Charitable Donations 14 July 2014 at 11:01AM in Charities 16 replies 2.4K views

Emmamumof2

Does anyone contribute a small amount monthly to a few charities? We thought it might be nice for each of us to nominate one charity to give a small amount to monthly - to get the kids more involved etc - so I thought £3 each as they are 5 of us - and the kids want the dog to nominate one too - so 6 of us - but will that even be worth bothering?


Or should we all decide one for the year and give £18 or whatever to that charity per month for this year and change next year...interested to hear how others give?


At the moment its more like giving at bucket collections and that kind of thing, since these are always ongoing at our local supermarket but I'd prefer something more structured, to give the kids a focus....


We have in the past become embroiled in lots of charity giving via DD which is great and didn't become an issue until we hit on harder financial times...so we cut back, that and the charities used to phone quite a lot asking for increases....which I know they have to do but my husband never took kindly to those calls.

Savvy_Sue

Personally I'd take a yearly vote for which charity to support for the coming year, and get involved. I'd look for smaller local charities which are hopefully less likely to pressurise you to give more, and may have local events you can support as well. (By local that includes charities set up locally which work overseas.)

However you could do both: put a small amount into one pot each month and vote to send it off every six months, say, and do a regular thing.

If you make clear to a charity how much contact you want, they should respect your wishes ...

Emmamumof2

Thanks Sue, I know the charities have to raise awareness and ask for higher donations from existing donors but when you're already supporting some charities and things have become tougher financially it's not always easy. I'd love to give to everyone but it's just not possible.

Savvy_Sue

Emmamumof2 wrote: »

I'd love to give to everyone but it's just not possible.

Really? I'm quite picky ... :rotfl:

Seriously, it is worth looking at annual reports and the charity commission's page: is the charity up to date with its annual returns, do they look as if they use the money wisely, is it something you / your children CARE about?

I tend to support charities where I know someone working for them, or ones doing work which affects me and mine. For example, DH has had a medical condition all his life, which has sometimes affected him quite badly, so I'm a member of that national support group.

knightstyle

Whatever you decide to do make sure you deal DIRECTLY with the charity and not through a fundraising company.
Many/most of the people you see in supermarkets and around the shopping areas of towns work for a private company and even though you make out the DD to the charity the first payments are sent to this company by the charity! I think this is a SCAM and should be stopped.
Two years ago one of the papers did a report on this and some charities paid more than half the money raised back to fundraisers!

Emmamumof2

We had a family vote and decided to do a bit to each charity each month! My 6 yo daughter picked Water Aid, we chose the local Children's Hospital on behalf of our baby, I chose Breakthrough, Husband chose local cancer hospital, and my son is deciding which animal he wants to adopt! The dog has *chosen* the Dogs Trust! So I've set them all up directly with each charity via the website - I'd never sign up in the Supermarkets although we do give to bucket collections. I don't like the door to door guys either. You have to be so careful these days with this kind of thing, I only find out that Justgiving take a small proportion of your fundraising after I'd raised over £1,000 for Breakthrough, which was very neglectful of me, but I know for next time!


Thank you for your input!

elsien

I give small amounts monthly by direct debit. I was only phoned once re increasing the amount and I made it clear that if I got any further marketing calls I would stop the subscription. Not been a problem since.
(I do like the idea of the dog supporting the dog's trust.)

Savvy_Sue

Emmamumof2 wrote: »

You have to be so careful these days with this kind of thing, I only find out that Justgiving take a small proportion of your fundraising after I'd raised over £1,000 for Breakthrough, which was very neglectful of me, but I know for next time!

On the other hand, by giving through JustGiving, the charity had less work to do, so don't knock it!

Always worth checking which online donation services the charity is registered for, and which they'd prefer you to use if you're setting up a fundraising page though.

Mids_Costcutter

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

On the other hand, by giving through JustGiving, the charity had less work to do, so don't knock it!

Always worth checking which online donation services the charity is registered for, and which they'd prefer you to use if you're setting up a fundraising page though.

True, but Virgin Money Giving (not for profit) only make a charge of 2% on the donation amount whereas JustGiving make a charge of 'up to 5%' of the donation amount. JustGiving also charges charities a monthly subscription fee which Virgin don't. However there are a number of other charity giving platforms which can provide even better value for charities as this recent MSE web site article demonstrates:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/charity-fundraising-sites

Savvy_Sue

Mids_Costcutter wrote: »

True, but Virgin Money Giving (not for profit) only make a charge of 2% on the donation amount whereas JustGiving make a charge of 'up to 5%' of the donation amount. JustGiving also charges charities a monthly subscription fee which Virgin don't. However there are a number of other charity giving platforms which can provide even better value for charities as this recent MSE web site article demonstrates:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/charity-fundraising-sites

All true, but my advice to check with the charity stands! We are still registered with both Virgin and JustGiving, possibly some of the others as well, and find that worthwhile.

Mids_Costcutter

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

All true, but my advice to check with the charity stands! We are still registered with both Virgin and JustGiving, possibly some of the others as well, and find that worthwhile.

Is that because many fundraisers, for example those wanting to do a bike ride or swim, will start with JustGiving and then chose a charity that appeals to them? Or do most people start out knowing which charity they wish to support? Does your charity not encourage fundraisers to use Every Click as a platform as it reduces costs and maximises the donation amount? If a charity doesn't register and pay a subscription with JustGiving is that a disadvantage?

I'd be grateful to know more about how the process works!