(How) do you give to charity?

[Goostacean]

Just wondering, how do you decide which charity/ies to support? Do you give regularly or as a one-off, or change depending on your circumstances? How do you decide how much to give?

I have a monthly direct debit set for a tribute fund with the MND Association in memory of my mum. Everything else is adhoc.

I have a direct debit set up for one charity that's close to my heart as it relates to a health condition affecting my close family. I make ad hoc donations to others that matter to me too - like the local hospice, local animal charities etc. It's totally dependent on what personally resonates with you I guess.

I give regularly to charities who's aims I support by DD, I do this so they can reclaim the tax.

It also gives a great reason to decline to support charities I'm not so keen on or peoples charity holidays etc

I donate to local causes via my co op membership and smile at Amazon.

I sponsor a child by direct debit in Liberia and I also volunteer for Home-Start once a week. (I work in the kitchen helping to provide healthy snacks for a family group once a week). I have also helped support families by visiting them in their own homes, for example. I have done this for 12 years now.

I have two direct debits that go monthly from my bank account - one to the NSPCC because I believe in what they do and one to the RNLI because they helped DD1 a few years ago and also because I think it's a crying shame they get no funding.

Had a think about what kind of charities I wanted to support, researched which ones of those types have good reputations, and set up direct debits. Review about once a year. I nearly never give extra when asked- this method stops me feeling pressured to give to other things.

It’s entirely up to you, OP! There are as many ways as there are people. Some support a specific medical charity because a family member has that particular illness or disability. Some support projects in a specific country with which they have a connection. Others donate via their church or religious organisation. Some give a fixed percentage of their disposable income.
I do a mixture - I give weekly at church, weekly to the local food bank, monthly to three charities on regular direct debits, monthly as a larger “one off” to various favourite charities, and annually at Christmas to two organisations.
My choices are fairly wide, but include feminist organisations such as Womankind (especially those campaigning against FGM), Christian Aid, Water Aid, Practical Action, Ethiopiaid, Crisis, and the Red Cross. I will usually also do one offs for earthquake relief etc.
I have a SIL who fundraises specifically for a school for the deaf in Africa, with great success - the first pupils have now graduated.
One of my BILs is heavily into environmental issues and supports Friends of the Earth and similar local eco groups.
Any charity would welcome your support, OP - just check when you’re choosing that they have a good record of spending on helping their target population rather than splurging on mega salaries for their directors.

I donate to water aid by direct debit every month and to our church in the same way.

I also put food in for the food bank each week, save stamps and give them to the hospice who claim money on them. The local air ambulance are collecting crisp packets and bottle lids so I save those for them (and pester children/staff at school to give theirs too), I believe they cash them in for recycling.

I donate clothes to the charity shop, I save bottle top lids (metal) for a charity who turn them into jewellery and sell it and I send old bras to a charity too. And I’ve been making pillowcase dresses and sending them to the charity ‘dress a girl around the world’

Give a small monthly amount to a sight saver charity. At Christmas we give to 2 charities based on people we know who have died. So over the past few years it's been hospice, cancer, lung disease, heart foundation and a suicide charity. Because we do this I don't generally give to charities/sponsor people during the year. If anyone calls to the door I don't feel bad saying no. We make the choice of charity in December and that's that.

When friends undertake challenges like the London marathon, great north run, triathlon, mountain climb etc...
DH's uni friends are a very sporty / active group so it feels like there's always something. I budget £100 per year for sponsorship.

Then when DC's school do fundraiser. I give more if it's a charity that appeals to me and I have a connection with. And avoid the charities who send people knocking on our doors / pestering us in the street.

No direct debits.

Monthly direct debit to:

Guide dog association for the blind
Dogs Trust
Battersea Dogs and Cats home

I regularly donate stuff to and buy stuff from charity shops.

I do something charitable each Christmas e.g donation to crisis at Christmas, operation Christmas child, donation to local food bank.

When we had more savings I once made a significant one-off donation to a charity close to my heart.

I sometimes put coins in charity money boxes e.g at tills, people with buckets in the street.

