How much do you give to charity?

dixie_dean_2

clairehi wrote: »

What I didnt expect when I posted this thread was the spurious reasons that some people would come up with for not giving anything to charity.

"Im a single white man and no-one would care if I was in the gutter"

"I once went to a dogs home and the staff were chatting over a coffee"

"Someone I went golfing with said that not much money reaches the beneficiaries"

"My OH went to a charity's office and there were expensive cars in the car park"

"I dont give to charity as it increased my tax liability" (total rubbish and the poster has not responded to my challenge on this"

"I would only give money if I could give the £5 directly to a starving child (really? what would they do with a £5 note- eat it?)

All of the above people should be ashamed of themselves for coming up with such pathetic rationalisations for not giving to those less fortunate. I wish I could send Bob Geldof round to tell them a few home truths.

I think let's send Bob round to sing for them as punishment. Totally agree with what you say though. I'd persoanlly say that anyone in this country should give soemthing to charity as relatively speaking we are so well off. I always increase my dd when I get a payrise which I think is important. Regarding the issue of chuggers, I believe the average length of a charity DD is 6 years (admittedly this may be classed as preying on peoples' laziness and stupidity but that's another issue) so paying the people who get the sign-ups is easily justified. More importantly, as someone else has said, it's only necessary as people need prompting.

iolanthe07

I give 5% of my net (after tax and putting roof over my head) income to the church I belong to - £120 a month, but they get 28% more because I Gift Aid it. I would like to increase it to the Biblical tithe (10%), but not possible at the moment.

inkie

I give the biblical tithe (10% of income) to my church. I am the minister there. I also give over and above this throughout the year (total of about £250 per year). I then also give to sponsorship events for other charities, adn I have a £10 per month DD to NSPCC. I donate to the charity shop monthly, and also do Race for Life each year.

peachyprice

clairehi wrote: »

You have assumed I cant "afford" to give money to charity which is an incorrect assumption on your part as you know nothing about my financial situation.

Erm, wasn't the whole point of your first post asking if you should cut down on dontations to charities or cut back elsewhere?

serious_saver

inkie wrote: »

I give the biblical tithe (10% of income) to my church. I am the minister there. I also give over and above this throughout the year (total of about £250 per year). I then also give to sponsorship events for other charities, adn I have a £10 per month DD to NSPCC. I donate to the charity shop monthly, and also do Race for Life each year.

I know a lot of people who do the same so it doesn't surprise me how much some people give to charity.

I also have friends who work for charities. Their pay is ok but not great. One in particular could easily work for some of the biggest advertising/marketing companies in the UK (and has been offered plenty of these jobs before) instead she chooses to work for a regional charity and has single handedly turned it around into a real earner - paying for numerous specialist health care professionals and facilities. I would have no concerns in donating money to them and i often do.

Giving to charity is a deeply personal thing and each individual will be influenced by their life experiences. Things will happen in everyones lives that will change their priorities and I don't like to judge people on what they choose to give today as you never know what may change in the future.

peachyprice

clairehi wrote: »

OK final word on this. Did you actually read any of the original posts that I was quoting and use your brain to think about the reasoning that had been applied by them? All those people said they did not donate to any charity whatsoever for the lame reasons I detailed in my post. I find that highly offensive to all decent charities.

But it's not for you to decide which reasons are 'lame' and which are valid. Just because you do not agree with the reasons people do not dontate does not give you the right to belittle people and to say they should be ashamed.

diable

!!!!!! all nowadays as I am sick to the hind teeth of all the chuggers as where I used to work there would be swarms of them and I remember one charity chugger screaming at another one outside Kings X that "this is our pitch will you f****** leave" and now they have started calling at home, I did invite the young lady down to my basement to discuss the direct debit but she declined ;o))))

I give clothes to the local charity shop that donates to the cats league and thats it.

dixie_dean_2

Hahaha, over a glass of Chianti?

gizmodo_2

I used to give money to animal charities, but worried about where the money went and got fed up of the leaflets/magazines etc that I'd get through the post. So instead I rehomed 2 rabbits and this is my way of helping out 2 animals...wish I could rehome more

I also take things to my charity shop and always sponsor friends and colleagues and do the odd sponsored run/cycle myself.

I think £45 a month is very generous, but only you know what you can afford. I wouldn't feel bad about cutting this amount down if you need too. There are also other ways to help in life, for example giving blood is an idea that doesn't cost anything.

VK-2008

if you still wish to give to all your charities reduce your direct debits to £2 that would be 14 a month


just remember charity starts at home

charity is not all about the money

you can volunteer your time and efforts