I have lost this post twice today. I hit save, where did it go? Getting annoyed.
I wanted to talk about donating to causes. Hopefully most people have something they care enough about to donate a few bucks now and then. For some its breast cancer, or veterans, or hungry children or preventing animal abuse. What ever, there is a lot of need out there. If everyone gave just a little it would really add up. The price of one latte, or God forbid, a pack of cigarettes, or a few beers multiplied by the millions of people out there could change lives.
I certainly can not afford to give much, but for years have given a few bucks once a year to about a dozen organizations. For me its mostly animal organizations. (with the exception of a few natural disasters...Katrina, California wildfires..) I take maybe 1% or so of what I make that year, divide it up and send checks in Dec. Yeah, I wish it could be more. But its not. Even most really bad money years I gave something. Its kinda a karma thing.
But the part that pisses me off is, when I send a few dollars, then every month or so they keep asking me for more, until I feel they spent all I gave on mailings asking me for more. Why did I bother? If I could afford more I would have sent it the first time.
All letters now go in a pile that I seldom read, and I sort through them in Dec, and send checks. The ones that bug me the most now get less. I do read the "newsletters, and magazines" they send though, eventually. I am years behind, but feel like I should read them. I would prefer to be reading some of the books I have chosen, then spending my time reading a lot of what they send...but that's my compulsive reading thing. . I just read its more effective to just support a few, but its hard to cut them off after all these years. There are on line sites you can be anonymous at. Two that seem to be legit are Justgive.org, and Network for Good. However they charge 3-4.75% to cover their costs. That might be reasonable yet it annoys me.
A few years ago I discovered Charity Navigator. Its a great way to check that the organization is legit, and tell you how effectively they run their organization. Like if they are spending half the money they receive on fundraising, while a similar one is only spending 5%, I will reward the
more effective ones.
http://www.caringconsumer.com/charities.asp Please also check out that your donations are not contributing to animal suffering here. There are research alternatives to torturing and killing animals that are every bit as effective. Now if they want to test on human prison volunteers...I am fine with that.
There are places that have free giving, like Freerice.com, they can be fun and educational while also giving to worthy causes painlessly. I am looking for more like that. Some of the big stores have the option of liking your stupid swipe cards to a charity. That makes them less stupid, if for every thing you normally buy, the store donates to the charity of your choice. More on that.
If you click on my GOOD SEARCH title you can donate to the charity of your choice just by using them for a search engine. It seems simple enough. If it does not cost me anything and someone will benefit, why the heck not? I am going to try it. Hope you will too.
