DAF Ideas

[Route246]

We just plowed a big chunk (big for us, mid six figures) of old stock into our DAF. This money will mostly go to a 501c3 my parents were fond of and to my university. What I'm trying to come up with are some small ($50-$100) contributions we can make that may be a little off the wall but something we deem worthy.

So far the only one I could come up with personally is Wikimedia Foundation. I'm a user and a supporter already but I feel strongly about the cause.

The other cause I'm considering is the Internet Archive. They have snapshots of some of my legacy web pages that are long gone but still available in the wayback machine. It is an amazing resource.

My wife donates to the local animal shelter which we know a little about. The funds do go mostly to the operations and animals they protect.

Any ideas for worthy charities? I know the bulk of charitable contributions rarely go to the cause and are just used to pay salaries for the fundraising and operations. I steer clear of all charities that do not have transparent finances.

 

[jgrdarrash]

V.org charity for cancer research has their administrative fees paid by a separate endowment so 100% of donations go to research. Otherwise local places seem like a good idea

 

[RetiredHappy]

Gary Sinise Foundation gets most of our donations. You can look it up.

 

[RunningBum]

Doctors without Borders seems like a good cause. Environmental Defense Fund is another one I feel strongly about, but others may not. You could "chase" disasters around the world, contributing to the Red Cross or other organizations that are helping with the disaster. Local organizations such as a food bank are a great idea. I always research charities to make sure most of my money goes to the cause.

 

[rk911]

Tunnel To Towers is one of my favorite charities. The principals take $0 in salary.

 

[engineernerd]

We give to Doctors Without Borders, and also 2 local food banks. Wish there were more soup kitchens, food banks are great as far as they go but preparing their own food is difficult for the homeless.

 

[rk911]

We use Charity Navigator to evaluate charities.

 

[FREE866]

Majority of my charitable donations go to animal causes.

Specifically I like giving to local people that do absolutely heroic work like trap, neuter and spay on the ground work to help with the stray population. I like finding "special projects" throughout the year like for example I give to a woman that builds dog houses for irresponsible pet owners. A couple farm sanctuaries that save farm animals as well.

I'm not uber rich, but giving a few grand every year makes me feel good and they really appreciate it. As I get older I'll be able to give more esp after I start taking social security.

 

[frayne]

Red Cross and World Central Kitchen are my two favorite charities. As for local donations, food banks and community shelters.

 

[RunningBum]

Majority of my charitable donations go to animal causes.

Specifically I like giving to local people that do absolutely heroic work like trap, neuter and spay on the ground work to help with the stray population. I like finding "special projects" throughout the year like for example I give to a woman that builds dog houses for irresponsible pet owners. A couple farm sanctuaries that save farm animals as well.

I'm not uber rich, but giving a few grand every year makes me feel good and they really appreciate it. As I get older I'll be able to give more esp after I start taking social security.

I'm a small part of a group that does this in my community. There is a woman who took on much of the TNR work and expenses, and a few of us began donating money to her and organized some fundraisers and other ways for others to donate. It's not (yet) a 501c3 so I can't use my DAF but it's still very worthwhile. And I've adopted a senior who had lived his life under a trailer, and another feral cat who is now my best buddy, plus a couple of short term fosters and pickup runs after neutering.

 

[audreyh1]

We donate to a bunch of local charities and a few national ones. Our donations lean strongly towards conservation organizations, but not 100%.

 

[FREE866]

I'm a small part of a group that does this in my community. There is a woman who took on much of the TNR work and expenses, and a few of us began donating money to her and organized some fundraisers and other ways for others to donate. It's not (yet) a 501c3 so I can't use my DAF but it's still very worthwhile. And I've adopted a senior who had lived his life under a trailer, and another feral cat who is now my best buddy, plus a couple of short term fosters and pickup runs after neutering.

you're a hero!
feel free to message me a link to that organization or even post it here and I'll make a donation!

