IMHO It's time to raise awareness of the need to give donations to charities.

MalMonroe

I give to two small, local cat saviour charities which, without funding, would crumble. I also donate to Cancer Research because I know that is a very important, if never ending, thankless task and without the specialist scientists a lot of people would not survive. Although I also strongly believe that the government should plough far more money into NHS research as well as its staff.

BUT this forum is a money-saving forum. So maybe a different forum all about charity and who gives what to whom can be started as a completely separate venture. 

This, from the rules of the forum -

"We want this Forum to be a safe and encouraging place for people to share their experience and information relating to all things MoneySaving. Abusive, manipulative and passive-aggressive behaviour is unacceptable, as is being provocative for the sake of it. Put that energy into MoneySaving instead."

I would like to see the results of a poll about this, given that there are more than 2 million forumites because, with all due respect to management, I believe it is something that the members of the forum would like to have their say about.  

Brie

I'm in the kharma credit/pay it forward camp when it comes to charities.  I donate what I can, when I can to something that piques my interest or that a close friend is promoting.  I know the good and the bad of it having worked for different charities on both ends of that spectrum.  

But basically I'll give to something that does something I like (I like cats so therefore....) or something I hope I'll never need support from (so donate to the local food bank being thankful I don't need it).  

I do think that mentioning charities is a good thing - it doesn't need to be bragging, it can just be a gentle nudge to spread good fortune.  

Richard1212

I agree with your comment Exodi when you say :   
"But in the face of the sad reality faced by the majority of the inhabitants on Earth, it is easier to be wilfully ignorant to what happens outside the sphere of our lives. Many of us only feel truly compelled to act on things that we encounter first-hand or second-hand experience of as we become less distanced from the issue."

It is a sad truth. But most people must at least be aware of some of the suffering in this world when they watch TV News and see Ukraine, Somalian children starving, etc. Do they turn their heads away because they are only interested in their "sphere" of life ? The answer again is probably : yes.

And I still feel strongly that the dour 24/7s who advise posters who ask what to do with a lump sum of £150,000 NEVER mention the possibility of a ten quid donation to charity.

Thx for your considered post Exodi.

Richard1212

MalMonroe said:

I give to two small, local cat saviour charities which, without funding, would crumble. I also donate to Cancer Research because I know that is a very important, if never ending, thankless task and without the specialist scientists a lot of people would not survive. Although I also strongly believe that the government should plough far more money into NHS research as well as its staff.

BUT this forum is a money-saving forum. So maybe a different forum all about charity and who gives what to whom can be started as a completely separate venture. 

This, from the rules of the forum -

"We want this Forum to be a safe and encouraging place for people to share their experience and information relating to all things MoneySaving. Abusive, manipulative and passive-aggressive behaviour is unacceptable, as is being provocative for the sake of it. Put that energy into MoneySaving instead."

I would like to see the results of a poll about this, given that there are more than 2 million forumites because, with all due respect to management, I believe it is something that the members of the forum would like to have their say about.  

Thank you, Mal, for your thoughtful post.

Why is there a Board on this forum entitled "Charities" if we can't talk about good causes, about suffering all over the world----and remind well-off people that a helping hand would be the right thing to do ? When I see advice given by forumites to people with a huge spare lump sum ( who go into great personal detail), it seems morally wrong to me that charity donation/s are NEVER mentioned.

Yes, this is a forum for "money saving" but it also covers "what you might do with your money".

Richard1212

Brie said:

I'm in the kharma credit/pay it forward camp when it comes to charities.  I donate what I can, when I can to something that piques my interest or that a close friend is promoting.  I know the good and the bad of it having worked for different charities on both ends of that spectrum.  

But basically I'll give to something that does something I like (I like cats so therefore....) or something I hope I'll never need support from (so donate to the local food bank being thankful I don't need it).  

I do think that mentioning charities is a good thing - it doesn't need to be bragging, it can just be a gentle nudge to spread good fortune.  

