The Best Organizations/charities $ for $ to Donate ?

[greeneyegi]

I like to give from the heart,what makes me feel good, and I'm a conservative to the bone, so I want the money I earn and give , to go to whom I send it. So I give mostly to my church.But I also want ,to give other charities.
Ive seen a lot of St Jude commercials lately that really pull at me.
I've done a search on the subject and "guidestar" was mentioned.It seemed way to difficult to get an answer .
Can you guys throw some good charities out their you are confident that most of the money we give ,goes for the subjects, not the organization itself?
Are their any websites that are easy and trustworthy of results for amount spent vs used?

Happy new year to you all

 

[eagleguy]

If you mean an organization where the money goes where its needed not in the pockets of the administrators the Salvation Army is good. Stay away from the Red Cross. Wounded Warriors had issues awhile back but they supposedly have been taken care. There is a website that's shows which charities use the most for their actual cause but I forget what it is at the moment.

 

[deezdad]

Shriners and Alzheimer's foundation are wonderful causes.

 

[Dialtone76]

I am hesitant to offer any recommendations (but ya know I am gonna or else I wouldn't have posted). I am of the belief that even if you find out the organization you donated to scammed ya, it shouldn't take away from the kindness or generosity you gave.

So a hockey team I play on did charity games for about 12 years. Each year we chose a different charity to play for. Some organizations we worked with were surprisingly difficult and very restricted in what we were allow to do. Some wouldn't allow us to use there name or logo on any promotional materials (all within their legal rights). However being a 'small time group' it is very hard when we don't get any materials or rights to make our own to makes thing more successful. I am NOT going to bad mouth any of them because all of them are noble, and serve good causes. A surprising experience for me could be a great experience for someone else . That being said two of them were over the top easy to work with in my opinion. Neither are 'national' or super big, and may not be what you are looking for. All we did was reach out to them with number we found on their websites, and worked it from there.

The first is Almost Home Kids out of Naperville IL. You wanna talk about your heart strings being pulled, if you ever visit here, your perception on life will change. Especially if you have kids. Allwed us to make patches for our jersey, and when touring the facility before the event, both staff and some of the families we met already knew we were planning a charity game.

The second is the Mario Lemieux Foundation out of Pittsburgh PA. They were fabulous to work with as well. Hearing that we were a hockey club, and listening to our event, they sent us autographed sports memorabilia from the Penguins to auction off. We raised close to 18,000 for them IIRC. When our captain called to get information to send in the money, they put him through to Mario himself who thanked us and he sent a thank you letter back to our team.

It has been a few years, so I hope they haven't gotten too big for their britches, but if there are two charities I want to see succeed, those are them.

I hope this helps!

 

[greeneyegi]

If you mean an organization where the money goes where its needed not in the pockets of the administrators the Salvation Army is good. Stay away from the Red Cross. Wounded Warriors had issues awhile back but they supposedly have been taken care. There is a website that's shows which charities use the most for their actual cause but I forget what it is at the moment.

i gave to the wounded warrior project and now i get a letter a week with a coin or a stamp,alot of money goes into this to get more money.On top of that all the sudden ive got 15 different charities asking for money now.
Thats what really got me rethinking,
I will not let this keep me from giving.I hope other people read this and can help others get help to these people in need.

Shriners and Alzheimer's foundation are wonderful causes.

thanks

 

[greeneyegi]

I am hesitant to offer any recommendations (but ya know I am gonna or else I wouldn't have posted). I am of the belief that even if you find out the organization you donated to scammed ya, it shouldn't take away from the kindness or generosity you gave.

So a hockey team I play on did charity games for about 12 years. Each year we chose a different charity to play for. Some organizations we worked with were surprisingly difficult and very restricted in what we were allow to do. Some wouldn't allow us to use there name or logo on any promotional materials (all within their legal rights). However being a 'small time group' it is very hard when we don't get any materials or rights to make our own to makes thing more successful. I am NOT going to bad mouth any of them because all of them are noble, and serve good causes. A surprising experience for me could be a great experience for someone else . That being said two of them were over the top easy to work with in my opinion. Neither are 'national' or super big, and may not be what you are looking for. All we did was reach out to them with number we found on their websites, and worked it from there.

