December 15, 2008

• Some of you may remember that at the beginning of this year I wrote a post stating that I made it a goal to donate at least $1,000 to charity this year. Well, its time to check on that goal. I kept tract of each month's donations. And while the year is still not done, I do plan on donating at least $100 this month. I didn't put my paycheck deductions to the United Way in the monthly totals, so I will start with them.

  United Way         $405
  January                $102
  February              $110
  March                  $110
  April                    $128
  May                      $165
  June                      $122
  July                       $135
  August                   $117
  September             $119
  October                 $162
  November             $111

  December              $101 (total may go up by a couple of dollars, month aint over yet)

  2008 Total            $1,887

  Now this is a best guess estimate. I did write everything down on a sheet of paper when I remembered. To be counted on the paper, I had to give at least a dollar. There were countless times in which I gave my change when I bought something in the store to whatever charity they had at the register. We also had jars at work in which we could donate money to charity. None of those are included in the totals, but I would guess they wouldn't have totaled anymore then $20-30. Still, I felt it was a very successful year for this goal. I wanted donate $1000 for the year or $100 a month (even I know that $100 a month would equal $1,200 for the year). The monthly average wound up being $157.25 or $36.28 a week or $5.15 a day, and yes that does include the extra day for leap year. I'm thrilled at the amount I donated.

  Each month I budgeted $100. Anything else that I gave throughout the month was a bonus. For example, if I saw a kid raising money by selling candy, I would buy some and that would be a bonus donation in addition to the $100. I know nearly $1,900 might sound like a lot, but honestly it was money I never even noticed being gone. I would just write out a check each money just like I was paying any other bill. In the grand scheme of things, its a modest total. But what if everybody who could reasonably afford $00 a month gave that amount to charity each month? We would make a huge difference.

  As for the charities I gave to, it was a wide range of charities. There was Amnesty International, the American Red Cross, the American Cancer Society and then some lesser known ones, such as the Human Rights Watch among some other lesser known charities. To be considered a charity, it had to be considered tax deductible. For example, I gave money to the ACLU a few times this year but they are not tax deductible and therefore not a charity. At least, I don't think they are tax deductible. Either way, I didn't consider them a charity.

  So why add up the totals now with still 3 weeks left in the year? Because last night I came across this website:

  http://www.givewell.net/

  Its a charity watchdog group that let's you know if the charity you are donating to is doing actual good with the money. It was an eye opener to say the least, knowing that some of the charities I gave to (American Red Cross, I'm looking at you) were not doing good with the money. Although it is very important to donate  money, its equally as important to donate it to a quality charity. Like the website says, don't give more, give better. So next year, I will not only try to give more money (after all, I want to top myself!) and give better. I can see myself referring to this website a lot to determine if what I'm doing is good.

  • 9:42 pm
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