Holiday (or Anytime) Charity

[revolution724]

It's interesting to see people saying they don't give money to charities because they know about the inner workings of non-profits.

Since I graduated from college in 1998, I've worked or interned with five different educational or non-profit organizations and encountered or studied dozens more. I have seen how desperately hard some of the people there work for half the money they would make in industry because they believe in their mission. I saw places that would go for three months without ordering office supplies so that the money could go to programming. I've seen (not necessarily worked for, but had close encounters with) a no-kill shelter provide a home for "unadoptable" cats without any paid staff, a private faith-based elementary school that had to send out progress reports on used copy paper scavenged from local businesses, and a rape crisis center that provided free counseling, hotline, and hospital visits to a catchment area of over 3 million people with only 12 people on the payroll, half of whom worked part-time due to state budget cuts.

I've seen a few organizations that didn't have particularly skilled managers, but I've never experienced first-hand an organization that knowingly spent funds haphazardly, or that didn't struggle to minimize overhead costs in favor of programming.

I tend to donate more often to political organizations than to charities per se, but I gave a little money and some in-kind items for Katrina victims, and knitted two pairs of mittens for the Thanksgiving baskets we prepared at work. I wish I had more to give, but I get a tax hit in December because of grad school benefits - once I'm through, that should change.

Anyway, I'd research an organization first, probably, and choose carefully, but I would never discourage someone from giving cash to a non-profit organization, knowing from personal experience how desperately some of them need it to be able to keep serving people in need.

 

[SweetErika]

Anyway, I'd research an organization first, probably, and choose carefully, but I would never discourage someone from giving cash to a non-profit organization, knowing from personal experience how desperately some of them need it to be able to keep serving people in need.

That's really good advice. I usually don't give to the colossal organizations because I think they're more likely to spend more on admin and marketing and I really like to support grassroots-type causes that may be way more in need and match my beliefs, but always look into the charity and try to get figures on what percent of donations is actually going to work.

 

[cloudy]

That's really good advice. I usually don't give to the colossal organizations because I think they're more likely to spend more on admin and marketing and I really like to support grassroots-type causes that may be way more in need and match my beliefs, but always look into the charity and try to get figures on what percent of donations is actually going to work.

Exactly.

Aside from my personal reasons to help the reservations, all of the donations through the Friends of Pine Ridge go directly to the shelters, libraries, rehab centers, etc. Nothing goes through the hands of an intermediary, and I know that every single thing, every single penny, is being used by those in need, and not to pay administration expenses.

 

[revolution724]

I am totally with you on preferring small, grassroots agencies to huge national organizations. The one thing I'd like to remind people if they're investigating the percentage of overhead costs to program costs is that for small organizations, it's hard for them to achieve a very small overhead percentage because there's a certain baseline needed to operate, especially in terms of personnel costs. So a tiny nonprofit may be operating on a shoestring but still only spend 60% of their budget on programming because overhead can only be reduced so far.

 

[SweetErika]

I am totally with you on preferring small, grassroots agencies to huge national organizations. The one thing I'd like to remind people if they're investigating the percentage of overhead costs to program costs is that for small organizations, it's hard for them to achieve a very small overhead percentage because there's a certain baseline needed to operate, especially in terms of personnel costs. So a tiny nonprofit may be operating on a shoestring but still only spend 60% of their budget on programming because overhead can only be reduced so far.

Very true, and I certainly take that into consideration. If I'm uncomfortable with the overhead, sometimes I'll give tangible goods or make sure the money goes where I want it to. Planned Parenthood is a good example of that; I never write a check to the state or national organization, opting to give to individual clinics I frequent instead to be used for condoms, supplies, and services.