To whom do you donate?

mammasan

Cosmo wrote:

Time and money to:
The SurfRiders Foundation - Lifetime Member, Huntington Beach, CA. Chapter (Come say "Hey..." if to see our crew on beach clean up).
http://www.sbhbsurfrider.org/

SurfRider Jersey Shore Chapter member Bradley Beach, NJ

know1

As Abook said, some people do not like to talk about their charities, but I'll mention one that I volunteer at that I've mentioned before.

I volunteer 6 weekends a year (which isn't much) at a local organization which takes in donations of clothes and household goods and then distributes them to poor people. It's kind of like Goodwill. My basic job there is carrying out the heavy stuff - couches, washers, dryers, stoves, etc. and putting them in people's cars and trucks.

mammasan

know1 wrote:

I volunteer 6 weekends a year (which isn't much)

Don't sell yourself short any amount of time or money donated is a noble thing, wether it's 6 years, 6 months, 6 weeks, or 6 days.

Pacomc79

Heifer International.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.

Camp Twin Lakes.

and generally I keep my eyes open for new ones, from threads like this.

I'm going to try and do some Habitat stuff this year and I hope to go back to New Orleans with PDA to rebuild next time.

dunkman

i donate sperm to really ugly women

FinsburyParkCarrots

Nobody.

mammasan

dunkman wrote:

i donate sperm to really ugly women

The noblest of all causes.

dunkman

mammasan wrote:

The noblest of all causes.

i tell myself that as well... helps me sleep




i actually donate monthly to Save The Children.

hsewif

-Great Lakes Lab Rescue
-Western DuPage Special Recreation Association
-Defeat Autism Now (D.A.N.)
-Chicago Anti Cruelty Society
-Jobs for Youth
-Goodwill
-A local Missionary Church gets my gently used household items.
-Any kid that knocks on my door for money (the latest was a girl doing a 5K for the American Lung Association and this happens many times a year.)
-Any food drive that comes up for school or baseball.
-Every christmas, each classroom at school is assigned a family to help out and we are always very generous with gift cards and things they ask for (every teen gets a PJ CD ).
-Husband buys lots of raffle tickets at work for various charities and plays in an expensive golf outing every year for Knights of Columbus (they don't keep the money, they donate it to a different local cause every year).

I'm sure there are more (I've donated a poster and money to Wishlist Foundation) and I have no idea what percent of our annual income these add up to.... I don't keep track of that. Never really wrote down everything we do as we don't write anything off.

Ms. Haiku

I knitted a blanket for Project Linus http://www.projectlinus.org/index.shtml, and I hope to knit hats for them after I attend a knitting conference in October.

I donate cookies I bake for Charlie's Place http://www.stmargaretsdc.org/charliesplace/

If I accomplish a running goal I will give money to the Red Cross.

hippiemom

hsewif wrote:

I'm sure there are more (I've donated a poster and money to Wishlist Foundation) and I have no idea what percent of our annual income these add up to.... I don't keep track of that. Never really wrote down everything we do as we don't write anything off.

I hope I'm not derailing the thread here, but I don't understand this. I'm not saying that tax deductions should be the reason we donate (although if they are, that's ok with me ... as long as the charities get the money, I don't care what your motivation is). But as long as you're giving and these deductions are available to you, why not take them? I get the distinct impression from reading your posts that you are not pleased with the way your tax dollars are being used .... why would you want to give them more than you absolutely have to?

When we made our budget for charitable donations, we took the tax deductions into account, and it increased the amount we are able to give away. I'd sure rather have my $$$ going to a hunger center or animal sanctuary than to fund this war!

hippiemom

Ms. Haiku wrote:

I knitted a blanket for Project Linus http://www.projectlinus.org/index.shtml, and I hope to knit hats for them after I attend a knitting conference in October.

I donate cookies I bake for Charlie's Place http://www.stmargaretsdc.org/charliesplace/

If I accomplish a running goal I will give money to the Red Cross.

Another knitter!

