Do you do a lot for charidee?

coops456

I am selfish with my time but I am an active payroll giver and prefer this method to any other for both regular monthly donations and one-offs for disaster relief etc. As well as the gift aid advantage, I am fortunate that my employer DOUBLE matches every pound to a max of £100/month.

So every £1 that I give actually means £3+tax to the charity. My employer? The Royal Bank of Scotland. :beer:

I have a mix of charitable causes big and small that are either particularly close to my heart (e.g. Stonewall, CF Trust), or which have caught my eye for interesting grassroots activities (e.g. CAMFED, Orbis).

I agree with Phil 'o Stine, it helps me to count my blessings and think about those in a less fortunate position. Last year I gave about 2.5% of my income and expect to improve on that. I am delighted that MSE itself is such a great contributor to charity.

Vital_Spark_2

I'm a sucker for charities. I have a small income so I give as little as £2 per 4wks (my DLA arrives every 4 wks hence the SO rather than Direct Debit), to many charities. I also put into buckets/boxs/buying poppies etc and I donate whenever I can to various charities as required (crisis funds etc). I also sponsor local folk raising money for charities or school funds etc adn donate clothign and bedding when possible and necessary. I even went into a charity shop once and p[aid over £50 for blankets to send when they had been requested.

When I was a teentsie wee child, I remember well, my father teaching me that, if a person has just one crust of bread - enough for only one person - and they share it, they double their wealth by making it, no matter how small, enough for two.

One fund raising practice I hate, however, and have stopped my donations because of, is guilt being used as a tool to collect: those charities, which send me coins telling me how much these coins would buy to save lives. What does one do? Keep the coins? Well, I now do then I put them into another charity.

One charity, in particular, which employs this practice is "World Villages". I used to donate, regularly via SO, but I was also receiving letters requesting further donations and then a telephone call to ask me to up my contribution. I explained, to the lady concerned, that, as someone living on a very small budget, I really did not like the practise of being made to feel guilty about not being able to donate. She told me she understood my concerns but that they found it a good "earner" so it would continue.

I asked her, if, in that case, they would remove me from their mailing list. She said they would but I still receive the letters of request with coins taped to them.

I also still feel guilty, though, especially as the letter also includes pictures of wee kiddies in dire need.

When you're thinking you're miserably poor, you can make youself feel rich by giving and still having enough.

justruth

My income varies week to week as I am an hourly paid staff member, however every weekend, I try and work out 10% of my income from every direction and give that back to the universe/god/whatever you believe in. I honestly believe that by doing this I am putting good karma out and when things get bad money has a way of sorting itself out. For example at easter I hurt my knee and was unable to work for a couple of months and I am still only back part time. When that happened I discovered this website, reclaimed my bank charges and had a 0% credit card support me while that paid out. It works for me.

Also I research the charities I donate to, and although I have nothing against Oxfam etc, I donate to smaller ones with lower management costs. I found that the people who stop you in the street were really pushy when I was unable to walk properly, and it is extremely hard to be polite when you are in severe pain. As a result I have made a personal vow to never donate to any charity that pays commission to the people who 'sell' it.

Hubcaps

I give to various tin rattlers if I like the charity and always to local, Marie Curie, Lifeboats or armed forces ones. I come from a forces family and my mother was a Marie Curie nurse for some years.

I used to do one of those £2 a month things to NSPCC but I got so fed up with the constant phonecalls asking me to up the monthly amount I cancelled the whole thing.

I will also never give money to a charity that has anything to do with any kind of organised religion.

Former_MSE_Archna

Poll Title: Poll Started 23 August 2006. Do you do a lot for charidee? How much and how often do you give to charity? Which of the following is nearest what you do?

4. Regular monthly donation. I pay 0.5% or less of my income
19.6% (451 Votes)

1. Charity begins at home. I need all my dosh and donate rarely
19.5% (450 Votes)

2. Coins in a bucket. I give as and when mainly to people collecting
17.8% (410 Votes)

3. Many one-offs. I give to lots of charities and sponsor people all the time 16.4% (379 Votes)

5. Regular monthly donation. I pay 0.5% to 2% of my income
8.1% (188 Votes)

9. I give time. I'm a volunteer
6.5% (151 Votes)

7. Regular monthly donation. More than 5%
5.7% (132 Votes)

6. Regular monthly donation. I pay 2% to than 5%
3.7% (87 Votes)

8. I don't believe in charity
2.1% (49 Votes)

Total Votes: 2297

BNU_2

I give a combination of time and "in kind" donations rather than cash to the charity I'm involved with, volunteering most Saturdays and attending meetings, helping with fundraising etc. but I also enjoy the more social side of it all, baking for the people we help and donating foods, or other more personal items, that we could not otherwise afford to distribute as a nice change/treat.

We deal with a lot of justifiably sad people living very difficult lives, but making a stranger smile, however briefly, becomes addictive, and people treated with kindness very soon become friends!

skintchick

I give ten per cent of my income to my church, which uses it for a variety of things including our project that helps families in poverty.

1012donna

I give my time - 5 hours a week to run a toddler group. My husband donates through his salary (don't know percentage). Also give to various events throughout the year.

southernscouser

I sponsor people I know for doing stuff and always buy a poppy but other than that I'm a tight wad!

When I'm debt free I will definately regularly donate. Probably to animals!

babes21

At work we have one charity day per month, we do different charities monthly so i always contribute to these.