Regular charitable giving

[Bushkin]

Just talking to DH about doing some more regular charitable giving.

We have a couple of small DDs for national charities and we give fairly generously to a couple of local orgs at certain times of year as well as ad hoc for friends causes etc.

Do many of you give like a regular % of income? How did you decide how much/which charity?

Not sure if money matters is right place but hopefully ok.

I don't give as much as I'd like to as DH is very "careful" 🙄. I actually now have a CAF account for my salary sacrifice that I need to start donating as well as our regular amounts.

Someone local does a lot of fundraising for local animal rescue charities so I actively bid on things she sells/donate items for her to sell/by raffle tickets etc.

What is a CAF account? Thank you!

I shop a few times a week in Asda, I always make sure to pick something up for the food bank and drop it of in the collection trolley. With how often I shop it adds up and I know exactly what I've given (instead of money which I don't know how it is spent). Like I try to remember to get sanitary towels every time I'm on my period (I use reusables so its not something I'm buying anyway) and treats on a regular basis along with staples.

Charities Aid Foundation. You get the income tax relief added in.

How did you decide how much/which charity?

I give what I can comfortably afford or if I am totally honest what I wont miss. At the moment that's £90/month spread between my local volunteer run theatre, Woolly Hugs (came across on MN), and the Spanish rescue I adopted my dogs from. I also buy the national and post code lotteries. I am retired and my regular donations equate to about 5% of my income. I also give at Christmas to either Crisis or the Sally Army.

I have some charity money that is paid directly out of my wages, I believe that the tax is added to the charity gift aid each month

We give about 25% of our taxed income to selected charities, donated directly to them by standing order.
We get regular updates from them about how our money is spent, and chose small charities with low overheads so our money could do the most good.
We used to give 1/3 of our income, but are currently supporting adult DCs with rent etc while they study so can't afford it for a couple of years.

Wow! That is a lot @InMySpareTime definitely pause for thought

I tired too find out an easy way to research charities with low overheads and didn't find one tbh.

Our regular standing order is to Trussel Trust that runs UK food banks

I give the standard 10% to charity, as do a lot of my friends.

See I’d honestly never heard the ‘standard 10%’ thing until another MN thread. Any idea where it comes from?

I suspect it was from the old testament concept of tithe.

We support SOS child scheme in Africa. The first child we supported has grown up and got an apprenticeship so the funding has been given to a new child. It’s only £20 a month for the last 20 years and we haven’t missed it.

More locally, Battersea Cats and Dogs - monthly
RNLI - Christmas donation
Food banks
Our state school - monthly

I give 3.5% of net income via regular donations plus one-offs e.g. Big Give which takes it to 4% of net income.

Wow, 'the standard 10%' does sound like a tithe. I don't love this idea, as I imagine that poorer people ( / most people) wouldn't be able to afford this.

On the contrary, because 10% is a constant fraction so it's fairer than a standard £100 or whatever, which would be disproportionately unfair on the poor.
With a tithe, if you earn £100 you give a tenner. If you earn £100,000 you give ten grand. When most people do this as standard there's plenty of help for the poorest when they need it.
The system only falls down because those with high incomes have increased their outgoings to match.

We give around 5% I’d say - standing orders to a charity in Africa, our church, a fairly local primary school that is particularly deprived, food bank, our DC school and a cancer charity that is close to my heart.

@InMySpareTime, but it's the government's job to provide a safety net for the poorest in society. I'd rather pay more taxes, and have fair and equitable support available for those that need it across the country.

I have a CAF account for my salary sacrifice and then give to Catholic Church related charities plus a local homeless shelter. It means I get to save high rate tax. I also give to crisis at Christmas and then the charitable collections at school and church.

I will give ad hoc to just giving requests for good causes.

I am no where near charitable enough.

That is something I wonder about, those who pay 40%+ in tax already another 10% on top is a lot… I don’t know the answer just trying to agree on a balance and what feels like the ‘right’ approach for is

It helps to think about your income post tax rather than thinking about how much tax you've paid.
HR taxpayers only pay 40% tax above the threshold, not on their whole income, and they can claim back 20% of charitable donations through their tax return (plus the charity can claim gift aid).
If the state provided an adequate safety net for people in poverty, tax would be enough, and charitable giving wouldn't be needed.
We have so many charities today because the "small state" ethos of successive governments has removed so much of that safety net that many slip through it.
I give because I recognise how privileged I am compared to so many others. I can help, so I do.

Charities Aid Foundation also run Give As You Earn. This is giving via payroll so it depends if your employer has signed up to the scheme. How it works is that you decide how much you want to give and then some of what you would normally pay to HMRC goes to your chosen charity.

In essence, you are increasing the value of your donation at no cost to you. If you gave £24 per month, the charity would get £30. Your salary deductions are the same, HMRC just get £6 less. It's even better for higher rate tax payers. It's the same principle as claiming Gift Aid on your income tax bill but is designed for paid employees, not self employed people who submit tax returns.

I have three direct debits. I prefer to give to charities with low overheads and who do not keep bothering me with requests for more. I have a few annual donations and will give to various Just Giving type things and the odd old fashioned collection box. I don't think the actual charitable giving adds up to 10% but I also give to a political party and a few museum/gallery memberships which obviously reduces my disposable income. I never visit the galleries often enough to make them worthwhile (even more so during Covid) so I think of this as a way of helping them more than me.

@BreakingUpWithMyPhone I listened to a great podcast about the “Founder’s Pledge” which is billionaires pledging by give 10% wealth - 10% income is also the Zakat which is expected level of giving for Muslims.

The Founder’s Pledge guy made the interesting point that at low incomes, you feel like, gosh 10% of my income is a lot of money for me and I really don’t have that to spare! and then at higher incomes where you can definitely thrive off the remaining 90%, suddenly 10% of your vast wealth is this huge number that you think, gosh I definitely can’t give that much away! So at both ends there are excuses.

I just did a calculation on my regular direct debits plus monthly average sponsorship of various marathons etc and am a bit ashamed to say I only donate 2% of income, which surprised me as I had felt quite generous! But clearly have a way to go.

We buy about £10's worth of dog food/treats every month or so and take it to the local dog rescue place.
Shop in charity shops occasionally.

We give a minimum of 10% of our post-tax income away. We have a separate account, and direct debit 10% out every month, then most of our charitable giving come out of it. We don’t give the full amount away every month as we like to be able to give large amounts to crisis collections.