I'd like to donate to a charity. Which one ?

[Victoriacres]

I'm thinking of donating £10 p/m to a charity. Stuck in with covid last 8 weeks so have had plenty of opportunity to sit watching daytime tv. Every advert seems to be wwf or save the donkeys, salvation army etc. Love animals but equally have teenage kids who probably don't realise how priviledged they are. Our town has a big homeless problem and is pretty deprived as a whole.
So maybe centrepoint ? Anybody any recommendations re charities ? How do you work out which ones give you best value for money ie the ceo isn't paid 100,000s ?

I'd be tempted to find a small local one.

You do need to decide though between animals, human or environment.

big charities are businesses and don't run by themselves - only small charities are run entirely by volunteers. So CEOs get paid. Do you work for free? (I do, running a small charity...)

just pick one that matches your ethos and actually DOES something. not Shelter. Also not ones that send gappies off to sunny places to do work better done by locals. Action Aid, I'm looking at you.

Out of interest what's wrong with Shelter ? Aggressive chuggers ? (hope that's the right term !)

NIA is an amazing charity for women escaping domestic abuse. It's pretty much the only Women’s charity now that is actually for women and not men.

Thanks for the suggestions !

I sent Christmas card money to local food bank, baby basics and the food bank in my home village. I've done dry and caffeine free January and will send what I've saved to the same charities. I also do the local hospitals lottery which is £1 a week. It pained me to send my mum's legacy to CRUK alongside much worthier charities but that's what she wanted!

I would look for your local food bank, baby bank or home start for local charities helping people through lockdown and getting value from your money

You can look up Four Paws, they do amazing work saving animals from horrific zoos in 3rd world countries, or wild animals kept in circuses, bear baiting etc

They just saved Kaavan, ‘the worlds loneliest elephant’ from a life of isolation and he is now living in a sanctuary with other elephants for the first time.

www.four-paws.org.uk/our-stories/rescues-success-stories/kaavan

I've found a local homeless charity supported by our council amongst others.
It has a wish list on amazon which includes things like thermal socks, basic trousers etc for £10 - 12. Does that sound like a good idea rather than just dosh ?

If a CEO is paid £100,000s, it's because they're managing a charity that is the size of a large international business, with the budget and massive responsibilities that go with that. And you're not going to get anyone remotely competent without offering a decent salary. It's a daft thing to base one's giving on. I'd rather give money to a charity that's competent in using my money, than one that has ineffective leadership and squanders it.

...but yep, if I was giving £10 I think I'd give it to a small local charity that I can feel connected to. I'd still want to know that they were effective though.

I choose ones which have a personal connection. The main ones I give to regularly are:
Marie Curie - who provided us with two wonderful and amazing nurses for the last two nights of my Dad's life. I know they are big and probably have some elements I wouldn't agree with, but I will never be able to put a value on those nurses and we wouldn't have got through without them.

RNLI - I'm a water bird and find in amazing they are so reliant on fundraising for the work they do

National Eczmea Society - I was bullied for my eczema as a teenager and they don't get the media attention the likes of the cancer charities do, so I hope my little bit goes some way to stop other children getting bullied and having pain from the disease

A tiny charity working with shanty town residents in Peru - I volunteered there some time ago and the poverty is terrible. They've also been hit hard by Covid. It's very small with minute overheads so I know my money gets through and makes a difference

It would be great if data was available on what % of income was spent on running costs vs. the needy but it's probably impossible. As pp have said, there's a lot of great work being done locally so Facebook groups are also a good place to start.

I would look locally - who is making a difference in your neighbourhood? Might be small grassroots or a local chapter of a larger organisation (eg age U.K. fundraise locally for local programmes). I support a local domestic abuse charity but there's so many good organisations. I would avoid the animal ones myself to be honest because they tend to be very well supported with legacies

RNLI.
Air ambulance.
Local hospice.

@Victoriacres

Giving needed items is a great way to support charities - for things like socks it's worth emailing manufacturers who have a factory shop, there's a few in the Midlands, and seeing if they can get you a discounted order. I've done this, basically they doubled it

I think you should donate it to your local hospice. I'm sick of big charities paying people six figure salaries creamed from donations of much poorer people.

It needs to be something personal op imo.
I donate monthly to BHF atm, DS has a heart condition so altho he'll probably never need them it feels personal. We fundraise for the children's hospice we use. I volunteer for Samaritans so do some fundraising for them. I donate clothes to a local homeless charity I wouldn't donate to Donkeys because I have no personal connection but other people will donate to them and not to a children's hospice.

I sponsor guide dogs for the blind. The local dog rescue shelter, the rspca and also our local hospice. There's so many worthy charities, it is hard to know what to do for the best. I don't need to know what happens to the money exactly, but I do like to see a charity being effective.

I think choose something that is personal to you. For me (I don't donate to all of these regularly but kind of rotate when I'm able to):

Ovacome - support with ovarian/women's cancer
Barnardos
Winston's Wish - supporting bereaved children
World Wildlife Fund

The school I work at does a lot charity work and community outreach, so I try to chip in to whatever local charities we're supporting too, the local churches homelessness fund and care for veterans.

I've given £10pm to StreetVet for years, which is a charity that looks after homeless people's animals.

Give them cash and tick the gift aid box. They can claim back basic rate and you claim any higher rate tax on your tax return. I also found out on here that donations made this month can go on you 2019/20 tax return

I would look at your local Home Start (aimed at helping families with at least one child under the age of 5). I volunteer for my local branch, and they have worked like absolute trojans during lockdown, with very little support from the local council.
Nationally, I would support RNLI.
I also support a child in Haiti via Plan. For that, I pay £15 per month.

You can look at their accounts on the Charities Commission website to see how they spend their money.

I was shocked to find out the local animal charity I used to volunteer with pays its trustees over £30k a year - almost half of its annual income from donations!

I donate to Trussell Trust, Refuge and Shelter. Interested to hear what the potential issues are with Shelter?

Here’s a link to a more evidenced based approach.
Fighting malaria and parasitic diseases arguably gives you the most tangible benefit per pound donated.
www.givingwhatwecan.org/best-charities-to-donate-to-2021/