Which charities do you donate to, and why?

Since I travel a lot, I collect the small toiletries (from hotels and airplanes) to donate a local women's shelter
.

We do the same thing- during our 2 month road trip we stayed at hotels every night, had a suitcase full of all the toiletries from every hotel and gave them to a local battered women's shelter.
 
In the past we've donated to our local SPCA and some local animal rescues (also we foster kittens in the summer for the animal shelter), Wildlands Conservancy (there's an excellent nature preserve near us that provides free educational programs), our local homeless shelter and women's shelter, and through our church to a low income senior home. We don't give as much as we used to with our budget being as it is, but at Christmas time we always at minimum do something where you buy gifts for a child. Operation Christmas Child, Angel Tree, etc. This year we did a local program put on by ODD's high school that provides gifts for low income children. DD actually ended up choosing a little girl that's a student where I teach.
 
The organizations I give most to -

my church,
Environmental Defense (they try to work with businesses, farmers, etc to improve practices)
Brother’s Brother ( medical and relief supplies around the world)
Heifer
Oxfam
Hearth ( local organization for transitional housing for women with children who are working to better their lives)
Local Community Food Bank

I also deliver meals on wheels and drive cancer patients to appointments, which even at a measly 14 cents a mile is a hefty tax deduction when I add up all those miles.

Smaller amounts to public broadcasting and many other groups, mostly to help people in my community and around the world. I figure there are a lot of others giving to animals (as seen on this thread)
 
Last edited:


I donate to a couple of Morgan Horse charities. Morgans are the first American breed of horse and I used to own and show mine. Sadly, thousand of horses, including morgans, are sent to slaughter every year. These charities pull these morgans from the trucks, give them the care they need and find them homes.

I also donate to the Dolphin Project which seeks to save dolphins from the slaughter in Japan and educate the public about the treatment of these amazing animals by the “swim with dolphins” industry.
 
My biggest donations (for decades) have gone to Tulane University which gave me a full scholarship when my parents could not give me more than $100 a year (which was an extreme hardship at that). That scholarship money literally changed my life. I of course paid back my student loans. But I personally felt a moral obligation to pay back my scholarship money via donations so that others could also get a leg up on life.

I also got some scholarship money for graduate work at Stanford - so I give them money also. But not as much as they are so well endowed.

I also give to the Salvation Army as they do not pay gigantic salaries to their administrators. Also to a local hospice organization. And I also give to arts organizations that I support - museums and theatres.
 


I donate locally. I do not donate to umbrella organizations. At best they are another layer of bureaucracy. At worst, well very little gets to actual charity.

Some places that got our money.

The local food bank.
Planned Parenthood
Children's hospital research projects.
Adult hospital research projects.
various local high school bands.
The animal shelter.

Every dime I give goes right to the charity. No middle man. No $150 pink jerseys where $7 of it actually gets to a charity.

Edited to add that I should have clarified that I do give locally to other localities than mine that are in need. But it is always local. I don't donate to umbrella relief organizations.
 
Last edited:
Currently, I donate to the local animal shelter where I adopted my dog (KC Pet Project). I used to donate to World Wildlife Fund, but I wondered about the "gifts" you got for donating, and how much money was being used for them. I used to be in the military, so ever year I donated to a different charity for the Combined Federal Campaign. I've donated to the National Parks, Navy Marine Corps Relief Society, and others. Before I separated I donated to an organization called Paws4Vets (and also Paws4People) which trains service dogs for veterans. I was even more supportive of them, when a few months after I donated they emailed me their newsletter. No other charity I'd donated through CFC had ever acknowledged my donation (which is not why I donate) but I really felt their appreciation.
 
BC Children's Hospital - I had 7 surgeries there as a child, they made a HUGE difference in my quality of life.
Plan Canada - I started sponsoring a child before I had a child of my own and the have no religious component.
Both are on monthly giving plans.
Santa's Anonymous every Oct-Dec. Both by giving time to sit the wish trees, and pick up days, but also by buying gifts for children off the wish tree. Had a shift on Wednesday and have 2 more this upcoming week. I will also take DD8 to pick a few bears off the wish tree to get gifts.
Diabetes as well as we have some type I and type II diabetics in the family.
 
I donate to a local cancer charity called DC Strong that brings care packages to children fighting pediatric cancer. My son received a package and we are very close to the members of the team. The founding member Dustan, for which the charity was named, lost his own battle with cancer last month. Additionally, we donate to Curesearch and our local pediatric oncology clinic.
 
Lucy's Love Bus - a 'started local but getting bigger' foundation that gives money to kids with cancer for therapeutic treatments that help ease the suffering they are going through. They pay for acupuncture, massage, art therapy, music therapy, etc. Anything you can think of that helps a kid feel better, they'll support it. It was started by my daughter's classmate, Lucy, who had cancer, and who wanted to help other kids who also had cancer. Sadly, Lucy died before the Love Bus got really started. Her mom kept it going, built it up, and runs it with a fierce determination to help as many kids as she can. We donate supplies, money, and time when we can.
 
I don't give to specific charities usually, but to individuals. I do donate to GoFund me pages if I know the person. I have given to St. Jude and Kidd's Kids though. Usually anything that deals with kids and cancer or terminal illness is my soft spot.
 
I do regular donations to the American Brain Tumor Association, and several one time gifts to specific foundations or charities set up for, or in memory of, children who are diagnosed with pediatric brainstem tumors. Pediatric cancers, and in particular brain tumors, are ridiculously underfunded for research and support. It's heartbreaking.
 
I donate actual items (i.e. towels, blankets, toys, and other items) to the Morris Animal Refuge here in Philadelphia. I will walk there on my lunch about every 3-4 weeks with a few items.

I feel this is a tangible way to help without breaking the bank!
 
We tend to give to local charities as opposed to large national organizations like the Red Cross. We feel strongly about keeping the money in our community and we feel that does the most good. My wife and I also volunteer with a few animal rescues locally so we donate both money and time to them. One of them gets my Amazon Smile donations which is a good indication of where one's charity loyalties lie.
 
We give weekly to our church, so we don't increase during the holidays.
My husband and I have our own "pet" charities that we support ourselves every month. His is Catholic Charities and mine is a woman's therapy group.

This week we got a Christmas card from one of his friends, with a picture of his family and a request for a monetary donation to his own 501c3. Although my husband supported his friends work in the past he stopped once we got married. We discussed it this week about donating to his charity, but I was a little upset that my name was not included on the card, not even a Mr &Mrs. PRE it was only addressed on the envelope, the card, and the letter asking for a donation to my husband alone. So I think we are passing on donating, this friend is a little chauvinistic and believes that once a woman is married she has no identity separate from her husband, so that's why we are passing.
 
Last edited:

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!






Top