I was thinking about it. I donate to quite a few charities, but they specifically mean something to me. Others I don’t really think about, though they’re good. I guess we all have a threshold or we’d be broke and for many that could be no donations at all or just a fiver the the street guy.
I donate monero or bitcoin to open source devs and or services.
No…I generally don’t buy food because life is too expensive. Now you’re expecting me to GIVE money to people??? You’re on crack.
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.
I prefer to donate time. I’m now president of one local non-profit (in addition to my paying job), and a regular participant in another. Sometimes I’ll donate supplies that we need, but never money.
If a time comes when I have little time and a lot of money, maybe I’ll switch. Donors are necessary. But I know that we need hands more than dollars.
No, but I donate time and sometimes items. I’ve seen how wasteful so many “charities” are. When less than half of what is donated actually goes to the end user that’s a problem. So I donate things that have to go to the end user, or at the very least in support of the end user.
Yeah, it’s tricky that, especially with international stuff. When something kicks off internationally and suddenly a bajillion charity groups appear, it’s troublesome.
And it’s my rule of thumb to just disregard anything from a religion, I won’t even bother checking into them. Whenever there’s been a charity called out for being evil, it’s ironically Christian-based.
I only donate to the Red Cross, too many others are scammers, and I don’t have time to filter. I also don’t donate blood anymore as most centers near me are for profit and I won’t promote actual blood money. I am still an organ donor on the basis of “I’m not using it anymore and the rest is getting burned”.
I donate blood at the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center because I know it’s going directly to the hospital. Of course I expect it to be used for others, but on a selfish note, it helps keep their supply of my blood type topped up just in case I need some one day.
I wish the Midwest had the west coast’s and Europe’s perspective on this. But I will not donate to any for profit blood center. Regardless of context.
Yeah I get that, literally blood money
No, because I’m selfish. I plan to retire early so I live frugally and invest all my savings.
4$ a month to wikipedia. It’s the most valuable thing the internet has spawned hands down
i used to give them money, until i saw their finances. they have become dependent on donations increasing year over year even though the running costs roughly follow inflation.
This should really be more widely known. It’s a case study of mission creep and bureaucratization. The cost of keeping the servers running, and even dev work, is at this point a smallish fraction of what they’re pulling in. The is rest going to various forms of outreach and activism. That’s fine, and the money is probably well spent. But they really should be more honest about why they’re asking for it.
Absolutely not.
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.
Reduce meat but don’t be hard on yourself about it, you’re an omnivore and you can care about animals. This is not mutually exclusive it’s just facts. Don’t let out of control vegans try to pull you into shit logic that addresses nothing of real value arguments. Reducing meat intake does a lot against the irresponsible commercial farming, and thank you for the efforts. Feel free to go look after some puppies now and nourish yourself with some proper intake iron every now and again. Acknowledge a life was given for it and dont take advantage of that. Be grateful and conscious about where it’s sourced.
Lots of charities focus on solving basic problems in developing countries, like building infrastructure or fighting corruption. They dont necessarily cause a dependency. Not saying you are wrong though, it is a complicated matter.
Your right, there’s for example Netzpolitik which fights for our internet rights. I’ve donated to them once. Totally forgot about them, shame on me.
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.
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.
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.
Not all charities are like that, there are many that operate very transparently and actually make a difference. Just because some people take advantage of the system behind it does not make donating less impactful if you do a bit of research.
What would the internet be without the no true Scotsman argument?
Oh that’s right: scammers with no vitriol.
Not sure what you mean. What would the No True Scotsman argument be in this case? It would need to make the same generalization while excluding the ones I mentioned, I dont see how that would work.
Terrible, no-good, cynical, nihilist take. If everybody took your advice, the world would be a worse place in short order. Sorry to be so blunt.
Your apology assumes I care about your opinion way too much.
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 thought the same until last year. Give https://givewell.org a look, they rank charities by efficiency and provide lots of insight.
Do they rank them by whether or not they’ll spam you with physical mail and sell your email? I need an efficient charity that I can give to anonymously.
I send money to their funds directly, they distribute it according to their ranking. I got 2 reminder mails (last year and this year) and 1 mail with the donation receipt earlier this year.
I am poor, I live in a country with a fraction of US average salary and high expenses. Although I have a house and car, I also have a family to support. I barely make it as it is, so no, I do not donate money.
Yes, mostly to research charities.
