To ask how much you give to charity?

[poshme]

Not TAAT but in response to the disposable income thread.

How much money (either amount or percentage of income) do you regularly give to charity?

There a quite a lot of people who seem to have lots of disposable income, and it made me realise that I give to charity, and hadn't thought of it as part of my 'disposable income' though it is. I was wondering if people give much away?

As a couple we give to charity about 8% of our after tax income.

£5 per month, plus monthly donations to the charity shop and food bank. I make a point to sponsor any charity events any friends do, plus I do an extra £30 donation each Christmas to another charity. Not a huge amount money-wise but I also regularly volunteer time to a specific charity (helping them out with events about 4 times per year for example, plus all the prep/advertising/transport/admin).

Nothing. Though I work for a charity and regularly do loads of unpaid overtime sometimes it's over 2 hours a day.

It differs year on year.
We donate regularly to the hospice where my DM died by way of cash gifts and money raised from fundraising events (pre covid) and our local food bank which is based in the area I grew up in, so I feel a particular connection with it. We also make ad hoc donations for friends who are running the great north run (for example)

DH's family have a charitable trust which chooses charities to donate to for specific things (a new mini bus for a special needs school, for example)

People should have a look at what charities spend their money on, on the Charity Commission website. You can see exactly how much they spend on admin and how much they spend on their charitable purpose. It's pretty transparent and open.

@GoneEffinCrazy

Nada. Zilch. Fuck all.

Don't trust charities nowadays. They're really just corporations using most of the money on themselves.

All charities list where the donation money is used. None use it all on 'themselves'

What a ridiculous viewpoint. Maybe pull your head out of the daily mail and do some actual research

Totting up the things people have mentioned so far around £100 per month which is only a small proportion of our take home pay which is a bit embarrassing when other people are saying 10%!

I do like the idea of giving a larger donation at Christmas but we tend to a lot around then anyway due to schools organising stuff. I also like the idea of loaning money as a donation too.

If you are refraining from donating to charities because they supposedly don't spend money appropriately, I hope you're donating a commensurate amount of time/resources elsewhere. Otherwise, it just sounds like a bit of a cop-out, really. We're quick to point out admin costs of charities, but it's important that they're run professionally and thoroughly like any other organisation.

Besides, donating not only benefits the recipients but also the donor, because it puts things into perspective. We can get so caught up in our own lives and spending on ourselves, but charity is a reminder to be grateful, to remember those less fortunate and that we are all part of a collective that is far greater than just us and our families.

I've not figured it out as a percentage of my salary, but it's about £45 a month. It was less before lockdown, but then we started donating money to the food bank as I always forgot to buy extra food for it and I started sponsoring a child.

I don't give any time because I really value my free time.

I've moved away from donations to giving more substantial gifts to my parents in the form of charity gifts and sponsorship, because they're really not interested in normal presents and give to charity a lot.

We also make two substantial food bank donations monthly, and try to buy ethical.

It's my personal philosophy to try and make charitable and ethical purchases rather than donations, to support the growth of ethical retailers and markets. These usually cost more than mainstream goods and services.

I give 10 pounds a month. I earn minwage part time.

Works out about £50 cash but I also volunteer a lot ( 5 - 10 hours a week)

A fiver a month to Make a wish & about £15 to Alzeimers but we give throughout the year too, Children in Need, GoFundMe's, Homeless at Christmas/christmas hampers & whatever charity the school/nursery is collecting for. I'd love to be able to give my time but thats not possible at this time in my life.

£30 a month to a charity. Make sure I use amazon smile too. I also do volunteer work, or I did, but I'm on mat leave at the moment and the volunteer work isn't compatible with a baby/covid.

I never give money to charity. I volunteered and did the finances for a few about 10 years ago and it was disgusting how little money goes to the cause. I do donate to the food bank though- not as often as I should though.

10-15% of income, and 5 hours a week (pre-COVID). We mostly give to small charities working in developing nations. I like the ones that work through the churches as they rely much more on local staff and volunteers than highly paid international staff. At least that was my experience when I lived abroad.

For our kids, Mary’s meals is very good (and transparent). It costs £15.90 to feed a child school meals for a year, so it’s a good fundraising goal if the kids want to run a stall or get sponsorship.

Working for one my wages are low, I do t have enough after bills to donate

Very little as such a small % of donations are used for the cause.
I donate to charity shops and donate through my Amazon smile and co op membership card.

I don't tend to donate ££ as I'm skeptical about how much actually goes to the charity.

I do give to food banks. I put together presents for children who would otherwise go without at Christmas. I happily attend fund raisers.

I could do more, though.

Not sure - I donate generously to just giving requests from friends/acquaintances, always add some items to the food bank basket, give to charity shops etc. I’ve never totted it up though - possibly £250 per yearish? I could be more generous but to be honest I feel responsible for securing my own position too so that I never need to call upon charity. Once I’ve paid off my mortgage and got my pension sorted I would be more generous.

About 5% of income.

I found a great book about how to identify charities that spend their money well rather than those which are less effective: ‘It Ain't What You Give, It's the Way That You Give It: Making Charitable Donations That Get Results’ by Caroline Fiennes. It’s really thought provoking, eg admin costs tell you very little about how well a charity spends its money. It completely changed my perspective. I’d recommend it to anyone.

In 2017 I made a one off big payment to a charity close to my heart. I was left some money in a relative's will and it came out of that.

Day to day - buying who gives a crap toilet roll. I believe half the money they make goes to charity.

About £60 a month in direct debits & then prob another £20 a month in one off donations (say in response to particular one off events like the explosion in Lebanon). We get bits for the food bank when we can too. I'd like to give a bit more but we're currently on one income and I'm a bit selfish

The thing is not all of the money you give can go "to the charity". Some of it has got to go on admin costs, unless you think that charity staff should work for free because they believe in the cause.

@Coffeeandteach

I never give money to charity. I volunteered and did the finances for a few about 10 years ago and it was disgusting how little money goes to the cause. I do donate to the food bank though- not as often as I should though.

I worked as an administrator for a small local charity at one point and my experience was exactly the opposite! They honestly didn't waste a penny and all the staff (there were three of us) worked far more than our paper hours. I still even a direct debit supporting them ten years on

Also administrative costs are - within reason - also necessary. In our little charity it included the whole process by which we recruited, trained & supported our volunteers for example - and we worked with vulnerable adults, so that needed to be handled professionally. I agree admin costs shouldn't consume an excessive amount of resources, but there's a lot of naivety in assuming they shouldn't exist at all.