To no longer donate to charities

[Foronenightonly01]

Issues akin to those being reported in the papers of ‘One Young World’ mean that when you give money now, more often than not it seems to go into the pockets of profiteers. I do still help out locally giving my time that I can spare to projects in my area and I’ll give extra in scenarios where I know exactly to whom my cash is going. I’m so saddened that people are being conned to lining the pockets of wealthy greedy pretend do-gooders - more than anything else recently this has made me realise how f@cked our Country is. So bloody sad.

Not all charity chief executives are on 6 figure salaries, I can assure you - I'm married to one. He is very critical of some of the larger charities who have massive reserves and execs on huge salaries but put expensive adverts on tv which tug at the heartstrings of the public.

There are lots of smaller and local charities which have low admin costs - obviously they have to spend something on buildings and staff - but they do a lot of good work with the donations they get.

By all means donate your time if that's what you prefer, but if everyone stops donating money then there won't be a charity for you to volunteer for.

I wonder if the people who say they won't give to big charities, would be willing to accept help from one? Trust me, if you needed a Macmillan nurse or help from Shelter or Women's Aid, you'd probably grab it with both hands!

I'm not obliged to give money though, I prefer to give food. If I don't believe they are doing all they can to keep costs down then I'm not comfortable donating money. I am on a low income myself.

Nonsense. Read the financial report. Their remit is enormous and the money raised barely covers it. They had to make a lot of staff redundant and many staff are at the brink due to the amount of pressure on their services.

@Foronenightonly01 absolutely fine to do your research and decide not to donate to charities which don't use donations in the most effective way.

Rather dumb to just say you won't donate to any charity because some are crap. That's lazy thinking akin to the populist press herd mentality of making a sweeping generalisation.

Read the financial reports, arm yourself with facts and then donate to charities if you believe they represent a worthwhile cause, use donations effectively, and you want to do some good. Or not.

There is a small, non charity supported cat and kitten rescue near me and each year I send a cheque to them at Christmas. It is made out to the vet practice they use as their bills for neutering and treatment are always high.

They are always in need of food and items to sell locally for funds.

I usually send the cheque in a card with my cat's name in it (he was a rescue, although not from them). 😸

Same here !

donations to jk Rowlings lumos fund go entirely to causes -
all the admin etc is paid for by royalties from a book which she assigned to the charity

so thst could be a good one to donate to

We’ve had a lot of charity Scandals in ireland, which is heartbreaking as they were providing services to some of the most vulnerable in society.

this isn’t the case here, but it’s good to have a commission and hopefully they get a quick review and the all clear or recommendations.

Personally (after the Irish scandals) I’m a little wary of charities that employ multiple family members in senior roles (but that’s based on the console charity scandal here)

Also this, I work for a big charity . It's not badly run, but spends too much on outside agencies, consultants, and the management level is paid highly while the rest of us get paid badly.

Watch out this winter for a run of strike ballots by people working for charities.

When I retire / can cut my hours I've got my eye on a few local charities I'll be volunteering for .

I'm highly skilled in my role, I work for a charity. They can't run without my expertise. I have a family, I have to feed us all and keep a roof over our heads. Donations indeed go towards my wages, however the majority of donations go towards our work. You only have to read the annual financial report to find this out. It's your money and you're entitled to donate or not.

But please don't state inaccurate information about charity donations, because you can put others off donating. The government doesn't provide enough support for all the causes that are required, and charities fill those gaps. If people stop donating there would be a lot of suffering of both people and animals who rely on these charities for support.

And for the record, I'm not well paid. I had to study many years to get my qualifications and I have over 20 years experience, but earn a fraction of what someone equivalent in a private company would earn.

I've worked for big, medium and small charities. Some are badly run, yes, some are incredible. You just need to do your research rather than writing them all off. Look at who their CEOs are, how many staff they have. They are all so different.

Also be mindful that big fancy offices might be subsidised or even free, given as a gift from a donor etc.

And being a volunteer is all well and good but you need a paid volunteer manager to ensure people are trained properly, made to feel valued and that clients are safeguarded. And yes, they will need a salary.

But as someone said upthread, a big number of charities are there to fill in the gaps for services the government doesn't provide. Womens refuges, refugee organisations, homeless orgs. If everyone stopped giving to these organisations, there would be very little support for some of societies most vulnerable people.

So no, I won't stop giving to charity. But I will do my due diligence as to where I send my money, just like I do with who I but my clothes from, or where I get my food shopping.

I only ever donate to local charities. For me this is a local animal rescue, local independent food bank, local homelessness outreach centre and hostel and local legal advice centre (of which I am also a trustee).

I know enough about these charities to know that they are run by people who truly believe in them and I know exactly where my money is going.

Also a big issue with Stonewall brainwashing the big charities .

givewell.org rates charities by how much of your money actually goes to the cause, and lists the ones that make the maximum impact with the money they are given.

I've had a very similar experience. While I wouldn't go as far as never giving to small charities at all, I know from bitter experience what scrimping on running costs does. As someone said upthread, good governance costs money. Unfortunately the idea that the less spent in admin the better is very pervasive, to nobody's advantage.

I used to work for Shelter and would never give them money now. Also, Women's Aid is a 'fully inclusive' organisation so they won't get my money either. Any charity that promotes an agenda that put's women and children in danger or whose staff have used their positions to access vulnerable women and children won't get a penny from me. That's the vast majority of the big ones. Just my opinion of course.

No they are not paid. In order to be a registered charity, your board must be unpaid.

Please can you provide an example of a charity that pays its board members (for being board members and not for providing other services to the charity)?

I’ve worked for a few charities.

One was a local hospice at home service for children, where I was paid slightly more than NHS rate for the role.

This was so that they could attract NHS staff who would have worse pensions if they moved to the charity. The working conditions were so much better than the NHS. Staff turnover was very low. Staff were treated very well. They were valued. I would never begrudge a charity paying staff well if they were doing a good job and still meeting the aims of the charity

most of the budget was spent on staff, the building for admin staff was small and not in a glamorous location.

Yes, the food banks are charities but I do not give money. Hopefully the food I donate goes directly to the people that need it and not the shopping trolleys of paid staff.

The only charities I would NEVER give to are small international ones. Far too many are outright dangerous and exploitative.

I have regular DDs going to smaller environmental charities like our local Wildlife Trust, Woodland Trust and a local lady who looks after rescued hedgehogs, plus a couple of others. I was recently 'got' by the Dogs Trust - just after Ddog died - which is bigger than usual for me.

I hadn't thought about the Stonewall angle though. I will check that out.

@WhoIsBernieBrown and @Enidcat5 excellent posts.

If you want to donate to a charity, do your research. Arm yourself with actual facts.

If you can't be bothered to do that, then don't spread misinformation such as 'all charities are crap' or 'the money never goes where it's needed.'

Whether you give money is a personal choice so don't do it if you don't wish. But spreading misinformation could discourage others from giving - which is pretty nasty.