Do they really receive the money?

Question

Which charities can you trust with your donations?

Answer 1

You can trust the woman down the street who is struggling to feed and clothe her children...you can trust the local thrift shop when you get rid of those old clothes and things you don't need anymore,,,you can trust your church to do what is necessary to help keep people on their feet...you can trust the local women's shelter where women cry themselves to sleep every night over something they didn't do...look around you, you'll find it. Great Question.

Answer 2

I don't know how much money they actually receive but I don't trust them and that is from personal experience.

My Grandson was put in a children's hospital. He was given a 20% chance to live. All my life, this foundation advertised for money being raised to help children and families while in the situation we were in. I can tell you NO HELP was forth coming from them, I paid for everything myself and when I asked about this charity I was told it helped on the research for diseases. I argued with the social workers at Children's that all the organizations around home always said they raised money for the families of the kids that were there, not the research, it was an empty argument I got nowhere.

Another story on charities, a local fund raiser in Wheeling, WV is now doing time and a hefty fine for having sticky fingers..the catcher, it took 2 years to bring this about.

I'll tell you what I always heard and now take it to heart. Charity starts at home. Look around you, start with your family, do the kids need new shoes or more food? How about your siblings, your aging parents, an aunt or uncle or cousins. Take a little longer look down the street. Do you see the little girl who's coat is shabby looking or the little boy that doesn't have a bike. If you want to help others, do so, where you know it is really helping.

Answer 3

ONE... and local ones that you can control. None of the others. On the average 2/3 of all donations go to administration for international charities... There was a program on TV where they for a part discussed Finnish volunteers who have demanded a sauna and a lot of luxury in their homes in an African village where they needed to build a well... the well hardly works now. The managers were claimin that sauna is a necessity for Finnish people... Don't give money to charities that you cannot audit.

Answer 4

This is a big question in many respects because I like many others have used this as an excuse not to give to charities in the past.
We hear of so many scams where money is lost in administration,through theft,paying staff too much,corruption etc etc and becomes easy to just say well don't give to them then.
I think if you write to the charity they should be able to give you details of what percentage of their money gets to the intended recipients,I tend to stick to the very well established charities like Oxfam or the Red Cross and the Salvation Army do an excellent job.
However one thing worth bearing in mind which a friend of mine pointed out to me,even in the bad cases where only 30p out of a £1 gets to the intended destination,that's still 30p more than they had !!
So yes no matter what it is a worthwhile cause to give to charity although it should never diminish the responsibility of the governments to provide aid for their people whether at home or abroad!

Answer 5

Well that is a very good question but no one ever finds out who or where the public donations go when we have given our help.
When my children were little there was all ways someone around worse off then yourself so we used to club together share what we had and then speak to our local vicar who in them days came round once a month just to chat nothing serious which helped us to help the less fortunate then ourselves and from there who ever was available and willing would take whatever required to the person in need.
You know there is nothing like the old days (I know the elder generation say it time and time again) we held street parties birthday bashes in the street lots of friends & neighbours some well off some with nothing but we always helped one another noone would be helpless or distraught of not knowing what to do or where to go.
That is what you call caring within your own community.
Today people say what a bad world we live in - but they are wrong its not the world that's bad it's the rotten bunch of people in it.
So the moral of all that is we don't know unless we hand it over
to the people concerned - which is very hard when it's in another country or state.

Answer 6

None of the "charities" with texting !
Like Pop Idol, Big Brother, etc, etc.
What a con !
Any money given to charity should be 100%
No companies should take a cut of the "profits".
10p goes to charity from the £1.50 mobile charge.
Yeah right !

Answer 7

Check the various charities performance sites to see how much goes in administrative and advertising costs. Thus, for the UK: http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/

In the UK, many advertised charities, especially those where you are buttonholed on the street to set up a direct debit from your bank account, pay your first year's "contributions" to the company that provides the hustler who accosted you.

Answer 8

Hopefully the major ones.

But I would not trust any charities that employ "chuggers" - those irritating people who accost you in the street begging for your money.

I presume they get paid - and they are a total pain in the proverbial.

Answer 9

All registered charities are monitored by a government quango that ensures that the money they collect is being spent suitably.

Answer 10

I would trust The Free Tibet Campaign - it is a non-profit making non-government organisation.