How Many $$$ Do You Donate To Charities Each Year???

[Cherry Pro]

As a family (with 2 teenage boys who work in fast food outlets who contribute a bit as well) we donate about $1800 a year to our church and other charities. However, would be nice to do more. Can't place a value though for when you give of your time (visit a senior in a retirement village, help in community fetes, parish events etc.).

This forum is amazing !

 

[The Y-man]

Remember to read the story about the couple that built the church in Jan Somer's "Building Wealth - Story by Story"

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[Raddles]

HI there
our approach has been to utilise our resources to benefit others such as one property at Maroochydore which is currently a holiday rental. We decided to have this property as a holiday rental as a result of situation, which we became aware of at my daughter’s school. One of her schoolmates was suffering from Cancer and the family was doing it tough. The Chaplain at the school was approaching people to see if she could get the family a holiday and we offered our unit (we had just received notice that the tenant was vacating) so the family could experience the Sunshine Coast and have a break from the medical roundabout. We borrowed furniture and bought some items and the family had a good break. The Chaplain had organised visits to Australia Zoo, Underwater World and the family took advantage of the fishing spots, the river and the beach. We now offer the unit to family and friends at a reduced rate so that people who may not ordinarily get away to have a break at the Sunshine Coast can do so without breaking the family budget. We also get the opportunity to use the unit, which is conveniently located near the Maroochydore River, beach & shopping. It gives us a great deal of pleasure to see people enjoy a lovely area when they may not ordinarily do so.
We also contribute our time and funds to help the Chaplains in our area who are helping people in considerable need - such as the new immigrants from the Sudan. The financial contributions would be at least $1000 a year.
thanks

 

[Crystalleez]

Money is only one aspect. Who cares if you donate 10k p.a if you live a life of waste and take what you have for granted? The roof over your head, a flushing toilet, a warm bed to sleep in at night and a family that is there to support you are all blessings that many never receive. A couple of hundred bucks a year won't change the lives of those people. Awareness, understanding and compassion amount to a hell of a lot more then dollars if you ask me.

If you are lucky enough to eat 3 meals a day, live in a home where you feel safe and go to school believing you have a future to live for, than acknowledge the fact that you've got it bloody good!! If you don’t, then take off your rose coloured glasses and catch a glimpse of what reality is really like to a lot of people.

Anyway my point is, money donations mean nothing if you don't walk the talk to back it up. I’m not putting down the people that do donate at all. It’s at least a start. I’m just saying that no amount of money you donate will make a difference if you’ve got you head stuck up your ar#e for the other 364 days of the year. It’s just a cop out of inhuman proportions then.

For those who do know better, well done, I wish there were more like you. You may not be able to change the world but you can sure change yourself.

(P.s sorry to hijack your post with my rant, but I had to say it.)

 

[Mr. Fabulous]

I’m just saying that no amount of money you donate will make a difference if you’ve got you head stuck up your ar#e for the other 364 days of the year. It’s just a cop out of inhuman proportions then.

I dunno what you're really getting at there. The money that people donate doesn't have a 'head up ar.se' stigma attached to it. Who a person is, is a personal choice, it doesn't take away from the fact that they were gracious enough to give some money to those less fortunate.

Let's face it, a number of people on this forum think I have my head up my bum (but hey - there's no accounting for some people's tastes) but that doesn't stop the people I buy The Big Issue from being fully appreciative of the fact that I am helping them out.

Mark

 

[Crystalleez]

My gripe is with people who give money, then pat themselves on the back believing that they’ve “done their bit” only to return to their wasteful lives and forget how lucky they are to have that money to give away in the first place.

Eg. SOME people (not all, but this is who I have a problem with), they see kids starving to death on a tv ad, it’s distressing too them so they sponsor a child. Now they feel better about themselves, like they’re making a difference in the world. It may be small in the grand scheme of things, but it means a lot to this kid. So now they return to their lives as normal. Well do you think that kid would be so appreciative if he knew you had 15 min showers everyday? Or that you scrap food off your plate into the bin almost every night because you filled yourself up on junk food earlier?

Who a person is, is a personal choice, it doesn't take away from the fact that they were gracious enough to give some money to those less fortunate.

Mark

In my opinion, if you’re the sort of person who gives money to those less fortunate only to ignore the causes of why they needed help in the first place, then it certainly does take away from the fact that you gave it. It has no meaning.

 

[Mr. Fabulous]

Eg. SOME people (not all, but this is who I have a problem with), they see kids starving to death on a tv ad, it’s distressing too them so they sponsor a child. Now they feel better about themselves, like they’re making a difference in the world. It may be small in the grand scheme of things, but it means a lot to this kid. So now they return to their lives as normal. Well do you think that kid would be so appreciative if he knew you had 15 min showers everyday? Or that you scrap food off your plate into the bin almost every night because you filled yourself up on junk food earlier?

I don't eat junk food or have 15 minute showers. I see where you're coming from though. I make a conscious effort not to be wasteful and fully appreciate that I have a much better life than pretty much 90% of the people on the planet.

In my opinion, if you’re the sort of person who gives money to those less fortunate only to ignore the causes of why they needed help in the first place, then it certainly does take away from the fact that you gave it. It has no meaning.

This is why I give money to The Big Issue vendors and walk straight past beggars. To me, if a homeless person is making the effort to improve their own life, then I am only too willing to support them. Unfortunately many of the issues that affect those less fortunate are bigger than any one person and mostly out of our control. Such is the society that we live and participate in on a daily basis.

Mark

 

[luce.rocks]

My employer has good deal going where if you dontate $X to a charity of your choice pre-tax each month, they will match it. I donate $20 each month out of my salary to the RSPCA and they match it.

