Why don't you give more to charity?

[NotADailyMailJournalist]

Evening all! Me again!

On my thread about whether you would save your own beloved pet or a stranger's child, 95% of folk were saying that they would choose the stranger's child.

So if we are so keen to save strangers' lives, why are we not giving every penny (even selling everything we own) to buy anti-malaria nets?

(I have previously read that this is the most cost-effective way to save the most lives - £1 = 1 net = 1 life)

Thanks again, I do love a debate!

I had to retire early at 60 to become full time carer to my terminally ill husband, so I'm not earning and can't afford to give to charities any more (used to when getting a salary). I do have regular clear outs though and give reusable items to charity shops so that they can sell the items to raise funds. When I do have anything extra to give, I prioritise our local hospice. It's where my dad died and they're currently providing outpatient palliative care to my husband, so I try to give a bit back.

I also would rather pay tax than give to a charity. More tax equals better public services and infrastructure.

Charity donations to many third world countries can end up destroying their economies (as western cast-offs are provided for free, so no role for locals to make and sell them). And large donations lead to corruption.

More charity here equals more money to pay for fundraisers and lobbyists and more charity shops destroying high streets.

Yes, for famine relief, natural disasters and emergencies, but otherwise trade not aid. Always buy fair trade.

Don’t trust most charities to manage my money, after the oxfam paying vulnerable women for sex thing it really put me off. We do have a direct debit to one charity and I keep meaning to set up a DD for another one which I will get around to.

I think a lot of big charities have become an industry. I trust small niche ones more tbh. We also make donations for one off things through our temple, so for example aid to earthquake hit areas etc, we donated through DH work scheme for the Turkey earthquake (this was goods, like blankets, personal care, they also asked for new clothes which I think was quite sensible) and to a local charity where we live that supports vulnerable women (they don’t ask for money though, they want things like nappies and sanitary towels etc).

I could donate more I suppose, we don’t have much time for volunteering but a lot of our family help elderly neighbours etc (we don’t have any to help but would do the same).

I think this is bang on.

It’s interesting that senior managers salaries need to be competitive when it seems quite alright to have lower level staff slogging away for minimum wage. There’s a real culture of not pushing for a market based wage rise as taking away from charity.

It does feel like senior management get to pick and choose whether to function like a business or a charity depending on whether it benefits them. Which may maximise profits in the short term but causes stakeholders to become disengaged long term.

The most effective charities can be 100x more effective than the average ones. Thankfully, there is a whole movement dedicated to trying to identify which the most effective interventions, and charities, are.

This means it's possible to give money to charity with high confidence that you are doing real good, and that your money is not being wasted.

The cost of saving a life though most highly-effective causes (like bed nets in high-malaria areas) is about USD 5000 per life. This is the reliable true cost, considering factors like that many people wouldn't have got malaria anyway, that many people who get malaria would not have died, distribution costs, etc.

Unfortunately many mainstream charities have given a misleading impression though their advertising that saving someone's life costs a few pounds. That's untrue, and it breaks trust. It also trivialises charity.

The good news is that you really can save someone's life for less than many people spend on coffee over a couple of years. That's not something trivial. It's a really admirable thing to do, and it's attainable for almost everyone.

I think that’s true. My uncle is selling his practice and retiring. He is busy shunting money into potentially exempt for IHT purposes as he feels he’s paid whacking great amounts of tax on everything already. To be fair he’s paid hundreds of thousands a year in tax for decades so maybe has coughed up his share.

It’s interesting that senior managers salaries need to be competitive when it seems quite alright to have lower level staff slogging away for minimum wage. There’s a real culture of not pushing for a market based wage rise as taking away from charity.

I did say somewhat competitive. Salaries are lower across the board. Benchmarking reports show that salaries have a higher gap at senior levels though.

The CEO of the NSPCC earnt £162,000 - so enough to live a nice standard of living in an “always on” job that depends a lot skill, and experience in a charity that genuinely makes a difference. The CEO of tescos earned 9m!

