To ask how much you give to charity?

[Wibblewobble100]

A TAAT - sorry! Reading the go fund me thread and wondering if I'm really stingy. I give about £200 a year to charity.... £10 month to oxfam, occasional sponsorship / just giving (maybe once every 2-3 months), and if there's a big DEC campaign eg Ebola, Haiti. Other than that it's the occasional coppers in a collection box. I don't generally give to beggars, buy the big issue, give to people collecting in the street or door to door, and I've never received a go fund me request but wouldn't give unless I knew someone really well and was convinced it was 100% genuine. I avoid all telethons (children in need, comic relief etc )like the plague. Am I stingy, how much do you give?

Wow you’ve made me feel quite guilty – I sponsor a child and occasionally give to other charities and charity shops, buy a poppy and sponsor people etc. But I probably don’t donate more than £400-500 a year, which is a lot less than 10% of my income. In my view, 10% of your income should be net income, which will be post tax/NI and pension contributions. Not gross income.

I do volunteer my time eg at parkrun, helping at running events. I’ve also been a school governor (8 years at a junior school). But I clearly could be doing more both in terms of time and money.

One thing that bugs me a bit about charities is how many duplicate charities there are. Although I don’t want people to lose their jobs, it does seem silly that there are lots of charities doing the same thing and they could merge and have less admin and more money going to the cause. I was glad that two of the Breast Cancer charities merged last year. But what for example is the difference between Parkinsons UK and Cure Parkinsons?

Also people start charities because of things that have happened to their family members. I totally understand that they want to do something constructive in that family member's name. But if the charity is duplicating the work of another, I think they should help that charity rather than starting their own.

Another I agree, and M&A in the charity sector is massively underdone and creates inefficiencies- if you suggest it they look at you like you're crazy though! I think a lot of charities set up in memory of someone are usually just fundraising vehicles rather than operating their own programs. For example, my mum set up a charity for a rare type of cancer in memory of her sister. They have a couple of fundraisers a year and raise about 20G, but all the money goes to the main UK charity for that type of cancer research. They have a bit of say over what it goes to, but that's it. They're basically just a major donor.

I give £20 a month to sponsor a child and I chose an organisation who fund their administration through other sources, gift aid etc, so I know that my full donation goes where I want it to. This is quite a bit for me as I don't have much left at the end of most months.

Like others on this thread, I used to give to the RSPCA but cancelled when they kept phoning and writing to ask for more.

I never realised so many people gave a percentage of their salary to their church. Clever old organised religion eh?

The biblical basis of a tithe is that the money is not yours in the first place, the provision is from God. Therefore you give away a portion of that and then use the rest as you need to, you cut your cloth accordingly.
I think it comes from offering the first fruits of a harvest as a worship offering. The bible says you should be a joyful giver, and that giving is an act of worship, of being thankful for the provision.
The Old Testement (I think it's in Genesis somewhere) has the notion of giving one tenth to the Lord. But in the New Testament, it says "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver"
Tithing should be an act of faith and thankfulness, not religion. Modern churches consider tithing important, but not more important than mercy, love, justice and faithfulness.
And of course, giving time is just as valid as giving money.

Oh, just re-read and realised that was quite an epic post. Someone upthread did ask about the 10% thing though!

But if, Hiddlesnake, paying a tenth of your income meant that other people in your country or community had to pick up the slack financially - wouldn't that simply be wrong? If tithing to the church meant that no provision could be made for your old age, or if it meant that you continued to live in, say, council accommodation which could otherwise be taken by someone in greater need (real example), then it seems to me that you're giving too much. Someone said earlier that 'it's all God's money'. But actually, at least some of it is everyone else's money....

Well that is why I quoted Corinthians "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" - if you haven't got it, don't give it. No one is going to (or at least should) judge you for it.

My income has been just enough to see us through on basics for so long I haven't given properly in a long time. I offer my time if I have it to any charity events I can and always put a tin or two in the food bank collection but otherwise I just can't afford to give at the moment.

If you can afford to give its obviously a fantastic thing to do however if you can't you should never be made to feel guilty (as I often am by my grandparents).

None.

But I do foster dogs, rehabilitate, retrain and rehome them, along with other homechecks etc so I do my bit for the world I guess.

£20 a month. I'm on benefits. I do free stuff, too, though not much due to limited ability. When I get a windfall I give 20% to good causes, and 10% of my ebay sales go to Women's Aid.

£20 a month to a children's cancer charity.
£13 a month to an animal charity.
Always give to things like Children in Need,Red nose day ect.£80 a year.
Sponsorships for our 5DC,friends,family and friends children every year.£150.
Give to charitys when they're collecting for those that are affected by a natural disaster.£100 a year.
Always give to the Poppy appeal.£30-£40.
Money into collections tins for all charitys.£100 in a year
Donate food for Harvest festival,usually between £60-£70 worth.
Donate food for food banks.£100 in a year.
Donate gifts at Christmast time for familys having a hard time.£100-£150.
People on the streets that are homeless usually buy them food and any bits they want/need any where between £50 to a couple of hundred in a year I expect.

Not money but we pass on any clothes,shoes,household bits,toys,books ect that we no longer use.Usually split them between the charity shops,collections for over seas and the local churches.

Sorry OP forget to say no I don't think your being stingy at all quite the opposite.

Nothing. That is 10% of my salary though - I have no income. I do donate my time to a charity that collects food for the homeless, I donate blood, and always try to donate anything I am getting rid of to charity or just to others, and I try to preferentially buy from charity shops, etc.

If\when I have income I will start giving to charity again, but how much will largely depend on my debts\situation at the time.

I give $50 per month to Bat Conservation International and I donate at the registers when I check out, plus I put money in the Salvation Army kettles at Christmas. I also volunteer for the Salvation Army several times a year. I give to my church collection plate when i go, and I donate to various food pantries. My son and I are getting ready to start volunteering at an animal shelter, because he needs volunteer stuff for his college applciations. Oh, and I belong to the DAR, and I donate a little to their charities every year.

We started to donate money after our needs were taken care of. We donate a large $ amount, a little bit more than the allowable taxable amount here in the Us. We donate to Sally ann, boys and girls club, food banks and planned parenthood.

I never donated any money until I was settled financially. DH used to throw coins into buckets but I like to give with a purpose. Our donations are also matched with efforts to help the charity. DH and I donate a significant amount of time to our charities. As a date I signed DH and I up for habitat for humanity. We built a fence for a single mother who had escaped a DV relationship with her 3 kids. Another time we helped put in a new kitchen for a lady who was close to dying of cancer. Her DH had his legs blown off in the Middle East so we were building an adapted kitchen for him to use.

I hate charities who chug. It's unacceptable to me that so many charities go after those who can't afford to donate money. DH and I are very fortunate to be in our financial position but about 2% of households in the US are. When I was training to be a CPA I would fill out returns to see people making $50k a year donate money they clearly couldn't afford to donate. It broke my heart because their good intentions were harming their family, especially the children.

Also, donations here in the US are higher because we have more disposable income. Tax rates in the UK are very high when compared.