Monthly D/D donations to charities.

[Leekbrookgull]

Both myself and her indoor's having been talking about a monthly donation to a charity,animals are out and we stopped giving to Oxfam after India went nuclear with weapons but still wanted Oxfam to feed their starving. The crux is we both want almost everything of what we give to go to the frontline/those in need and not pay a CEO £200k a year,London offices up West etc. We quite like the Sight savers and medicine san frontier. However any advice would be helpful.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

I give to Chesnut Tree House each month, the club regularly support it too - based in Sussex, helped out a relative too.

http://www.chestnut-tree-house.org.uk/

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

I try to only give to smallish charities that are benefiting my local area...just my personal preference

 

[dougdeep]

Your local hospice is always a good choice.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Both myself and her indoor's having been talking about a monthly donation to a charity,animals are out and we stopped giving to Oxfam after India went nuclear with weapons but still wanted Oxfam to feed their starving. The crux is we both want almost everything of what we give to go to the frontline/those in need and not pay a CEO £200k a year,London offices up West etc. We quite like the Sight savers and medicine san frontier. However any advice would be helpful.

I personally don't have an issue with heads of big charities being paid large salaries as long as it's comparable with similar positions in other sectors . You cannot IMHO expect a talented individual to head up a large global charity for free or minimum wage or whatever. And it may well be the case they bring more value to the charity than their salary.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

I try to only give to smallish charities that are benefiting my local area...just my personal preference

Ditto.

I know it is churlish, but I don't like the idea of giving cash to marketing managers and marketing campaigns which in turn is passed on to media moguls or what-have-you.

Small independent charities benefit from my cash. Just a shame I don't have much of it to give!

 

[SeagullinExile]

Macmillan Cancer Support - They do an amazing job, not just for the sick, but the families too.

The chances are, a lot of us will be using them sometime in our lives. That reason alone is worth a small donation I reckon!

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

REMF ? Helping out kids in the Third World (including Croydon) seems a good cause.

 

[vegster]

I have a small monthly DD to Cancer Research. I do sometimes have my doubts about its worth as they often keep writing to me either thanking me for my continued support or asking if I can up my DD. All this costs them money. I just feel that they should take my cash, use it for research and get on worth it, I don't need feedback every 2 months on cancer rates etc.

 

[blueandwhitestripes]

I try to only give to smallish charities that are benefiting my local area...just my personal preference

Same here. Sussex wildlife trust. Selfish I know

 

[Leekbrookgull]

I have a small monthly DD to Cancer Research. I do sometimes have my doubts about its worth as they often keep writing to me either thanking me for my continued support or asking if I can up my DD. All this costs them money. I just feel that they should take my cash, use it for research and get on worth it, I don't need feedback every 2 months on cancer rates etc.

Awful lot in what you say we did CRUK for several years,not much maybe a Florence a month,but like you meaningless letters with 'free pen' and then to top it all Leek,s CRUK shop has just had new facia fitted to shop.

 

[pauli cee]

I have a small monthly DD to Cancer Research. I do sometimes have my doubts about its worth as they often keep writing to me either thanking me for my continued support or asking if I can up my DD. All this costs them money. I just feel that they should take my cash, use it for research and get on worth it, I don't need feedback every 2 months on cancer rates etc.

I'm sure the charities I give money to, must spend more money on the pens/coasters/newsletters they send to me than the money I give them. Keep meaning to write to them asking if they will stop!

 

[ThePompousPaladin]

http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/ has a database of charities so you can see how much they spend on admin compared to how much goes to the front line.

I'd like to put in a shout for 'Save the Children'. They've recently bought merlin, which was in crisis. I don't like the name, but it does more than just help children -everyone gains from clean drinking water etc. I think in particular the work they do with women in developing countries will help develop their societies.
It seems to be run pretty well - my sister currently works for them.

 

[pipkin112]

I donate a small amount monthly to the Sussex Air Ambulance, but I prefer to sponsor friends, family and a few NSC members.

 

[Leekbrookgull]

My problem is (and we have all been there) i recently bought a Christmas card pack from a Supermarket,you know the rest a % goes to this charity.Only 30p from a £3 cost packet went to the frontline. Never again

 

[Since1982]

I have a small monthly DD to Cancer Research. I do sometimes have my doubts about its worth as they often keep writing to me either thanking me for my continued support or asking if I can up my DD. All this costs them money. I just feel that they should take my cash, use it for research and get on worth it, I don't need feedback every 2 months on cancer rates etc.

I suspect a major charity like this has a quite sophisticated approach to marketing and can probably demonstrate that the modest cost of reminding you that your contribution is valuable and encouraging you to up your giving more than pays for itself in donor retention and increased giving.

 

[vegster]

I suspect a major charity like this has a quite sophisticated approach to marketing and can probably demonstrate that the modest cost of reminding you that your contribution is valuable and encouraging you to up your giving more than pays for itself in donor retention and increased giving.

Not at 25p a month.

 

[ofco8]

I try to only give to smallish charities that are benefiting my local area...just my personal preference

This is me as well. I don't give a regular monthly sum but varying amounts at varying times. Have given up giving to big corporate charities just locals where money goes to actually supporting those in most need.

 

[Goring-by-Seagull]

I give to Chesnut Tree House each month, the club regularly support it too - based in Sussex, helped out a relative too.

http://www.chestnut-tree-house.org.uk/

I give to them too. Great charity, and like you say, local too. I'm all about the kids, me.

 

[Creaky]

http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/ has a database of charities so you can see how much they spend on admin compared to how much goes to the front line.

I'd like to put in a shout for 'Save the Children'. They've recently bought merlin, which was in crisis. I don't like the name, but it does more than just help children -everyone gains from clean drinking water etc. I think in particular the work they do with women in developing countries will help develop their societies.
It seems to be run pretty well - my sister currently works for them.

One of the problems is that the amount spent on admin figure can be very misleading. For instance a large charity may be installing simple wells in African villages. The cost involved in finding the best price for the equipment, organising shipping, arranging visas, sorting out local transport and arranging payment for local labour will all be 'tagged' as admin costs. In comparison to the actual cost of the equipment installed these administration costs can appear very large but without them the wells would never be installed.

The simpler the end product the higher the administration cost will appear to be but these sort of projects are often far more productive and beneficial to the recipients than just handing money over which would appear to have a very low administration element.