Thank you, Brie. I couldn't agree more, especially with your final paragraph. Once again, I wonder why we can't talk about such things when we have this forum Board that is hardly used at all ?????

Undervalued

Richard1212 said:

I agree with your comment Exodi when you say   
"But in the face of the sad reality faced by the majority of the inhabitants on Earth, it is easier to be wilfully ignorant to what happens outside the sphere of our lives. Many of us only feel truly compelled to act on things that we encounter first-hand or second-hand experience of as we become less distanced from the issue."

It is a sad truth. But most people must at least be aware of some of the suffering in this world when they watch TV News and see Ukraine, Somalian children starving, etc. Do they turn their heads away because they are only interested in their "sphere" of life ? The answer again is probably : yes.

And I still feel strongly that the dour 24/7s who advise posters who ask what to do with a lump sum of £150,000 NEVER mention the possibility of a ten quid donation to charity.

Thx for your considered post Exodi.

As I said in my earlier post, I think the whole charity sphere / concept needs a massive re-think. There are many, many worthy and deserving causes. Also there is a lot of good done in other areas by voluntary organisations that are not technically charities.

I have devoted a lot of time and energy to such causes in the past and still do so to some extent today. Despite my significant reservations about some of the "charitable" sector, I still donate to a carefully chosen few.

I spread the word, as I see it, both in favour of causes I think deserving and also against some where I have reservations. I would encourage others to do the same.

soolin

MalMonroe said:

I give to two small, local cat saviour charities which, without funding, would crumble. I also donate to Cancer Research because I know that is a very important, if never ending, thankless task and without the specialist scientists a lot of people would not survive. Although I also strongly believe that the government should plough far more money into NHS research as well as its staff.

BUT this forum is a money-saving forum. So maybe a different forum all about charity and who gives what to whom can be started as a completely separate venture. 

This, from the rules of the forum -

"We want this Forum to be a safe and encouraging place for people to share their experience and information relating to all things MoneySaving. Abusive, manipulative and passive-aggressive behaviour is unacceptable, as is being provocative for the sake of it. Put that energy into MoneySaving instead."

I would like to see the results of a poll about this, given that there are more than 2 million forumites because, with all due respect to management, I believe it is something that the members of the forum would like to have their say about.  

I'm not entirely sure what you want the poll for? This is not a member led or set up forum, it is owned and managed by Moneysaving supermarket, so any suggestion of forcing management to do anything via a members poll is just not going to happen. Perhaps we should look at it more as a benefit that we have a charity board at all. I would also suggest that if members feel strongly about there being a very active board encouraging charitable giving, either by way of time or money then a new group be set up by them that is entirely member led.

As for suggestions that commenting about charitable giving being suppressed then I stick by my original thoughts that on many boards this is just not  appropriate. However at the same time members can visit and post on whatever boards and threads they wish, so if members feel that a thread would benefit from a mention about charitable giving then they are free to do so. Remember at all times though that posts must be appropriate within the rules of that particular board and any posts that are off topic may be moved by the forum team. 

Savvy_Sue

soolin said:

As for suggestions that commenting about charitable giving being suppressed then I stick by my original thoughts that on many boards this is just not  appropriate. However at the same time members can visit and post on whatever boards and threads they wish, so if members feel that a thread would benefit from a mention about charitable giving then they are free to do so. Remember at all times though that posts must be appropriate within the rules of that particular board and any posts that are off topic may be moved by the forum team. 

Of course, members who feel that this would be appropriate are at liberty to add a comment in their signature - I'd suggest generic, maybe along the lines of "if you've benefitted from the advice on these boards, have you thought of making a donation to a charity of your choice?" or "charities are struggling - can you help one survive?". Obviously one would check the guidance on signatures in the Forum Rules first. 

The charity I work for has run a few 'Give it up' campaigns - people give up things for a period of hours (usually, occasionally days) for sponsorship. Talking, hot water, furniture ... but one year I 'gave up' all the savings / discounts I'd made! As it included a special offer on a year's gym membership, it was a decent amount.