Balance

Great post and great topic. Personally, I like to give to (and for that matter volunteer for) organizations that I know personally. That way, I can trust in and hold the organization accountable for where the money is going. This way I can also see progress if I am involved with them long term and have leverage to suggesting means of improvement. That said, I always appreciate my friends supporting causes that are dear to me with smaller donations. I trust my friends to give in the same fashion so that when they solicit donations from me for their cause, I am confident that they have done their research and I am giving to a respected and well run organization. Ultimately, I think that long term commitment, both through donations of time and finances, is the way to go.

The way I donate

My main issue is trust. Nowadays there are so many organizations and so many choices it's really hard for me to trust my money will go to the right place.

I care very much for animal rights and usually donate to PETA (peta.org). The rest of my donations is usually through friends who will request donations to their organizations or the organizations they believe in. In general, I tend to go for animal/children causes.

Very Interesting!

This ties into a topic I am absolutely FASCINATED by, which is: how are donors' annual giving plans/personal budgets AND consequently our local community nonprofits affected by increasing opportunities for smaller "impulse donations", whether they are through Facebook or even grocery store social marketing campaigns (for example, rounding up your purchase to support breast cancer awareness)? I am hoping for a study to pop up somewhere that explores this in relation to various age groups and their personal finance management....

Great post

Great post and thank you for the birthday gift.

My giving is mostly to the Sharing Foundation and of other Cambodian charities, plus I budget to give to personal requests from friends to charities that I know will do a good job. I also give money to organizations where I'm serving a board member because that is part of the deal - Give, Get, or Get Off.

I also set aside a budget amount that would normally go for gifts of "stuff" to family and friends - and then donate to charities as gifts - sometimes it is the charity of the gift recipient - other times something I pick out that I know is meaningful to them.

A couple of significant gifts

I don't have a lot to give because I work at a nonprofit, but I try to give one signficant gift in each of the areas I care about. For me, that's one to a charity that works internationally, one to a charity that works with the poor in my own community, and one to another quirky cause I care about.

I also try to donate to the nonprofits whose resources I use -- like my public radio station or my alma mater's public service center.

One more thought: if you're skeptical about where your donation is going, instead of not giving, you should take advantage of the resources available to learn about organizations that work in the areas you're interested in. See what the big foundations support or talk to staff members at your local community foundation. And of course the best resource is often friends -- where they work, volunteer, or sit on a board.

Planned & Whimsical: A Diversified approach

Thanks for the thoughtful post! My family and I definitely need to be more strategic in our giving. We're looking into planned giving for our personal causes, BUT we'll also budget in some random, whimsical social giving to friend's causes.

Hard line to draw

I guess you could say my giving strategy is two-fold: there's time, and then there's money. My largest contribution each year, and my most strategic giving, is devoting time to two charities in which I do a lot of Committee work. These are my "pet" charities. Naturally, I also make monetary donations to these charities.

That said, from a strictly monetary perspective, I have no strategy. I am pretty much an "open wallet". I admit it, charity has always been an emotional choice for me: I am totally that person that pulls out their credit card, with a Kleenex, during American Idol Gives Back or during the Children's Miracle Network telethons on the radio during my commute home. But, I'm not going to beat myself up over that too much - there are worse things to splurge on.

Perfect timing!

Great post! While I know it's important to support my friends in their efforts, I'm definitely going to be more selective in where (and how much) I'm going to give this year so I can make the most impact for the causes I care about. I've never created a giving strategy, but now's the perfect time to start one! Thanks for the motivation!

Planning ahead

I actually had more of a strategy than I usually do in '08. Because of the economic downturn, I decided to spend my usual holiday gift budget on charitable donations instead, made in the names of my friends and family. I only went with organizations where I had personal connections (through church, friends' volunteer groups, etc.) I was able to plan for it AND put the money toward a greater good.

Not sure yet what I'll do in '09, but your post is making me think. Thanks!

I feel somewhat "cheated" at

I feel somewhat "cheated" at tax time when I see how many of my donations were commandeered by friends' races and walkathons. It's not that I am unsupportive of their causes, it's just that always giving to my friends' causes leaves less for the things I am most passionate about. My New Year's Resolution is to be more thoughtful about my giving and to direct it toward the causes I care about most. Thanks for the inspiration.

great food for thought. i am

great food for thought. i am an advocate of the "be important to somebody" strategy which means larger gifts to fewer organizations. i told my husband to do this last year and he nixed his mountain of $50 checks for a few $500 and $250 gifts and was so delighted when he received "thank you" voicemail messages from the recipients. concentrating on what was most important to him, and the great response from the charity, served to strengthen the bond between donor and organization.

Thanks!

This is a great reminder at the beginning of the year to plot out a giving strategy so you're making the best use of your charitable dollars. Thanks for putting this on my radar (and my To-Do list)!

Right on the mark

Great point. I feel a sense of being in the "know" and tell all solicitors that I only give online at Network For Goodhttp://www.networkforgood.org after doing research. What really happens is that I receive a personal appeal and react (not always resulting in a donation). I need a better strategy as well.

Charitable donations

I am wary of contributing large amounts to fewer organizations. Other than contributing to friends' races, fundraisers, etc, I tend to donate larger amounts in the event of disasters. Even after researching the organizations, I find it difficult to choose which one to contribute to, because I am always skeptical about where exactly my money is going. For this reason, I like to split up my donations among a few organizations.