A2K Charities

I don't have much to give, but I do manage to save a little every year to give to the charities of my choice. The Cancer Society is one of them.

I do not donate to charities but I am Swedish. Charity does not have the same high status in Sweden as it have in America. We believe it is better to help by paying taxes and let the govornment organize the aid rather then to fund a large number of charity organizations that spend most of their money on administration. Sweden is also the country with the worlds highest taxes.

Hi, C.I.

The only problem with charities in America, is that most people donate with the idea that it is deductible on their income tax return. Nothing wrong with that, but it should not be what motivates us to give.

Hey, orjan. Welcome to A2K. You are soooooo right about the salaries paid to administrators in some charities.

I dont know anything about the conditions in the American organizations. But what I do know is that very little of the money sent to Swedish charity organizations were actually spent on charity. It caused a great deal of outrage when a Swedish newspaper reveiled how much money these organizations spent on administration. The smaller organizations could spend as much as 80 % of their donations to salaries. But even large and respected organizations spent in several cases more than 50 % on administration. Many readers also found it hard to swallow that even the presidents of smaller organizations had incomes that were just as high as in any other private company.

These facts have not helped to increase the status of charity in a country who believes that it is the state that have the sole responsibility to take care of those who need help.

Orjan, WELCOME to A2K. I worked for two nonprofit agencies in the US providing services to the developmentally disabled for the last 18 years of my professoinal life. Most of the funds are used for providing services, and the cost of administration at both agencies never exceeded 15 percent. Some years ago, I reduced my giving to two nonprofit organizations; the Second Harvest Food Bank and to Habitat for Humanities. Both organizations spend most of their donated funds for the cause for which they have been established. Before I changed my giving to Second Harvest Food Bank by monthly charges to my credit card, I asked for the audited financial statements to make sure the cost of administration did not exceed 15 percent. Having come from a very poor family, I can understand the need for food - especially to provide food for children. As for Habitat for Humanities, I know they do good works all around the world to provide housing to poor families. Most, if not all, must provide labor to build their own homes, and pay back the mortgage. They are excellent organizations that gets my donations for the benefit of the poor, and not because we get a tax deduction from our contributions. c.i.

I give a bit of money to the ASPCA, the American Humane Society, and the New York Conservation Society. I also do volunteer work for another nonprofit organization--I tutor immigrants in English.

We donate to a hospice.

I donate to charities, some to help people and some to promote causes I believe in.

Alas, orjan, in the USA, the trend is for gov't NOT provide services to the unfortunate and to rely on charity to do the heavy lifting. The theory being, I guess, if taxes are low enough, we'll have more to contribute. Or something like that...

sama sama with D'art

I donate directly to charities and only to charities with low admin costs, therefore cutting out the middlemen (usually corportate sponsered) who live in very expensive homes. Some charity organization plus middlemen may take up to and in excess of 75% of total dollars donated :sad: