 · 09-02-2017 04:07PM

Mr. FoggPatches wrote: »

I threw a bucket of iced water over my head for Facebook.

oh god that was the stupidest thing ever

09-02-2017 04:19PM

I donate to an animal charity regularly
I just checked the latest books I could find and most of the income was spent on the actual charity work rather than admin so phew
Homeless ones also when I can. They usually seem to be direct

osarusan · 09-02-2017 04:20PM

I don't give money to "charity", I give "money" to charity.

thomasdylan · 09-02-2017 04:22PM

I don't give money to charity beyond a few euro to Wikipedia. I don't give money to people begging on the street either, there's quite a few in Dublin who clearly aren't genuine. An ex of mine worked for one of the homeless charities, possibly focus Ireland and she wouldn't be able to walk past anyone without giving them money. She'd be disgusted at me. Again.

I've been out to Moldova volunteering a couple of times which eases my conscience.

I hate those skydiving for charity volunteers though and the like. A largely selfish endeavour dressed up as charity.

osarusan · 09-02-2017 04:26PM

thomasdylan wrote: »

I hate those skydiving for charity volunteers though and the like. A largely selfish endeavour dressed up as charity.

I've mentioned this before - I wonder the funds raised for a cause compare when the question is 'I want money for good cause X" versus "I want money to do a skydive in support of good cause X." Which way are people more likely to donate? Which way will the good cause end up with more money?

lawred2 · 09-02-2017 04:31PM

Person A "I'm going to do a 200km walk in Peru for 3 months, It's for charidee - Admin fees are 8k but everything after that goes to charidee - seriouslee"

Person B "Which charity?"

Person A "Ummm - one of those children ones. I'll also be doing a bungee jump as part of it"

Person B "............"

pilly · 09-02-2017 04:33PM

lawred2 wrote: »

Person A "I'm going to do a 200km walk in Peru for 3 months, It's for charidee - Admin fees are 8k but everything after that goes to charidee - seriouslee"

Person B "Which charity?"

Person A "Ummm - one of those children ones. I'll also be doing a bungee jump as part of it"

Person B "............"

I laughed at that.

But tbf I think you have to pay your own costs.

lawred2 · 09-02-2017 04:33PM

The bucket shakers at the checkouts drive me insane

Around where we live it's usually something ridiculous like the local girls' hockey team seeking funding for a trip to France or something..

Seriously just f**k off

pilly · 09-02-2017 04:35PM

lawred2 wrote: »

The bucket shakers at the checkouts drive me insane

Around where we live it's usually something ridiculous like the local girls hockey team seeking funding for a trip to France or something..

Seriously just f**k off

That I totally agree on, and they don't know how to pack bleeding bags!!!

lawred2 · 09-02-2017 04:35PM

pilly wrote: »

I laughed at that. But tbf I think you have to pay your own costs.

Let me tell you that that isn't always the case... I was considering a walk for a well known Irish children's charity. You had to raise a certain amount to go on the walk. Nothing came out of your own pocket. Unless you wanted it to pay that bit first of course. It was a walk in a well known sunny part of the world.

JaCrispy · 09-02-2017 04:40PM

I don't give anything to charity except my old clothes. I don't volunteer except for my helping out with my local soccer club.

Academic · 09-02-2017 04:42PM

Tom05 wrote: »

I think "charities" are some of biggest scams going.

Over 80% of the money they bring in can go into "administration" before they even give out a penny to the people that need it.

[...]

There are many fine and effective charities out there and it seems a bit unfair for people to refuse to donate to them just because there are also some ineffective ones and they can't be bothered to distinguish between the two.

Do you give money to "charity" ?

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