Recently at my 9-5 job we had our yearly giving campaign where you could pick what organizations you would like to donate to in 2013. I get really excited about spending time deciding which organizations I will donate to as well as how much I will be giving.
There are a few things I really love about this program:
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Automatic Deductions – You don’t “miss” the money because it is auto-deducted from your paycheck. I also use this trick for 401k, Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP), and HSA contributions. Granted my check starts looking pretty small compared to what it would be without all these auto-deductions, but I do think it’s the best approach to saving – or in this case, donating.
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Employee Match – For some organizations that I donate to, my company matches my donation dollar-for-dollar. While this doesn’t really influence my decision as far as which organizations I donate to, it’s a great incentive to donate in the first place.
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Jeans Days – If I had total influence over my company, everyone would wear jeans to work. Actually, everyone would work from home and we would only have shared work space for people that really needed to be in the same physical room as other people…but since I don’t have total influence, I am happy with the jeans days that are rewarded to our building when we reach a certain giving goal.
What I really want to talk about is the process of deciding which companies to donate to. With literally thousands upon thousands of nonprofits, it’s pretty easy to just pick at random or not donate at all.
There are a few things I factor in when choosing which nonprofits to donate to:
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Familiarity – I’m not opposed to donating to nonprofits that I am new to, but I generally pick organizations that I am familiar with. You don’t have to worry as much about whether or not they are fulfilling their mission of making effective use of resources when you have a background on their mission and operations. I have volunteered a few times at Feed My Starving Children and I have seen first hand their operations and how they go about making their mission a reality.
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Reviews and Analysis – I trust sites like Charity Navigator that do analysis of nonprofit organizations giving details like what percentage of expenses goes to administration, fundraising, and programs. They even have the organization’s income statement, compensation of leaders, and accountability and transparency metrics. There are definitely a number of nonprofit organizations that are not listed on Charity Navigator, but it’s a good place to start your research.
- Mission – Obviously some nonprofits have missions that are more important to you than other nonprofits. Considering what the nonprofit’s mission is and how high a priority it is for you personally is something to consider before pulling out the checkbook or pledging funds.
I will admit that I also have made one-time donations to political campaigns and to people raising funds for mission trips. When it comes to organizations they would probably much rather have consistent donations over a long period of time rather than one-time donations. Even though people can stop donating at any time, if they have a track record of consistently giving (even if it’s not that much) the nonprofit can feel a lot more stable even in the unpredictable environment of nonprofits.
I highly value the work of nonprofit organizations, and I would encourage you to consider donating to at least one if you currently do not donate at all. Please give me your thoughts about this topic in the comments below.
Do you donate to nonprofits? How do you decide which nonprofits to donate to? How do you decide how much to donate?
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Photo by Elaine Vigneault
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I have given in the past. I use many of the same criteria that you do. I tend to look at the mission and the amount that actually goes to work (vs. admin costs). I don’t want to give to an organization that’s going to eat up a good chunk of the money before it actually hits the front lines.
@FrugalRules that is definitely a big factor for me, tho I do try to keep it in context – it’s much easier for a huge nonprofit to keep admin ratio down but some newer nonprofits may need to keep theirs higher for the time being while they are in startup mode.
We usually give to a couple of places. Typically we give to our local food bank, the Rotary Club I belong to, and the homeless shelter. We have a history with these organizations and know that the money (or food) is going somewhere that it will do good.
@GregatClubThrifty that’s great!
We donate but not as much as before. We used to have a monthly amount just taken straight out of our bank accounts, but then we found out that the president of the non-profit made over $1 MILLION dollars a year. And he was only the president of our local chapter, so I can’t even imagine what the nationwide president made. This made us not trust the non-profit at all.
@SenseofCents sounds like you need to find a different non profit to donate to!
I’m like you in that I stick with the charities I know. I always donate to the red cross when a disaster strikes. A lot of times though, I’m putting my trust and faith that the organization will disperse the funds ethically.
@Beachbudget there is a lot of trust involved in giving, that’s for sure.
We donate to local pet shelters in our area because it does cost a lot, as you have mentioned, to care for pets properly.
@TacklingOurDebt nice job connecting my posts ;) those sheters definitely need the funds to continue operating!
I like non profits that will put 100% of personal donations towards their cause, like Charity Water. The daily expenses are covered by companies who sponsor them. I also like local charities where I can see where my money goes. Actually to a food bank I try to donate food, not money for example.
@RFIndependence That’s a great approach, good for you!
Thanks for the tip on Charity Navigator! I’ll definitely look into that when I choose my charity gifts this season. My family usually gives donations to nonprofits in each others’ names as Christmas gifts instead of more material things (I’ll be writing a blog post about it in the next few weeks)!
I always look at how much of the money raised actually goes to the cause. A lot of British charities have HUGE overheads!
A great deal of our donating comes in the form of donating actual items. My wife’s work often has outreach type programs. She’s made blankets and goodwill packs at work. We’ve also donated stuff we get for free from couponing, toothpaste,hairspray, soap, deodorant ect… to an army base in Afghanastan that had it’s supply area bombed. It was stuff they really needed, and we were happy to help. I’d prefer to not give money when possible, because I know how much overhead can be for some organizations.
I love that your company does a match for some charities. I try to spread out donations throughout the year and adopt a family at Christmas.
I’ve donated to a climate change campaign led by Al Gore. OH, I can already tell what you’re thinking :) I think I donated $100 or so at the time but what followed was a series of spam emails I could care less about. Instead of pulling me more into the issue by providing information on what’s going on, I got a bunch of emails asking for more donations and to buy $60 t-shirts. Seriously?!
The only organization I donate to now is called the Blood Drive :) Paying my debts in blood, mwuahahahaha. I think I’m sleepy.
That’s pretty awesome that you work for someone who will match some of your donations. How do they decide which ones to match?
I only really ever donate to about 2 charities. One is for cancer research and the other is to help people with cancer.
I had a very close friend pass away from cancer earlier this year and now i’m more determined than ever to donate as much as possible to help out both of those causes.
I use the give guide for charities in my area. http://giveguide.oaktree.com/Welcome.aspx
There are so many things that go in factoring the liability
of a charity. You should know about how long the http://alexpicottrust.com/ has been working and what amount
of relief they have provided. After all you will be donating your hard earned
money so make sure that it is put to good use.