I've knit blankets for Afghans for Afghans. The collect blankets, sweaters, hats, socks, etc. and distribute them to people in Afghanistan, and Afghans in refugee camps who fled the war.

Ms. Haiku

hippiemom wrote:

Another knitter!

I've knit blankets for Afghans for Afghans. The collect blankets, sweaters, hats, socks, etc. and distribute them to people in Afghanistan, and Afghans in refugee camps who fled the war.

There's a socks for soldiers program that I've seen on the same page as the Afghan for Afghan program somewhere. At the conference in October I'm taking a sock class, and hopefully, I'll send over some socks.

hsewif

hippiemom wrote:

I hope I'm not derailing the thread here, but I don't understand this. I'm not saying that tax deductions should be the reason we donate (although if they are, that's ok with me ... as long as the charities get the money, I don't care what your motivation is). But as long as you're giving and these deductions are available to you, why not take them? I get the distinct impression from reading your posts that you are not pleased with the way your tax dollars are being used .... why would you want to give them more than you absolutely have to?

When we made our budget for charitable donations, we took the tax deductions into account, and it increased the amount we are able to give away. I'd sure rather have my $$$ going to a hunger center or animal sanctuary than to fund this war!

My biggest issue with my taxes right now is the fact that none of my property taxes go to the local public library so I can't get a free library card. I know I've mentioned welfare reform but I don't know what gave you the impression that I wasn't pleased.

Some of the things I listed aren't deductible (like raffle tickets) and some of them aren't worth the trouble of figuring out how much is deductible. This is going to seem crazy but one in particular, WDSRA... I feel like we would be taking advantage of the system if we wrote it off. We feel like we should be paying them for services we get for free.

If I enroll my son in a park district program and if we think he needs an aide to participate, they provide one for free. It could be an all day, 5 days a week summer camp and they will send someone every single day just to help him.

He also gets lots of free services through the school district (speech therapy, etc)... my neighbors help pay for all of it so I really can't complain too much about where my tax dollars go, we get so much in return. It sucks that they help fund a war but if there wasn't a war happening, they would still go to the military.

I just remembered my ticket to the PJ/Robert Plant fundraiser show at the HOB. I wonder if people wrote that off and if they did, what amount they came up with in the end. (I don't think the full amount was deductible.)

hippiemom

hsewif wrote:

My biggest issue with my taxes right now is the fact that none of my property taxes go to the local public library so I can't get a free library card. I know I've mentioned welfare reform but I don't know what gave you the impression that I wasn't pleased.

Some of the things I listed aren't deductible (like raffle tickets) and some of them aren't worth the trouble of figuring out how much is deductible. This is going to seem crazy but one in particular, WDSRA... I feel like we would be taking advantage of the system if we wrote it off. We feel like we should be paying them for services we get for free.

If I enroll my son in a park district program and if we think he needs an aide to participate, they provide one for free. It could be an all day, 5 days a week summer camp and they will send someone every single day just to help him.

He also gets lots of free services through the school district (speech therapy, etc)... my neighbors help pay for all of it so I really can't complain too much about where my tax dollars go, we get so much in return. It sucks that they help fund a war but if there wasn't a war happening, they would still go to the military.

I just remembered my ticket to the PJ/Robert Plant fundraiser show at the HOB. I wonder if people wrote that off and if they did, what amount they came up with in the end. (I don't think the full amount was deductible.)

Typically, when you get something in return for your money (for example, a PJ/Robert Plant show, or maybe you buy a poster from the Sierra Club), or you have a chance at getting something in return (raffle tickets), it's not deductible. So yeah, if you make a lot of your donations that way, you can't do it. As for donating goods, I don't even bother with that because it's a nuisance to get a receipt from a lot of places and the resale value of stuff is so low that it's hardly worth the time anyway.

Anytime you give money though, I can't see any reason not to deduct that. It will be a tiny bit more in your pocket and you can give that away too! Or take yourselves out to dinner, or whatever. It's so easy to keep receipts for cash donations, I just don't understand why anyone wouldn't do it. Even if it's an organization that you get services from, it's not like you're getting the money from them ... it's just a tiny bit less tax you'll pay, you can turn around and give it to them if you like.

