Poll:How much do you give to charity?

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownyourfuture That's me. No deduction, no donation.

Donating via the QCD thing, allows a person to donate without paying taxes on the money , it's equal to a deduction, but better.

At least that is my understanding, I don't have one set up.

[Crewer]

I prefer to give to smaller organizations I know but we also donate to several large, local arts organizations as well as to some smaller local arts orgs. Pre-Covid I did taxes for low earners as a volunteer for an organization funded by the local United Way. I gave/give directly to the organization but not to United Way. DD is a social worker and I give to a place she interned. Turns out, she also donates to it. I usually look up the rating for the charity about how much goes to the work of the organization. DD educated me on that, too. A number of years ago she was offered a job by an organization to help homeless vets. Per usual, she looked up info charitable orgs have to file and found the CEO paid himself a whopping amount and said no thanks to that job. She figured the group got a grant to help homeless vets but mostly it was helping the people there keep jobs, which they need to do but the CEO salary was way out of line for the total budget of the org.

[skyking1]

^ that is a red flag for sure. CEO's are chosen for being talented and successful people, but if they are behind the organization then they need to put their money where their mouth is.

[Trailwalker]

Our primary charitable giving has been to our church. I trust the folks there to get the money to where it's needed most--more than I trust large charities or the government. If I want, I can go and work in the soup kitchen where some of the mission dollars go. Or pay my way to join the group helping to build homes in Central America where other dollars go. I like knowing that when anyone needs pastoral assistance at the hospital or in a nursing home or in family counseling, our support helps that happen.

We recently set up a donor advised fund and are excited about the possibility of expanding our giving with more bang for the buck (appreciated securities sold tax-free to fund the donor advised fund).

[Gumby]

MODERATOR NOTE: This is not the thread to bitch about your taxes or government spending. Knock it off.

[stepford]

This poll is a real horse race, and Team Scrooge is ahead by a nose!

[66Sally]

We give 10% to our church through our Fidelity charitable account. I also give lesser amounts to food pantries, nature conservancies, home for unwed mothers, etc. I feel very blessed to be able to do so.

[a60dan]

Not enough :-(

church
2 different organizations that benefit children and their families

[rick55]

I feel embarrassed, we probably don’t give enough. We’ve given annually to the Guide Dog foundation in memory of my sister, who was a volunteer there, and to Wounded Warriors ( just sent a check today) in memory of a childhood friend.
We also give to st Jude, and we used to give to a group called the coalition against breast cancer for years, until the scandal was exposed. It was a family who was sending out mailings so they could live well on the checks.
You never know…

[ArmchairMillionaire23]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sojourner Right now, it's a horse race between "Less than 1%" and "10% or more" in the poll, each with 1/3 of the total vote. Interesting how the majority of folks here are either nongivers or lavish givers.

We're not non-givers. We are still working diligently towards our (hopefully early) retirement. We choose St. Jude's Children's hospital as our primary charity as we believe they are a worthy cause. But since we are contributing over 50% of our (pre-tax) income to our retirement plans, what we can give to St. Jude's (after our modest living expenses and Uncle Sam's taxes - I'm not bitching, Gumby, we're in the 12% bracket and grateful to be there!) comes out to just under 1% of our gross income for the year. So that's why I voted <1% in the poll.

We do plan on giving more as we get closer and into retirement.

[Beachcomber]

We are essentially debt free and after taxes still have a good income.

Like many here I imagine, I give $24k each to two stepsons (in their late 30's) and at least 10% to our church. Many other charities and people benefit that also need help. It doesn't effect our lifestyle so happy to do it.

My parents were quite generous - especially in retirement ($10M nest egg) giving away half of it before their deaths.

[Earlygirl]

"For those of you who are in the low end of the poll, may I ask why if you want to volunteer your reasons? I know some people believe that they get taxed enough to help the less fortunate, support the arts. etc. that it's enough."
Yes on this. We mainly give to our kids and grandkids.

[boatfishandnature]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieB I haven't been able to itemize deductions for decades, but my charity continues to increase as does my wealth. Taxes have nothing to do with it.

+5

[I am He]

Ours is a bit weird as it's probably 10% of our taxable income but much lower if you consider the capital gains that are accruing untaxed.

[meleana]

We give set amounts automatically every month to two organizations.

Everything else we give as things come up and it varies. I’m not sure what percentage it all comes to.

Our biggest charity will be to our only child when we pass hopefully if there’s anything left over. At the least the house. Of course, we try to be generous with him while we are alive as well.

[RobLJ]

We fall in the 2% range, although in similar fashion as an early poster noted, we support my AgedP to the tune of another 7.5%, approximately (that's monthly, there are irregular "emergencies" that in some years boost this a lot and years like this year, there is almost nothing additional). The support to AgedP doesn't really qualify as charity, though, more like an obligation, but it does partly explain why we aren't giving more at this point.

We're trying to figure out where to redirect this when the AgedP dies (she's 89, so it will be at some point in the next decade--probably). Probably the Food Bank where we are already contributing. Kids being hungry here really bothers me. I think a lot of posters here are very generous, more so than myself although I try not to be an Ebenezer Scrooge. Edit: Come to think of it, we're driving to Texas to visit the AgedP for Thanksgiving, so I may just ask her where SHE wants half of it to go.

Quote:

Originally Posted by athena53 I was trying VERY hard NOT to word my question so that it would be interpreted that way, including acknowledging some possible reasons (e.g. very lean budget).

[Dash man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobLJ The support to AgedP doesn't really qualify as charity, though, more like an obligation, but it does partly explain why we aren't giving more at this point.

Helping our aging parents absolutely is charitable! Just because you can’t deduct anything from your taxes doesn’t make it any less charitable. It’s an obligation to you because you love and respect your family and choose to make it an obligation!

[RetiredHappy]

I don't see giving money to parents and children as charity. Your parents raised you and that itself comes with obligations to take care of them when they get old. Same thing with children, they didn't ask to be born. If they need help financially, parents ought to take care of them.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rick55 I feel embarrassed, we probably don’t give enough. We’ve given annually to the Guide Dog foundation in memory of my sister, who was a volunteer there, and to Wounded Warriors ( just sent a check today) in memory of a childhood friend. We also give to st Jude, and we used to give to a group called the coalition against breast cancer for years, until the scandal was exposed. It was a family who was sending out mailings so they could live well on the checks. You never know…

But you can know.

There are websites that rate very carefully LOTS of charities, and if a charity is not rated, I have to think its because they are pocketing the money.

This one rates 160,000 charities. You can search for a charity, and then click on it's name to see lots of details about it.

https://www.charitynavigator.org/

[Teacher Terry]

I have always given my time to both organizations and people individually my entire life starting at age 20. For instance I helped a single mom by providing before school daycare daily for a year and some after school care for 3 years. My favorite groups are the Salvation Army, small dog rescue group and a local homeless shelter. Up until my income was cut in half last year by a divorce I also gave more money to groups than I do now. I feel that many of us can make a difference in people’s or animal’s lives whether it’s money, time or both. I voted in the 1-3% category.