i inherited a substantial (for me) amount of money and was looking for ideas on where to donate?

Question

I received a decent amount of money after my Dad passed away a few weeks back. Unfortunately i do not believe that giving money to a Church is the right thing to do. The one he attended just built themselves a 60 million dollar church and the pastor (casey treat) wears Gold and Jewels. So i dont think that they need any more money. I was wondering if anyone could give me some ideas on where to donate where it might do some good. I would prefer to donate where the money goes directly to Children in need. I also would like it to be a Charity that doesnt pay its employees. Thanks in advance for your ideas.

Ladsycootr- Thanks for the worry but I am 27 years old (still young but not a child). I will have enough left over after what i plan to donate to get myself nice things (there is an annuity set up for me as well that pays monthly payments over a 5 year period). Thank you all for your good ideas, battered womens shelter seems like a really good idea. I do aleady donate to a Doctors without Borders organization, they help children with medical needs in foriegn countries. So i was planning on something in the US. I am not sure how much money it needs to be to set up a foundation or a fund. The amount i was planning on giving is around $20,000. Is this enough to set up an interest bearing account of any kind or maybe an annuity? Please Email me if you know about this kind of thing. Please do realize that it is not even money that i earned that i plan to donate. So i am not putting myself out by doing this. Thanks.

Answer 1

Try your local "food bank"...they can always
use some extra money...or maybe a Women & Children's abuse shelter...I belong to one in my area, and money is always tight...and its hard to help women & their kids with NO Money in the account.
Thats really nice of you to do this...

Answer 2

There are many reputable charities which minister to children.
These are the ones which I contribute to:
World Vision, Foster Parents Plan,
Christian Children International.
Charities all have to pay some employees to run the office.
Check them out online, & ask for a financial statement.

Answer 3

ME??
Just kidding dude. I donate at work and I have specified that all mine goes to the Red Cross. I also do some volunteer stuff for a local battered women & children shelter. They are appreciative.

Answer 4

Be creative, i don't know how much you really have, but instead of just donating it, start up a charity event that you own. Use the money you have to start something that will continualy donate to orginizations and help more than just one business. Create a couple jobs and bring people together. Good luck

Answer 5

I would recommend that you look for a children's charity that fits your criteria in terms of volunteer employees and helping kids... then put the money in their "capital fund." Over the course of many years, you will have contributed triple the amount you actually donated...

Answer 6

You don't say how old you are, but you sound kind of young. My suggestion to you would be to put it in a CD and save it. You are going to want to go to college someday, and if not, you'll need a car. Or it would make a good down payment on a house. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for charity, but you'll have plenty of time for that once you are established. I'm sure your dad intended it to be for you, not for a charity. If he wanted it to go to a charity, he would have specified that in his will! Sock it away, sweetie, don't waste it.

Answer 7

first start close to home...where you can see if they are using the money properly....

i give to the local rescue mission...which helps homeless men women and children who need help.....I can see that they really are humble people who are good stewards of money given to them

for other places, go directly to where the money will be spent....i hear the christian childrens' fund is the oldest most responsible fund for children....that should be a good place....about 95% go directly to the kids and only 5% is administrative....

one thing i am very interested in is helping persecuted people escape from oppressive countries and helping them relocate.. i am working on one case now.....it is highly stressful but the spirtual rewards are great....think of places like Darfur ... it is a literal crisis situation there.... find people who are directly involved in helping....I am working on something else but similar...i cannot describe it here...for safety reasons...best wishes...and god bless you for wanting to help others.

Answer 8

kids for the kingdom is a group where almost all, if not all, workers are volunteers. 95% or more of the money that comes in goes directly towards their work helping children in developing nations:

http://www.kidsforthekingdom.org/

As with one of the groups listed above, the children kids for the kingdom help in east asia face the risk of being sold into child prostitution.

Answer 9

depends what country you are in!
childrens cancer foundation
child flight or royal flying doctors service!- they provide helicopter transportation for hospital emergencies for children in rural Australia (who are in pain and cant get to a hospital).
RSPCA- saving and protecting animals against cruelty is another good one.
another idea is donating the money straight to the childrens ward in the hospitals.
childrens lukemia foundation
Crohns and colitis foundation
Ronald McDonald house charities- looks after children and families.

Good on you!

Answer 10

Very good question. Of course, if it were me, then I would look into Red cross, or donate it to some medical research institute.

Burn centers, child learning, hunger, etc. are all aspects of children's needs, that we should pay more attention to.

Good for you!