As for you not being pleased ... my brain is mush lately, so if you're not generally grumpy about the government's use of your money then I've probably confused you with someone else ... my apologies

Abookamongstthemany

hippiemom wrote:

Typically, when you get something in return for your money (for example, a PJ/Robert Plant show, or maybe you buy a poster from the Sierra Club), or you have a chance at getting something in return (raffle tickets), it's not deductible. So yeah, if you make a lot of your donations that way, you can't do it. As for donating goods, I don't even bother with that because it's a nuisance to get a receipt from a lot of places and the resale value of stuff is so low that it's hardly worth the time anyway.

Anytime you give money though, I can't see any reason not to deduct that. It will be a tiny bit more in your pocket and you can give that away too! Or take yourselves out to dinner, or whatever. It's so easy to keep receipts for cash donations, I just don't understand why anyone wouldn't do it. Even if it's an organization that you get services from, it's not like you're getting the money from them ... it's just a tiny bit less tax you'll pay, you can turn around and give it to them if you like.

As for you not being pleased ... my brain is mush lately, so if you're not generally grumpy about the government's use of your money then I've probably confused you with someone else ... my apologies

You make a damn good point, though. Why let any more money go to fund things I'm so against than I already have to. I really should get my act together about book keeping. I just hate that kinda stuff.

Ahnimus

I donate to the Tim Horton's Children's Fund every day.

I donate to Jump Rope for Life when they come around.

Pretty much everything that comes to my door. I don't really keep track of it. As long as it's a good cause and they can explain to me what steps they are taking to improve the situation.

For exmaple, the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) called me (apparently) and asked for a donation to help fight Internet Child Pornography. I asked them how they planned to do that and they couldn't say. So I didn't donate to it.

hippiemom

Abookamongstthemany wrote:

You make a damn good point, though. Why let any more money go to fund things I'm so against than I already have to. I really should get my act together about book keeping. I just hate that kinda stuff.

Oh, I'm horrible at it! Fortunately, my husband is very good at it and handles a lot of our donations himself, and he also does the taxes

When I donate online, I print a receipt and immediately get up and put it on his dresser. If I don't do it right away, forget it, it'll never happen. I also have a section in my wallet where I put receipts when I make spontaneous donations away from home, and I'll remember to check that a couple times a year, lol ... "Oh, here's a somewhat crumpled receipt for the money I gave to Make-A-Wish back in February," and he rolls his eyes

Just find one or two places where you can easily keep your receipts, then force yourself to put them there the instant you make the donation. If I can do it I figure anyone can, because I am the queen of disorganization!

Abookamongstthemany

hippiemom wrote:

Oh, I'm horrible at it! Fortunately, my husband is very good at it and handles a lot of our donations himself, and he also does the taxes

When I donate online, I print a receipt and immediately get up and put it on his dresser. If I don't do it right away, forget it, it'll never happen. I also have a section in my wallet where I put receipts when I make spontaneous donations away from home, and I'll remember to check that a couple times a year, lol ... "Oh, here's a somewhat crumpled receipt for the money I gave to Make-A-Wish back in February," and he rolls his eyes

Just find one or two places where you can easily keep your receipts, then force yourself to put them there the instant you make the donation. If I can do it I figure anyone can, because I am the queen of disorganization!

We have a lot in common! I bought one of those accordion file thingys a while back...it's still sitting in a closet, unused. I'll try to make better use of it.

hippiemom

Abookamongstthemany wrote:

We have a lot in common! I bought one of those accordion file thingys a while back...it's still sitting in a closet, unused. I'll try to make better use of it.

Haha! If there's anything I've learned in this life, it's that no filing system will organize you unless you use it. I don't know how many filing systems I wasted my money on before I figured that out

I take it Kabong isn't organized either, or you'd have turned all this stuff over to him long ago. I guess you're stuck with the "big shoe box full of crap that takes two weeks to sort out at the end of the year" method ... that's the one I used when I was single.