Which charity should I donate to, preferably one that uses donations wisely?

[CrumbsInBed]

I was looking at signing up for the SoberOctober challenge in aid of MacMillan nurses, nurses, but I’ve heard the donations don’t go directly to the nurses. Please correct me if I’m wrong with that.

I was thinking instead of still going sober for the month, but donating what I would have spent on alcohol for the month towards a charity, where the donations are directly benefitting the people who the charity is aimed at, iyswim?
Any advice is appreciated, thank you 💐

I work for a hospice. More than 80% of our budget is spent on staff (clinical and administrative). It’s difficult because if I gave money to a charity like ours I’d want the money to go to the nurses or to buy something nice for the patients BUT if we don’t have a finance department then I don’t get paid. If we didn’t have a corporate fundraiser who encourages businesses to donate to us then we couldn’t afford to keep running.

The other thing I look at with charity donatations is to find a charity I want to support more than once. This is why I try to choose local ones , it’s easier to build a long-term relationships and to see where the money goes. I used to give money to the Dogs Trust but a few years ago I changed to a local dog rescue and instead of money they asked for a monthly delivery of puppy pads so I know exactly where my money is going.

Good luck with Stoptober and with finding a charity to support. I think it’s lovely that you’re giving this so much thought and consideration.

Local, volunteer-run charities can be ineffective and reliant on well-meaning amateurism.

A family member enquired about volunteering for a local trust that gives grants for people in need (they had advertised for volunteers). It transpired that she would be required to respond to telephone calls (on her own number I think) then go round to visit the people in their homes and make an assessment (on what criteria?) of whether or not they should get a grant. See any problems with that scenario?

When I prompted her to ask about training for this role (including safeguarding) the trustee clammed up and didn’t contact her again.

Your local branch of Samaritans. It will be used in branch not sent to HQ

Ive heard from several sources that MacMillan only fund posts for 2 years then pull it. The NHS has to fund it from then on but the nurses still wear the MacMillan uniform?

One of my friends who is a HCP set up a service with their support and then the funding was pulled.

Going to another friend’s MacMillsn coffee morning tomorrow so would be delighted if someone could tell me the above is incorrect as I’m feeling quite resentful that my lovely friend who lost her dad is pulling our all the stops for a charity that doesn’t play fair.

I’ve and Macmillan. Should really proof read .

There's an argument that NHS SHOULD fund more or at least majority palliative care, that charity sector shouldn't be expected to always pick up the pieces. NHS is not too proud to refuse free staff uniforms if someone else paid for them.

I am currently giving money to a small local charity (as well as other larger charities like teenage cancer trust and local hospice) it’s called the Magpie Project in East London, it supports families in temporary accommodation or homeless. themagpieproject.org They do a brilliant job with direct impact for a small group of people.

Lljk I’m not disagreeing with you.

I am uncomfortable with MacMillan taking the credit for funding that they are not providing beyond 2 yrs.

People talk about their MacMillan nurse and often raise money for the charity based on the fabulous work of an NHS employee wearing a MacMillan uniform/

It confuses me but I’m happy to be corrected if I’ve misunderstood.

@PanamaPattie would you want the charity to just hand out wads of cash to those they help? By paying staff to do the job, your money is going to those in need.

I actually work for a large charity. I don't give regular donations to any charity. I regularly give my time to a small local charity. Obviously that's not possible for everyone.

I think McMillan is more than the nurses though. When dh was diagnosed cancer, I found their website a lifeline of reliable advice to keep me calm. That's why I always donate when I have the opportunity although I am starting to prefer smaller local charities as I feel they're less likely to have a big bureaucracy to fund.

£60 would be admin and salaries and £40 would benefit the children

It's not as simple as that when you consider that staff salaries will provide staff that directly work with (and therefore benefit) children.

I’ve been having a look online at local charities and the Samaritans came up @proudestofmums. Definitely a worthy cause.

@Goingonandonandon The Magpie Project sounds like a wonderful cause, and you sound lovely.

@MaybeDoctor, wow that’s awful. I hope there aren’t many charities that do that. They need reporting by the sound of it. Very dangerous to make an assessment without guidelines.

@nursenamechange. There’s a lot to be said about donating locally, and agree it’s good to build long term relationships if you plan to donate more than once. And you know where your money is going, it’s good they ask you to buy things like the puppy pads.

Local all the way.

