I need your charity ideas!

[eirias]

So, I decided a while back to try to make a monthly donation to charity. I can afford it, and it is nice to feel like I'm making the world a better place. I didn't make August's donation until today ;) what with moving expenses and all, but now I'm looking for ideas for September. Ideally I won't make repeat donations to an organization until a year has passed. Here's what I've done so far.

July - mybikeandi's bike-a-thon adventure
August - Médecins Sans Frontières, designated for the crisis in Darfur, Sudan
September - ??

So, audience members, any charities you particularly like? I've ordered a copy of the American Institute of Philanthropy's guide to giving - I want my money to be used efficiently - but it includes tons and tons of top-of-the-line charities, and that's why I want your help in narrowing it down! Here are some things I have a personal interest in, but I'll gladly consider other causes too:

Civil rights
Victims of war
Breast cancer
Environmental causes, particularly as they relate to human health (e.g., ewwwwww!)

I have mixed feelings about donating to religious organizations, but will do it if they're the best game in town as far as a particular important cause goes.

Comments

[trygve.livejournal.com]

My favorite by far is the EFF.

My big problem donating to lots of various charities, though, is many of them get really obnoxious forever afterwards. "And when you ask them how much should we give, they only answer more, more, more!" I can't imagine how bad it would get giving to a different one each month. Heck, all the paper used to mail you for more afterwards would probably more than counter the effect any donation to an environmental cause might have. =p

But since you're looking for variety, what about political donations to politicians active on issues you care about? Just a thought, it probably won't get as much bang for your donated buck, but it might be a good way to multitask your money? Sort of a "mutual fund" of philanthropy? ;-p

[exilejedi.livejournal.com]

I second the EFF.

I also donate to the Ohio PIRG (Public Interest Research Group), and Ohio Citizen Action, which are largely environmental groups that have been doing some really good stuff (such as preventing drilling in Lake Eire, getting Brush to clean up their beryllium issues, and trying to keep Davis-Besse offline).

We also give annually to Habitat for Humanity; two years ago, we couldn't figure out what to give our family for presents, and the cost of shipping everything was just stupid... so we donate to Habitat in their names, and they all seem to like that, as it's a charity that we can all agree on.

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

not being esp. human-oriented, i give to "alley cat allies" (an organization promoting trap/neuter/return for feral cat management) and "siamese rescue" (from which i got the bodhicatva, magpie, here to teach us all the true meaning of love). one of the things i like is that these are both very small, well-accounted agencies, and i like knowing exactly what my thirty bucks has bought (two spayings, say, or six rabies vaccines).

humanitywise, i approve of "amnesty international".

[littlepurple.livejournal.com]

My friend is running in a marathon and raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma society. Check out her web page about it.
http://achiodo.pledgepage.org/

[harleybitch.livejournal.com]

and this is no surprise comming from me--but-- what about a local animal shelter or perhaps the zoo. Many animal shelters are over crowded and just a $10 donation can buy a good it of dog food which, in turn, allows the shelters to be no kill.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Well, there's always the ACLU, civil-rights-wise. Volunteered there; that was fun. I don't always agree with them but I agree very much with their existence.

Let's see. I've done TechnoServe, which is one of those microlending entrepreneurship-in-the-third-world things. I recently discovered a service that provides free voicemail for the homeless (so they have a stable contact point, something to list on resumes, etc) -- ask me when I'm home if you're interested and I'll dig up the stats. elwe has recommended, though I've not yet tried, Modest Needs (a service for people who are on the borderline between making it and not making it and need a small amount of money to stay on the right side of that, generally for non-recurring expenses like car repair).

I'd have recommended Medecins but you beat me to that.

You might also see if there are any local charities doing stuff you might dig (perhaps a local hospital is associated with a cancer fund, and your part of the country must be awash in environmentalism).

[rms10.livejournal.com]

My big problem donating to lots of various charities, though, is many of them get really obnoxious forever afterwards.

Yes, but you'll never lack for return-address labels!

I feel your pain. I joined the Sierra Club for a few years, but this year I'm deciding between giving my money to the ACLU or Planned Parenthood. (If Bush wins it might be both.) I'm broke, though, so I've been trying to find a good place to volunteer my time, and that's just as frustrating.

[trygve.livejournal.com]

LOL, very true, I do have quite the surplus of return address labels. Some from Habitat for Humanity, others from the Planetary Society, but most from organizations I swear I've never heard of before.

[cos]

Not exactly a "charity", but consider Verified Voting, this month and next month especially.

[tiurin.livejournal.com]

At this point...it's not a charity, but I wonder if a donation to the John Kerry campaign is likely to do the most good out of the possible place for your money to go.

As far as actual charitable donations go, the last place I donated to was the Ross Young Scholars program, towards their financial aid for bright kids in the inner city who want to study number theory.

Aside from the satisfaction that comes from donating, I was amply repaid with the biggest, tastiest peanut butter cookie I've ever had in my life. ;)

[leora.livejournal.com]

Planned Parenthood
local medical clinics that help the poor - there are countless of these and they can pretty much all use help.
And for cuteness and helping something still fairly new and very promising - http://www.guidehorse.org/

[eirias.livejournal.com]

I have considered donating to Russ Feingold (http://www.feingold.senate.gov/), my favorite Senator, who's up for reelection in November. I think he and Tammy Baldwin (http://tammybaldwin.house.gov/) (who would have to work hard to lose her election bid - Madison loves her) are the only politicians I'd feel comfortable donating to. In response to tiurin's similar suggestion, I'll point out that while I will probably vote for Kerry as a tactical move, I'm not comfortable giving him money, or even campaigning for him at all, really. I don't think he's a very good presidential candidate; I just think that in this particular election, the good of voting for "the best possible candidate" (and thereby influencing the Democratic party to some degree) is outweighed by the good of having a fresh face in the White House. With my money, tactical decisions are a little less constrained (though not absent entirely - hence the AIP ratings).

Oh, and about the junk mail, sadly I hadn't thought of that. I do really hate solicitations. Thankfully I have recycling bins, and caller ID.

[trygve.livejournal.com]

Regarding phone calls, just give them a cell phone number, and they'll never call it. =) There are much stricter (and more strictly enforced) regulations on unsolicited calls to cell phones. I've used my cell phone as my primary phone number for probably going on 5 years now, I've never registered the number with the do-not-call registry, and I the most unsolicited calls I get are from wrong numbers.

[littlepurple.livejournal.com]

and oh yes, she was an APhiO at CMU so you should definately donate!
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