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.

No, I’m broke…

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.

I have a few times but I’d rather donate my time.

I’ve been known to cook at community events and sort electronic donations at charities.

I started donating last year, 2 years into my first job. I was unsure then because my impression of charities was that the money probably doesnt go where they are saying, or just a small portion does.

Then I stumbled upon the GiveWell( https://givewell.org ) foundation. Their goal is to identify the most efficient charities using a range of criteria. I decided to start with 100€/month distributed 50/50 to fighting poverty and climate change respectively. I also decided that for every raise I get at my job Id raise the amount by 100€ and have done so once by now. I read that its easier to part with future money than with what you already own and it makes a lot of sense.

Yep donate to a lot, but I make sure it’s out of my planned donation budget or out of my (set amount) “feel like it” budget categories. I consider patreoning creators / journalists / FOSS seperate from charity, but I try to pay a fair subscription amount I’d give to paywalled stuff. Political donations I do occasionally as well but that too is not charity.

CharityNavigator is important to vet charities, and a good starting place to look for charities in causes you care about.

I try to focus 50/50 on local vs international stuff, which amounts to 10/90% impacts due to wealth discrepancies. I donate typically to organizations doing the work, but also do a smaller amount to UnitedWay (which if you are too tired, stressed, or distracted to do charity research is worth the lost efficiency as they do a lot of charity vetting for you).

I don’t donate monetarily to strangers on the street, but I do donate (time and money) to shelters and assistance programs who can bring a lot more aid per dollar than I can.

If you work for a corp, be sure to check if they have a matching program, you can double your impact.

I highly recommend using a email alias provider as you’ll get a lot of spam. I block most charity calls/text attempts to my phone number if they get it (I don’t understand how that is effective at all, but they all seem to do it).

I don’t usually donate to charities because the vast majority of the donation never actually goes to the cause it was donated for in the first place. However, I try to give cash to the homeless as often as Ican. On my drive home I frequently see homeless people and I try to give money and also bottled water that I usually have in my car. I don’t know what they’ll use it for, but it’s something I can do right there and then for them and I know they at least have the opportunity to buy some food / necessities, and I know they have water.

I don’t donate money because over half of my paycheck is already deducted from my pay. Germany does already a lot of welfare in my name and I’m proud of this and okay with this.

Also I’m aware of issues donations can cause, like material ones for instance, that can disrupt the economy of a poor country and prevent them from growing their own, so I don’t do that either.

I also believe it’s not good to keep another country depending on donations, because in the long run it will create more suffering when the donations can’t keep up. It’s a bit difficult to explain as a lot of processes interconnect here and it sounds heartless without explaining it in detail. Let’s say there are a lot of exceptions to the last part, as for instance a country currently at war should get as much donations a possible. However I personally also draw the line on countries who are at war constantly, as they seam to lack interest in stopping blood for blood conflicts and I’d rather not get involved into this, as it’s hard to tell who’s the good guys.

I thought about donating to local pet shelters and I might do that in the future, because they have a lot of pets suffering and not receive enough money to properly care for them. On the other hand I eat meat and where’s the differences between a dog or a cow? It almost feels hypocrite to eat one and trying to save the other. So probably reducing meat consumption is the best I could do. Much better than donations.

I accepted that I’m a human with needs and wants and therefore also egoism, else I’d donate all my money, as there’s always someone who’s life is worse than mine. But I don’t do that.

I am really poor by UK standards, living on disability payments which are among the lowest in Europe. Sometimes I have to use the foodbank in winter. However, in summer I also donate to them and also give to local charities and homeless people. I know a lot of people say do not give directly to the homeless, but I think that is wrong.I have been homeless and found a community of folk just like everywhere else. Some do spend it all on drugs, but many more do not! It is not my place to judge.

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.

4$ a month to wikipedia. It’s the most valuable thing the internet has spawned hands down

I try to donate a few bucks to FSF, GNU and Linux every year. Sometimes other projects as well. I don’t work, so I can’t do monthly donations.

Just feel it should be pointed out that money isn’t the only way to contribute. Time is another. Volunteer hours are important for many charitable organizations too.

No, because I’m selfish. I plan to retire early so I live frugally and invest all my savings.

Absolutely not.