Honestly I don’t donate to charity because

a) we shouldn’t need it. A well governed country doesn’t need charity as taxes are used to help those in need.

b) since we do need charities because our country isn’t well-governed, surely wealthy corporations and billionaires should be footing the bill? Was at the cinema the other day and they asked if I’d like to buy a ticket for someone who couldn’t afford one. Are you joking?! You’re the bloody cinema! Let them in for free if you care so much!!!

I give about 10% of my salary to charity. Reasons I don't give more:

1. I have family responsibilities too. I'm probably overly risk-averse, so I want to be sure the family would be OK even under a pretty big financial shock like double job loss.

1. The most effective charities do up to 100x more good than typical ones (eg in terms of cost to save a life). So which charity to give to is far more important than how much. Instead of spending an extra hour to earn extra money to give, it's better to spend that hour carefully choosing how I give.

1. My parter and I have slightly different views on charity, and I don't want to create tension between us.

1. Ultimately, I don't think humans are morally obliged to give all our spare money to charity, even though that means that some people will die who I could have saved had I not bought the new car. That's a hard one to deal with. To me, 10% feels like a humane amount that does real good and yet is sustainable for me and my family. It should probably be more, as we get older and our finances become more certain. Giving money in a will is a good way to do this.

I’ll be honest and say I don’t give much to charity. I have two jobs and I get some UC if the government thinks I’m poor I probably am. I do give stuff to a local charity shop and where I can I help out my local community so ran the bbq for school sports day, took an elderly lady to hospital to visit sick husband type stuff.

I’m nice but I have bills/ mortgage to prioritise.

The main difference between your questions is power and control. If you had the opportunity to save a child by pulling from a pool or whatever you are literally in control of the moment. If you give x amount to a charity to save a childs life it may or may not be wasted on admin fees, corruption and a million other issues. You don't know if it reaches a child in need and even if it does they might get one dose of medicine or food for a week or whatever, but the factors that put them in this life threatening situation continue and they may be in the same situation tomorrow or next month. So if my charity donation literally saved a child's life and guaranteed health and safety until adulthood then I probably would donate more.

I should add, dh and I give a lot to charity (relatively) if he gets a bonus at Christmas he would probably give one third or half away. We vary who we donate to but if they start to send us expensive begging letters on coloured glossy paper then I stop supporting them as I believe they are overspending on admin and marketing. Not to mention disrespecting the environment, which is ironic because many of them state their beneficiaries are victims of environment change etc.

That is none of your business OP.

Instead of buying a load of malaria neta and sending them to a country in need, why not invest money in a local business that makes malaria nets, in said country, allowing the company owner to expand, employ others and make more malaria nets. That, imho is far better than just throwing money at the problem

Of course it is, but £10 isn't going to go far if I was to have that business plan.

Actually I did support (both with money, and on the ground) a couple of small projects in one of the poorest African countries, the ultimate aim of which was for the participants to ultimately own and manage them (without us) as micro-businesses. Which is what happened. Within 18 months of helping to find the machines needed, set up a workshop, organise their training (with local experts) in the craft, in then selling it and in book keeping etc, the participants were the whole owners of the projects, and giving back to their own communities.

That kind of project is ideal, but there is still a great need that only the large charities have the funds and the geographic scale to meet.

Both approaches are needed.

Oh, and here is a thorough explanation about where nets are sourced, and why.

https://www.againstmalaria.com/NewsItem.aspx?newsitem=Where-do-we-buy-our-nets-from

This is a really good point. I don’t know the ins and outs of malaria nets but many NGOs do source food from the closest possible source, and give aid in other ways that don’t damage the local economy.

The ins and outs are in the link in my post directly above yours.

Then please donate to the Fistula Foundation. They train and resource in the local areas. Giving capacity and building communities.

Against Malaria as @saraclara says are very transparent about their process and financials.

Obviously I cant give everything to charity, I have my own children to feed and clothe! I give what I can to Palestinian families trying to escape Gaza, I don’t have much money but I send at least £20 a month to a family.