Oh, and I have started already, no alcohol consumed by me tonight.
I’ll be as fresh as a daisy tomorrow morning ☕️☕️

If you are concerned about executive salaries, local charities are your best option as they tend to be run by trustees and most of the funds is used for programme costs rather than admin etc. That said you need to consider what cause is close to your heart - local hospital charities for instance tend to guarantee 100% of funds are used for the purpose they were fundraising for (all admin is paid for by the nhs) but that simply isn't possible with research who need people to administer the grants. My personal favourite is a local organisation who custom make items to enable disabled people to have fuller lives - they made devices to clamp together my friends two disabled sons wheelchairs so she could take them out on her own now they have outgrown their double pushchair, all money is used for materials because everyone else is a volunteer! I love the more quirky charities and orgs as others overlook them

I like Water Aid because if you haven’t got clean water to drink you have absolutely nothing and you will die.
Locally, in Bristol we have the One25 charity which helps sex workers.
I just also wanted to say “respect” to all you charity employees on here. People hate the fact that if a charity nets, say one million in donations and pays £300000 for overheads, such as employees and all, there’s “only” £700000 for the cause. They’ll then be happy to donate to a smaller charity with no revenue, earning overheads that only makes £50000 for a cause. Simple economics folks. Charities are best run as a tight business and those reached by the £700000 will be glad of the other £300000 spent on “gold plated offices in London”as opposed to those beneficiaries who can only draw a fraction of that because the charity they rely on don’t spend on staff and marketing.

Executives on executives salaries in the charity sector are employed for the same reason as those in the private business sector: they are worth their salaries because they net huge returns for the business/charity. They are worth their pay.

The air ambulance. Gets no funding other than donations and saves many lives.

Have a look at this website: www.givewell.org. It’s an organisation that analyses charity data to identify the charities that can do the most good with the money you want to donate. I found it really powerful.

Marie curie are 50% funded by the NHS. The money isn’t spent locally. Macmillan doesn’t receive NHS funding but the agreement is after 3 years of funding the NHS must take the posts on. Again, money isn’t spent locally.

Further up thread someone has explained why it’s important charities pay staff. You still need HR, IT, payroll and finance in a hospice or any other charitable service.

Badger - lots of charities get no funding other than donations.

I’ve worked with two large charities and one very small one (team of 12 running the whole thing).
In terms of ‘value for money’ the large charities benefited from economy of scale. The small charity I left quite quickly, I was one of the few paid staff and they were useless trying to do anything of any good. The volunteers we had were not well managed and frankly a few were of the ‘two set and pearls doing good on a friday’ variety that were inefficient and wasteful - one in particular I remember making a mistake on a massive print run of something, approved a proof costing over £10k and it couldn’t be used. She just airily asked why we couldn’t just print it again, couldn’t understand my displeasure at her mistake (she shouldn’t have given the printers authority, it wasn’t in her role) and got huffy with me as ‘she was only a volunteer’.
So anyway, I don’t think charities should rely on volunteers for everything, well paid professional staff are important and necessary to ensure that costs are kept to a minimum and money is spent carefully to benefit the maximum number of people

The grace kelly ladybird trust

Childhood cancer is the most common medical cause of death of children in the UK. Every year, just under 4,000 children and young adults receive this life changing diagnosis.
The Grace Kelly Ladybird Trust is working to raise awareness of childhood cancer and the signs and symptoms with which it may present. We produce educational resources for parents and clinicians, provide support to families and fund research into rare solid tumours of childhood.

Hmmm, it's hard to reassure you that your donation(s) will be used sensibly.

I work for a charity. I realise that charities function better with paid staff but it does concern me, the amount paid on Manager's salaries, for very little return.

I also know that accounts can be portrayed in a way that doesn't reflect in detail what the money has actually been spent on - I think a previous poster mentioned this.

The amount of money I see wasted in my workplace really annoys me & I can imagine it's worse in larger charities.

Personally, I would buy stuff/equipment that the charity uses and needs rather than donate money.

Yes macmillan start nursing posts and then fund for 3 years. They then move on leaving the nhs to pay but still call them Macmillan nurses. I’ve looked at their accounts and whilst I totally support the fact that charities will need paid staff etc etc, I will not personally support them.
Same goes for children in need.
Our local children’s hospice is amazing and that’s where I would send my money locally (although I currently support non cancer charities)

You might consider donating to Womens Aid. If you've been on this board for any length of time you will have seen them repeatedly recommended as a source of support for victims of the epidemic of domestic abuse and violence against women generally. They have seperate organisations for England, Wales, Scotland & Norther Ireland so you can donate to your own region. You'll find their respective annual reports on their websites and in my opinion they manage to do an incredible job with the limited income they have compared to higher profile charities.

www.womensaidni.org
womensaid.scot
www.womensaid.org.uk
www.welshwomensaid.org.uk