So the RSPCA get $40 each month.

Plus I donate to another non-Aussie charity each month (USD$10). It's not much, but it's what I can afford for the moment.

 

[Ant]

My employer has good deal going where if you dontate $X to a charity of your choice pre-tax each month, they will match it.

If you don't mind sharing, who is your employer? They deserve recognition for that one.

 

[Jase H]

My mum is not a charity (hi mum!) but she is a casual low income earner (who raised 3 sons!) so I gave her $3000 in '05 to help her reach her life long goal of travelling back to Germany where she was born.

It was awesome to see how happy it made her She is so proud and would not of excepted the money so I found out her bank account deatils from my younger brother and just did an EFT and then let her know.

I hope to be able to do similar type gestures in the future.

I also sponsor an Ethiopian boy via WV and donate to the Humane Society (animal charity)


Jase

 

[luce.rocks]

If you don't mind sharing, who is your employer? They deserve recognition for that one.

Macquarie Bank. I'm pretty new there, but I love it. They're a great employer

 

[aussierogue]

Part of life

We try and make charity and social service part of our family life. I have sponsored a world vision child for 14 years (he is now 21 and I still sponsor him) and my wife has sponsored her kid for 7 years. Wife does some charity work with the disabled and I do youth mentoring (2 hours per week) with a largish charity that helps disadvantaged kids. We also give probable anothr 500 - 1000 bucks away to various charities.

Important for our 2 kids to grow up in a family that gives back to the community.

I feel its easy to fall into the trap of judging charitites, people who give, people who dont etc etc. if it makes you feel good and your gut says the charity is worthwhile then i say give. Its all selfishness - but its smart selfishness. makes me (and the family feel better) and at the same time helps others.

Cheers
Aussie

 

[twobobsworth]

Same here sponsor through world vision. $40 per month. Yearly SIDS raffle tickets, salvo's when we see them at the shops and rotary raffles.

 

[geoffw]

We sponsor a World Vision kid as well. It makes us feel warm and comfy inside, so we can continue to have 99 minute showers and throw out lots of food

The sponsorship is as much a teaching exercise to out kids. They can identify with our sponsored child, and can learn about giving.

My organisation as a whole, and my outlet in particular, support local charities. We had a bad experience sponsoring a cancer support group, but now choose to sponsor Lifeline.

 

[deanthomas]

I donate my money to orphanages in SE Asia. I've always had a compassion for people worse off than me and I'm not wealthy by any means, quite the opposite. But I've always asked myself the question "is it fair that my 'neighbour' has nothing when I've got a little more than I need? In practical terms, if I've got a spare TV in the shed gathering dust and the person next door doesn't have one I'll give it to them 'underserving' or 'deserving'. That's the secret for me, giving altruistically - expecting nothing in return. It is a devine principle, and now coming to know that Mcquarrie bank give it doesn't surprise that its doing so well.

Cheers Dean

 

[deanthomas]

Oops and by the way. This is the first time I've disclosed either publicly or privately what I've donated so anyway I'm not big noting myself but isn't it good to celebrate our achievements? And to those that congrats me...thank you

 

[BV]

I support large charities by donating in Xmas and in June,
and also organisations such as the MS society, Childrens Hospital(Westmead),
NRMA careflight, Heart foundation, Vision Australia,
the breast institute, prostate cancer and the Cancer council for research (monthly).
I also give $50 now and then to the country firemen when they remember me
(who said telemarketing is bad?)
A worthwhile cause is the Smith Family educate program $30 /m which
goes towards sponsoring school children from our many disadvantaged Australian families.
I have been supporting this particular program for years but this year
they had enough sponsors so I have moved aside for now.
Giving is a great thing and we should be all participating.

Cheers

 

[Bandita]

Great thread!

Geoff and I sponser a "World Vision" child - not only because it's a great thing to do, but because I like to use this excuse to keep the inlaws off our back about having kids - "We have one!!" I always say. We also sponsor a "Guide Dog" - that's our pet that I've always wanted. We both work fulltime and have far too much on to even think about taking care of other beings - human or animal - with our donations we're hoping we can at least start to help someone else to live their own dreams.

I used to have the time to volunteer for several charities (and hope I will again soon) - they can do some amazing things with so little!!

If for no other reason, and you're trying to reduce that tax bill at the end of the year - DONATE!! You might be very surprised what your $ can do!

Cheers,
Jen

 

[Jase H]

Don't Forget the Animals

Hi Everyone,

Great Thread! As I said earlier I wished to increase the amount we donate and one of our charities is 'The Humane Society' who look after the plight of the Worlds animals.

I just received some correspondence from them which discribed an aweful practice occuring in South Africa called 'canned hunting'. Where tourists pay big money to go to Africa with a guarantee of being able to kill an animal such as a Lion, Leopord, Elephant etc, basically the rarer/more dangerous the animal the more they pay. This is not normal hunting as the animals are drugged and held in an enclosed area with no chance of escape.

Anyway, long story short the good news is that a pride of 6 lions that had been taken from the wild by poachers have since been rescued and funds were needed to help take care of them.

Anyway, its not much but we gave a one off $120 donation re. above.

Having travelled to Africa about 12 months ago the African wildlife has a special place in our heart.


Jase

 

[suzieq]

My hubby takes on work experience (from high schools) regularly. He actually teaches the kids something and gets them involved. (instead of all the odd jobs that are hated by a lot of employers and the work experience kid gets to do it!!!!).

We also donate around $500k per year to Asbestos Diseases Society, Make a Wish Foundation (PMH), Assoc for the Blind, along with any other charity that comes knocking at our door.

Our kids think we should sponsor a World Vision child so we will be looking to do that in the near future.

cheers

sq