How much do you give to charity?

Nottoobadyet

I should note that I don’t think it’s always a bad thing for a charity to have admin costs - complicated issues like international development and disaster relief need to be done properly, and can do lots of harm if they aren’t (read up on Oxfam in Biafra, for example). It’s important to have professionals doing this sort of work, or the money isnt as well spent and beneficiaries suffer. However, as an individual donor you are unlikely to ever be able to check up on your money, which is why I would rather have them (including the large charity I work for) funded by governments and major foundations who can keep tabs on them, audit them, ensure the quality of their services is up to scratch etc.

Of course that sort of funding is always accessible to your more local charities so I am happy to support them directly.

clairehi

[QUOTE=paulwf;35598861 I agree some of the larger charities seem to be run more like a business.

[/QUOTE]
I would expect ALL charities to be run like a business in terms of maximising value. I would not want to give money to charities that were not "business-like" and wasted money.

hethmar

We only give to small charities - where every person is a volunteer and there are no £100k a year jobs. We know every penny we give goes to the animals and nothing into someones lunch budget. In fact most of the volunteers at these small places end up poorer because they subsidise the centres.

clairehi

Neeny82 wrote: »

My friends son spent some time recently working for a charity as one of the people you see in town, door knocking to get you to sign up to the monthly donations. He received £20 for every person who signed up. I'm assuming that that money comes from the donations people make.

This is a practice that I personally dislike, I cant stand "chuggers" and I don't think charities do their reputations any good whatsoever by knocking doors like this.

However there is nothing wrong in charities paying people to do a job if they generate greater value for the charity than they cost to employ.

yummymummy79

£15pm Action Aid sponsoring a child/community in Uganda
£2pm Cancer Research UK
£2pm Water Aid
£4.54pm Dogs Trust
£3pm RSPCA

I have thought about reducing these from time to time, but then I think that I will be always a lot more well off than the community in Uganda for example so £15 is going to help them more than me. That's my thinking anyway!

Tend to do the Race for Life every year so raise money for that too, and give random amounts in collection boxes etc. Never sign up to any of the door to door ones though, prefer to make my own choice of who to support rather than it being thrust upon me.

clairehi

Nottoobadyet wrote: »

I should note that I don’t think it’s always a bad thing for a charity to have admin costs - complicated issues like international development and disaster relief need to be done properly, and can do lots of harm if they aren’t (read up on Oxfam in Biafra, for example). It’s important to have professionals doing this sort of work, or the money isnt as well spent and beneficiaries suffer. However, as an individual donor you are unlikely to ever be able to check up on your money, which is why I would rather have them (including the large charity I work for) funded by governments and major foundations who can keep tabs on them, audit them, ensure the quality of their services is up to scratch etc.

Of course that sort of funding is always accessible to your more local charities so I am happy to support them directly.

I think you make a valid point here about scrutiny, but isnt that what the Charity Commision is there for?

seven-day-weekend

We give regular direct debits totalling £16 a month to two charities (Water Aid and Barnabas Fund), regular but fluctuating amounts to our church and usually give small amounts to charities like Breast Cancer Research or Alzheimers if they are collecting in the street.

Nottoobadyet

The charity commission is great at identifying fraud specifically, but aren’t tasked with making sure overheads are reasonable / projects are effective, etc.

iamana1ias

clairehi wrote: »

My OH has signed us up for various charity direct debits over the years and we now give about £45 a month in total to the following charities:
NSPCC, Oxfam, National Deaf Childrens Soc, Amnesty, Macmillan, Red Cross, British Legion.

However we are now looking at tightening our belts and wondering whether to reduce payments.

I feel bad about it to be honest as I know charities are having a hard time at the moment. And at the same time, we (or rather OH) spend a lot on things like Sky which he has said he is not prepared to stop.

How much do other MSErs give to charity, and what would you prioritise charitable donations above?

All of thosecharities are multi million pound organisations. They are in no way struggling for money.

In fact, I'd say that supporting them is ensuring that other, smaller charities can't get a look in.

Cancer research raises around £300m per annum, but a reoatively small amount actually funds research.

Last year I gave around £5k to a small charity I'm involved with, and I volunteer for them for around 15 hours per week. I know that every penny goes where they say it does, and not into flashy TV adverts or fancy offices.

clairehi

iamana1ias wrote: »

In fact, I'd say that supporting them is ensuring that other, smaller charities can't get a look in.

oh well Ill cancel all my DDs with a clear conscience then.