Nov

21

I don’t give to charity because…. debunked

Filed Under giving 

I’m a big fan of giving to charity. Obviously I’m not sufficiently organised to do this in any other way than automatically, so I’ve got some direct debits set up to my favourite charities. Not everyone donates though, and when called on this, they usually cite some dubious excuse. I’m going to go through a few of these and explain why they don’t stand up to the cold light of day.

1. I don’t believe in charities

Honestly? I can assure you that charities do in fact exist. Here’s a list:

2. Charities waste a lot of money

All charities have to spend some money on running themselves. Telephone bills and stamps don’t pay for themselves. And with the biggest charities, volunteer work may only go so far. It’s quite difficult to find people willing to volunteer full time, but you can find people willing to work full time for very reasonable wages. Some charities do spend too much on adminstration, but it’s really a very small number.

3. I don’t have very much money

It’s unlikely that you don’t have enough money to give away a little. Plan for it. Cut back on one luxury a month. If you are reading this, you are privileged to have access to the internet. You can afford to give to charity. If you really, really, really can’t find the room in your budget, give time, donate clothes to the charity shop or food to the soup kitchen, or try to persuade your employer to donate.

4. I can’t find a cause that I like

You haven’t looked hard enough. Seriously, there’s a charity for every cause. In fact there are charities for diametrically opposed causes. So you don’t want to support the military, there are charities that work for world peace. So you think that atheists have got it all wrong, there are charities that try to convert the unchurched. You can donate to support capitalism for heaven’s sake.

5. I’m too lazy

As a deeply lazy person myself, I have to say that this is possibly the worst excuse yet. Walk through any shopping street and you’ll probably find yourself accidentally signed up for a direct debit scheme with a charity that you’ve never heard of. Make it automatic. If you can’t be bothered to think of a charity to donate to, click on this link, which will take you to one of my favourites and donate there.

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Comments

13 Responses to “I don’t give to charity because…. debunked”

  1. Mrs. Micah on November 21st, 2007 12:11 pm

    And Charity Navigator can help you rate American-based charities (because they use tax forms) regarding their overhead and whatnot. :) So it’s not even like you can’t work around #2. They’ll all spend money but you can pick one that spends less.

    Like Oxfam America spends 4.8% on administration and 16% on fundraising. The latter seems a bit high to me, but they raise a lot of money and do a lot of good with the 80% that goes to programs!

  2. Pinyo on November 21st, 2007 4:45 pm

    I have been flaky with charity this year. I like your idea of setting up regular contribution. This way, I don’t miss as much as giving away one big chunk.

  3. Rob Lewis on November 21st, 2007 4:58 pm

    I’ll admit it, I’ve probably used all of these excuses at some point, and am not a massive giver to charity. We tend to have various fund raising events at work, and that’s when I’ll donate a bit of cash.

    There’s always the lottery too ;>)

  4. JohnofScribbleSheet on November 22nd, 2007 11:55 am

    I just dont like those mainstream charities. Especially after that buy a goat for a family programme.

    I would rather donate to people like the Acumen fund.

  5. plonkee on November 22nd, 2007 2:05 pm

    Well the beauty of it is, that you don’t have to donate to a mainstream charity if you don’t want to - give to something else. Its about giving to causes that you think are important.

  6. Fecundity on November 22nd, 2007 6:20 pm

    Excellent post, Plonkee. Hopefully it’ll get a lot of people (myself included) off their butts and considering what issues and causes mean something to them.

  7. Annie on November 22nd, 2007 8:25 pm

    Nice post. I’ve recently cancelled one of my direct debits, but mainly because I’ve moved out of the direct geographic area of influence for that specific charity.

    If my monthly giving goes down, I also make a point of contributing time - we’re a bit brassic at the moment, but on Saturday my husband is playing a free gig in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care. I’m catering and selling tickets for the event, which doesn’t impact on my monthly budget, but does help to reel in the cash for MCCC.

  8. Krista on November 25th, 2007 4:56 pm

    2. Charities waste a lot of money - Well, I was a disaster case worker for the American Red Cross after Hurricane Andrew, and can assure you that many charities do waste money.

    I don’t think that a catered Halloween party with a full service bar is what people have in mind when they donated their money. (Just one example.)

    Sure these charities do great work, but there is an incredible amount of waste.

    That is why I think it is important to research any charity you want to give to. I also am a firm believer in donating my time.

  9. mike on November 26th, 2007 9:33 pm

    would you reconmend contribuity to a charity while still in debt?

  10. plonkee on November 26th, 2007 11:59 pm

    I recommend contributing to charity whilst dealing with debt for selfish purposes, it will probably make you feel better.

    I recommend contributing to charity whilst dealing with debt because if you can afford a haircut, or to shop for anything, you can afford to give a little money away.

    I recommend contributing to charity whilst dealing with debt because it puts you in the habit of doing good things.

  11. Laura on November 27th, 2007 4:38 pm

    Number 3 had a good point. If you don’t have the money, then give some of your time. Many charities wish they had more volunteers for their projects and a helping hand is greatly appreciated.

    I can assure you that even if you can give a one day a month, it will be appreciated and you’ll feel so much better for helping others.

  12. Judge Baity on February 28th, 2008 5:01 pm

    I’m curious if your research or experience found that if people could set up some type of automatic debit for ongoing contributions that they would be more inclined to give. If so what percentage do you think this represents? I think this fits me.

    p.s How did you set up these direct debits?

  13. plonkee on February 28th, 2008 6:40 pm

    Anecdotal evidence would suggest that once people are less inclined to stop a direct debit once they’ve started it up - the self-inflicted guilt trip being the main factor there. All the charities that I contribute to had a direct debit option.

    Oxfam (my personal favourite charity) has a British site you can sign up from, and also an American one (scroll down to see how to get it to come out of your account, rather than on a credit card), a Canadian one, an Australian one, an Irish one, and a Kiwi one. Now there’s no excuse ;) .

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