Stopping donating to charities...advice please

tincat

Hi all,

For the last 2.5 years, I've had a direct debit off to Red Cross, (Since the tsunami), and also one to nspcc.

Both of them I've heard disturbing things about. Red cross apparently have huge admin (and I know as they keep sending me gumf asking me to up my donations etc), and the nspcc support keeping the family courts secret, which I think is the most disgusting thing ever - as people have their babies / children taken away from them under the most spurious charges, and cannot publicise the fact, EVER.

Can anyone give me good reasons to continue / other good reasons to discontinue these donations? Have you seen direct evidence of them doing good out there?

I like the feeling of donating, but hate the thought that the orgs I've chosen are doing little good.

I have also been wondering how the nspcc actually prevent child abuse with donations (as per the relentless adverts) - surely they can only deal with the after effects? They can't change society to prevent sickos doing things can they?

I'm just rambling now, but I've been meaning to stop / divert these payments to something better, and maybe you can shed better light on the situation.

melancholly

i give money monthly to MSF and they do, peridoically, send me out an update - but it has the precise costs for printing and posting written down on it, i guess to avoid people accusing them of wasting their money. i also know that they get a lot of volunteers in, not only to do work abroad, but also to do admin in their offices. i imagine many charities do the same

i'm sure the red cross and the nspcc are making dramatic changes to people's lives every day, but if you're not comfortable supporting them, here is a link to the register of charities from the charities commission - you can search to find something that you can entirely support.

http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/search.asp?position=1&oparea=K

Primrose

I suspect the larger the charity, the higher the proportion of your donation which is spent on admin, rather than doing good in the field. Whilst I'm sympathetic to the idea of giving to charity, I sometimes feel that the charities which are the most effective are the smaller ones, with low staff overheads and admin costs and who rely heavily on volunteers put virtually all their income to the benefit of the their "clients". Big charities have to compete with commercial organisations if they want to employ effective staff, paying market salaries, company cars, etc.and this swallow up huge amounts of cash. Personally I'd rather support something like my local wildlife sanctuary or hospice where my the value of my donations goes further.

alant1000

its one of those taboo subjects. I had a small donation of £20 to red cross, action aid and i think unicef each month for years, and then i cancelled them all about 2 months ago, £60 is a lot and i think i did my bit. One of the main reasons i cancelled apart from the fact i needed the money was all the junk mails i got, the amount they spend on marketing must be phenominal. I disagree with it to a certian extent, as ideally i'd have liked every penny of my £60 a month to go to helping those in more need than me. OK, maybe not a realistic wish, but i'd love to know how much of the £20 was spent on marketing, operations and admin. Plus at least some of their staff work for a wage (maybe not the street vendors, does anyone know??), so how much?

I got some money back i wasnt expecting a while ago, not alot, only £120, but i was in a good mood and wrote a cheque to my local hospital. I know that they really need the money and will (hopefully probably) spend it on something that makes a small difference.

I dont have a major problem with the charity street vendors, and if they work for free fair play, but lets be realistic i often get approached by bubbly pretty girls with a huge smile and a bit of charm to help push things along. There have been a few occasions where i have offered a £10 one-off, but THEY HAVE SAID NO, it has to be a direct debit, why cant they give me a numebr to ring on my mobile there and then to offer a one off dontation, i thought that needed the money badly?? I did do something maybe a little harsh once, and i was approached, i told her i would donate £10 a month, if she rang my local hospital (an organisation close to my heart) and donated £10 over the phone on the spot. She said no and looked a bit pee-d off. I wasnt catching her out, just getting her to practice what she preaches.

Tincat - with a charity you can just ring the bank or go in and cancel the DD. Its not a service or subscription like the gym, so they cant chase non payments. Halifax did my cancels on the spot.

I stick to local small charities as i feel that my money goes further with them

LilMissEmmylou

i donate £1.50 a week to a small charity called engagehivaids.com it was set up by some friends of mine in a Christian worship band. I know exactly what my money goes to as i get 3 texts a week for my donation to tell me things that the money is being spent on. No junk mail, no junk emails etc etc so although i cant donate anymore than i do to them at the moment, its great to know exactly what my money goes on

Milarky

May I suggest to anyone who wonders why they bother to consider opening a Charities Aid Foundation account? This is a charity in its own right which provides banking services to many charities BUT the appeal of having one of its personal accounts is that you can use this to pay out to as many different charities as you care to support - one offs or standing orders - AND all donations can be anonymous if you choose. This is great, because there is nothing worse than feeling that charities only want your details so they can put you on their mailing lists and send you endless appeals - and you respond sometimes out of guilt. Well, if the b****rs don't know who you are they can't pester you again can they? I put all my giving through my CAF account and that leaves me with a balance from which I can donate to other charities that catch my attention (in the media etc) from time to time. I find therefore that I am supporting numerous charities - but not all at the same time necessarily. If some piece of news about a particular charity puts me off from donating for a while then I just cut off their funding quietly and no one will bother me for it.

Technically when you make your donation it is 'to' CAF and they claim the tax relief for you and add it to the account. They take about 4% of your donation for themselves - which is fair they provided a great service after all. All the money in 'your' CAF account is legally theirs but they allow you to direct it to any registered charity - and there are 1000s. So if you died suddenly any undistributed balance is then made available to CAF for general purposes - a very tidy arrangement.

tifnstav

charity street vendors get paid heaps, I've seen adverts on recruitment websites.
just go onto totaljobs.com and use the keyword charity, its megabucks for telemarketing jobs and who actually agrees to donate as a result of these calls?
it seems like a waste of money employing people to make these calls.

alant1000

tifnstav wrote: »

charity street vendors get paid heaps, I've seen adverts on recruitment websites.
just go onto totaljobs.com and use the keyword charity, its megabucks for telemarketing jobs and who actually agrees to donate as a result of these calls?
it seems like a waste of money employing people to make these calls.

They get paid?? ? ???!?!? ??!? !? ? I am shocked, that really annoys me, ok maybe i am naive, but it just makes me realise that out of say £5, if all these people are getting paid, marketing, operations, building rent etc more must be going to them than the people in need. I'm not one for giving money to tramps (not the !!!!!! ones anyway ), but maybe a tramp in the only direct way i know 100% of my money ends up in the hands of those in need - even if it is for cider!

I am actually a bit gutted they get paid, i am sure some have told me they do it for free.

LilMissEmmylou

alant not only do they get paid but its above min wage! most get about £7 an hour if i recall.

alant1000

LilMissEmmylou wrote: »

alant not only do they get paid but its above min wage! most get about £7 an hour if i recall.

aagghhh thats really annoying to hear, i feel that i have been "sold to" now by those people who made me sign up.... i fell for the flirty banter and the sob stories of how they really have the charity close to their hearts, and like i am sure i have been told, are willing to do it for free.

What would infuriate me more than ever is if they got commision... now that would be the pits. A bit like how a traffic warden will insist they do not get commission when everyone else is sure they probably do!

I can see that it takes a certain type of person to canvas on the street, i work in sales myself but couldnt do that job, i just feel that the charities should be giving every penny they can to the cause, and i am sure they could find some volunteers - just look at the poppy day collection old folk (dont tell me they earn big bucks too LOL :rotfl: )

krazykidskate

I remember a mate going for an job interview for charity collecting in pubs. He was told the charity got paid 4% of what was collected. This was about 15 years ago so things might have changed but i am reluctant to put money into these charity collection boxes anymore.