 

[nycorange44]

Local Volunteer Fire Department. Local Library for all those Kindle Loans. Local Classical Music Station. Local High School Football Team(Helps Pay for Football Camp for those who can't), Local PTA High School and Elementary. Staying Local on our donations.

 

[athena53]

If I may make a suggestion- for small donations, make them anonymous, which I know I can do with my Fidelity DAF. I don't know if that applies to all DAFs. Charities seem to sell their contact lists of small donors and protect the names of their "high rollers" (who might be tempted to divert their funds to another charity). I donated $200 to St. Jude's- once, in thanksgiving for the amazing state-of-the-art treatment they provided for a friend's little girl. Clearly a very good cause, but they still send me mailings 10+ years later. I have more mailing address labels from various charities than I can ever use. I've never donated to some of them.

It's definitely a blessing to be able to choose charities that help causes close to your heart.

 

[Ivo Archer]

We just plowed a big chunk (big for us, mid six figures) of old stock into our DAF. This money will mostly go to a 501c3 my parents were fond of and to my university. What I'm trying to come up with are some small ($50-$100) contributions we can make that may be a little off the wall but something we deem worthy.

So far the only one I could come up with personally is Wikimedia Foundation. I'm a user and a supporter already but I feel strongly about the cause.

The other cause I'm considering is the Internet Archive. They have snapshots of some of my legacy web pages that are long gone but still available in the wayback machine. It is an amazing resource.

My wife donates to the local animal shelter which we know a little about. The funds do go mostly to the operations and animals they protect.

Any ideas for worthy charities? I know the bulk of charitable contributions rarely go to the cause and are just used to pay salaries for the fundraising and operations. I steer clear of all charities that do not have transparent finances.

Hi,
Dr. Anshu Chandra is a friend of mine and a fellow Rotarian that runs an eye clinic in Haiti, primarily funded by herself, working part time in the Albany, NY region, half the year then returns to the clinic where she has trained locals to conduct eye exams and do basic treatment. They are trying to relocate from a hospital basement they have been using to their own building, which she cannot fund personally.
Here is the website for the clinic, its 501(c)(3) status and donation link: www.globaleyeproject.org (EIN:85-0610716)
Consider it as an option as you look for worthy causes.
Jud Graham,
Rotarian, Niskayuna, NY

 

[Taco]

Any ideas for worthy charities? I know the bulk of charitable contributions rarely go to the cause and are just used to pay salaries for the fundraising and operations.

See if there is a local high school with a FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics team.

Their season starts in January. A new game will be announced, and teams will build a robot to play that game. It is pretty expensive to have a team, and everyone on the team is a student or mentor volunteer. No money goes toward salaries, etc. And, then you might be able to go watch the team you supported compete in a local / regional competition.

The goal of the organization is to inspire kids in areas like science and engineering. And it works. I remember one time when I was a mentor there was a chance of snow the next day which would shut down school, and therefore also mean we couldn't meet for robotics. I overheard some kids saying "I sure hope we don't have a snow day". What kid says that!? They weren't wanting to stay home playing video games, they wanted to be building their robot.

A couple of videos about the program...

One from Indiana:
FIRST Robotic Competition | PBS LearningMedia

One narrated by Morgan Freeman:

 

[jebmke]

Local Volunteer Fire Department. Local Library for all those Kindle Loans. Local Classical Music Station. Local High School Football Team(Helps Pay for Football Camp for those who can't), Local PTA High School and Elementary. Staying Local on our donations.

word of caution. Some VFDs are not 501(c)(3) organizations and DAFs may reject the grant request for these. Not sure how the local school support infrastructure is organized. I know our local school system has a foundation that supports school programs. Same with libraries. Our library has a foundation that you can donate to but not directly to the library itself which is funded by the county. A bit of smoke and mirrors but if the structure isn't set up, the smoke and mirrors won't work.

Some of the big players know how this works. ACLU for example. ACLU is not a charity but there is a parallel foundation that is a 501(c)(3). AARP is the same.

