Give Till It Hurts

[bluegargantua]

Hey,

Do you give to charity(ies)? If so, how did you decide that this was a charity you wanted to donate to? I'm trying to figure out some system of charitable giving and I'm using Charity Navigator to get a sense of what's out there and what kinds of organizations get their work done as opposed to funding their next fundraiser. They suggest (and a little googling around backs this up), that rather than give to a wide range of organizations, make bigger contributions to a few charities that you really care about. But there's a lot of good causes out there that could use some cash. How do you go about choosing?

later
Tom

Comments

[dancingwolfgrrl.livejournal.com]

So on the logistical side, I basically glance at the administrative costs percentage to make sure it's not ludicrous and move on. I recognize this is a little bit lassiez-faire, but I also have spent my entire working life in non-profits, and therefore probably have an excess of sympathy for the costs of running an organization.

On the practical side, I give mostly to causes centering around non-dying (in the short term, Doctors without Borders and hunger relief; in the long-term, Kiva). I also give to a couple of other things I care about a lot or personally use -- in my case, pro-choice causes and local food orgs.