I sometimes buy homeless people food and drink.

I think that's it! So as you can see no standing order or nothing regular like that but I try to give when I can. Winds me up to no end when people knock on my door asking for regular monthly donations!

I give 5% of my take home pay to charity. Almost all by DD. I review my choices each year, it's a lovely way to spend the evening. Mix of small and large, local and internationally, which tie in with my values. I then have about £30 a month to sponsor friends and family in particular events.

I volunteer at a charity shop every Saturday and I donate anything I dont want to them. My friends give me their donations for the shop and one friend has started volunteering with me. We support the homeless and anyone who is struggling can come to us for help. I love it.

DP and I have monthly DDs to a small number of carefully chosen charities which are relevant to us. One is the local air ambulance (DP works in aviation), another is the local hospice. We also regularly donate to a local foodbank.

Apart from that, I very rarely donate. In particular I do not give to large corporate-style charities which employ rude, irritating chuggers, harass vulnerable donors over the phone, bombard people with spam, spend fortunes on nauseatingly guilt-tripping TV adverts and pay their senior executives six-figure salaries. They can fuck right off.

I volunteer with a couple of local groups (dogs and special needs adults) and I give to a few very specific causes. I don’t generally give to big charities as I’ve seen firsthand how bloated and expensive they tend to become to run once they get to national or international scales. Team Rubicon is an exception as I know personally how helpful they really are.

I donate through give as you earn at work. It means that you don't have to remember to claim tax back on it and I think there's an NI break too. I give to 4 charities through it.

I don't give to any large national charities but do occasionally give to local ones as they come up. Our main charity is supporting children from Belarus who live with the lasting effects of the Chernobyl explosion. We have hosted a child every summer for 10years and help organise the visits. I was unsure when we started but am really seeing the positive changes it makes to whole families and having visited them in their homes can't imagine giving up any time soon.

1 direct debit to local hospice (family and friends have had relatives pass away there), 1 to a fireman charity (friend and partners brother are firemen), and one to Action Aid.

I do a direct debit of £15pm to a charity that helps women who have been badly damaged in childbirth and have a fistula meaning they can be doubly incontinent and ostracised.
I started after my 3rd child was born and I had deep tissue repair , she will be 35 this month .
I also do an annual donation to our local hospice who helped in the last 3 weeks with Hospice at Home for my dad meaning I could keep him with us where he wanted to die .
I do sponsorship for our local befrienders when they are doing a fundraiser .
I must revisit the Fistula Society and see when I last increased my monthly donation , I think I should increase it again .

I have a couple of small monthly direct debits to a homeless charity and a charity researching gynae cancers (For my mum). I donate to others or top up the regular ones on an ad hoc basis.

Monthly DDs to cancer research and the local hospice who looked after MIL. Also to shelter as being homeless would be my worst nightmare. At Xmas I give the same to the Sally army as I spend on each of the kids. DS supports an annual charity event through his business and we get to choose where a small part of that money goes - to the hospice again. Then ad hoc stuff thorough the year.

@confusednorthner I know the charity you mean! We hosted a child several times when I was a child too; helped me practise my Russian too so my parents were doubly pleased to help out. It’s a fantastic cause.

So interesting to read how everyone gives. Thanks for sharing.

I was thinking about it because I set up my second DD today, but both are for educational establishments, not really reaching the most needy... so was thinking about what else I’d like to do.

We give approx 10% of take home pay to charity. It was a decision we made when we got married 20 years ago. Highly recommend giving via a charity account as the individual charities you support don't receive your contact details so you're not spammed with junk mail and appeal letters (just make sure you tick the anonymous box!). The charity account will also claim back the gift aid too if applicable. We use Stewardship Services but there are others available. Through this account we give some to our church, sponsor a child, give to local and national charities and support a couple of missionaries too. It's up to you how you spend it though. www.stewardship.org.uk/

As others have mentioned there are many other ways to give too - food bank, sponsor friends, donate to charity shops, buy from charity shops, bake for cake sales, give time etc. etc.

A lovely way to start the new year OP, happy giving!