 

[jebmke]

If I may make a suggestion- for small donations, make them anonymous, which I know I can do with my Fidelity DAF. I don't know if that applies to all DAFs. Charities seem to sell their contact lists of small donors and protect the names of their "high rollers" (who might be tempted to divert their funds to another charity). I donated $200 to St. Jude's- once, in thanksgiving for the amazing state-of-the-art treatment they provided for a friend's little girl. Clearly a very good cause, but they still send me mailings 10+ years later. I have more mailing address labels from various charities than I can ever use. I've never donated to some of them.

It's definitely a blessing to be able to choose charities that help causes close to your heart.

Actually, it can work the other way with local charities. The large donors are on a "whisper list" and they get invited to all kinds of useless "galas" and other nonesense fundraising events. For some of our larger local donations I make a "public" donation which is modest but large enough to get me in the door to keep up with what they are doing and then I also make a much larger anonymous donation if there are some special fundraisers like capital raising or endowment raising.

 

[Ivo Archer]

I know our local school system has a foundation that supports school programs.

Ours too. They have a Friends of Music/Art 501(c)(3)s that accepts donations for certain items for the school music program that can be donated, such as sets for the school play, or subsidizing travel for students to music conferences, etc.

 

[junkanoo]

Ours too. They have a Friends of Music/Art 501(c)(3)s that accepts donations for certain items for the school music program that can be donated, such as sets for the school play, or subsidizing travel for students to music conferences, etc.

My favorite way of gifting.

1. I e-mail the school's Band Director and ask them what they need.
2. DAF sends a check to their "Friends of Music" 501 (c3) organization, tagged for the High School Band
3. High School's Purchasing Manager gets the check and orders the musical instrument at the school's discounted rate.
4. Band gets a concert-grade instrument that will last 20+ years while 100% of my gift went to the purchase.
5. I get happiness.

 

[Mark1]

What I'm trying to come up with are some small ($50-$100) contributions we can make that may be a little off the wall but something we deem worthy.

I tend to keep the number of NPOs smaller, instead of making the contributions smaller, but that is just me.

I guess one of these days I need to determine if I can do a DAF and still get pensioner corporate match.

 

[RunningBum]

you're a hero!
feel free to message me a link to that organization or even post it here and I'll make a donation!

Thank you! I've sent you a PM.

 

[OldShooter]

We have a fund at a community foundation (Community Foundations) with a charter to assist in personal emergencies, though the charter is pretty broad. We bought some steel-toed boots for a guy so he could take the job he was offered. We bought the parts so a high-school automotive class could fix up a donated car and donate it to someone who needed a car. We bought some winter clothing for kids at a local school. We matched $ with a local hospital foundation to buy gift cards for needy cancer patients. We matched $1K worth of gifts to help establish a municipal dog park. ... The mechanism is that local people like pastors, school officials, and other local assistance organizations apply for grants via the community foundation. Sometimes we are consulted on a judgment call, sometimes the foundation just makes the gift. All of this is done anonymously, so we don't have people showing up at our door asking for money. This is not a DAF, so we can gift to it via QCDs. Typically we top it up with a $5K gift whenever funds get low.

IANAL but since the community foundations are 503(c)3 I would think you could set up a fund like this via a gift from a DAF as well as, like we do, via a QCD. It's kind of fun to be involved with gifts at this level, where there are not a lot of options for people.

 

[Phroig]

We like to give locally. In addition to the animal rescue, you could donate to your local food pantry and your public library.

 

[splitwdw]

So proud of all the people that donate to the various causes. I sponsor sheep at a historical site and clothing for re-enactors, Wreaths Across America, the local high school girls swim team, our volunteer fire department and a food bank.
I sent a donation to an organization that I don't like but it was in the obituary to send in lieu of flowers. I get a begging letter almost every month. This has been going on for 5 years. St Jude sends me mailing labels after sending one donation about 10 years ago. The mailing labels have the wrong address.