The first is Almost Home Kids out of Naperville IL. You wanna talk about your heart strings being pulled, if you ever visit here, your perception on life will change. Especially if you have kids. Allwed us to make patches for our jersey, and when touring the facility before the event, both staff and some of the families we met already knew we were planning a charity game.

The second is the Mario Lemieux Foundation out of Pittsburgh PA. They were fabulous to work with as well. Hearing that we were a hockey club, and listening to our event, they sent us autographed sports memorabilia from the Penguins to auction off. We raised close to 18,000 for them IIRC. When our captain called to get information to send in the money, they put him through to Mario himself who thanked us and he sent a thank you letter back to our team.

It has been a few years, so I hope they haven't gotten too big for their britches, but if there are two charities I want to see succeed, those are them.

I hope this helps!

great thanks

 

[EVIL]

You are lucky if 15 to 20 percent of donated money ever makes it to the people it's meant to reach.

Even with donating to churches.

They are all in it for the money.

Non profits are a joke as well. I know people that work for non profits making 100K per year.

If you realy want to give and help someone, take a good look around you.

There is always a family we know that is having hard times and are good people.

Hand them a grand or 2. Then you'll know you did a good dead and 100% made it to the hands it was supposed to.

IF YOU GO THRU MIDDLE MEN, CHARITIES, CHURCHES, NON PROFITS, I GAURANTEE THE WRONG PEOPLE WILL BE GETTING FATTER OFF OF YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY.

D

 

[greeneyegi]

You are lucky if 15 to 20 percent of donated money ever makes it to the people it's meant to reach.

Even with donating to churches.

They are all in it for the money.

Non profits are a joke as well. I know people that work for non profits making 100K per year.

If you realy want to give and help someone, take a good look around you.

There is always a family we know that is having hard times and are good people.

Hand them a grand or 2. Then you'll know you did a good dead and 100% made it to the hands it was supposed to.

IF YOU GO THRU MIDDLE MEN, CHARITIES, CHURCHES, NON PROFITS, I GAURANTEE THE WRONG PEOPLE WILL BE GETTING FATTER OFF OF YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY.

D

I get where you're coming from
But I personally get some good for my "soul" by attending my community church.And i know personally that they help the surrounding area,if not with cash but a great place to invite kids,families to a safe place to socialize,eat,help with bills etc.
I dont want to personally get involved in just giving $ to a person who is down on their luck.Pay some bills etc is what i would do.
Ive been in the position of being down in the gutter ,homeless,etc.It was because of the choices i made that put me and my family, ie wife 2 boys,their.And someone giving me $ didnt help.
But the chance to have an organization help in more ways then cash seemed from my experience to help.
Paying these leaders/helpers to live and help others is a good thing.

 

[regan j]

I was told to go to give.org and they show the percentage of what actually goes where it belongs. I have not looked into it yet but,,,

 

[Gene Van Horn]

www.genesgnneedswork a nice unworthy cause, just kidding with you. I dont really have alot of money to donate to charities. My wife and i give to local ambulances and fire companies and this might sound stupid but igive a few bucks to the local public broadcasting station because i like some of the shows. Thanks Gene

 

[greeneyegi]

I was told to go to give.org and they show the percentage of what actually goes where it belongs. I have not looked into it yet but,,,

THIS DOES SEEM TO BE THE EASIEST TO NAVIGATE THANKS!

www.genesgnneedswork a nice unworthy cause, just kidding with you. I dont really have alot of money to donate to charities. My wife and i give to local ambulances and fire companies and this might sound stupid but igive a few bucks to the local public broadcasting station because i like some of the shows. Thanks Gene

Im in same boat as you gene,thats why i think the importance of where my donations are so important.

 

[Phoneguy]

Animal rescue , no kill animal shelters are always in need of donations and I feel is a great place to donate as the animals didn't get to make any choices.

Bryan

 

[Coltsfan1]

X2 with animal shelters.....

 

[rodruckus]

Save the boobies...Susan G. Komen for the Cure

 

[longball]

all charities, non-profits, etc. are mandated by law to post a financial statement that shows where the money goes. look under 'administrative costs' - that is for buildings, staff, salaries, cars, vacations, whores, etc.
If the percentage is over 15% - be wary. an organization that spends 7% or less on administrative costs means the money is going where it should go.

Recently a politician was arrested in New York(of course). His charity had a nice name but administrative costs were 85% of the money taken in. It went directly to him!
Giving to those less fortunate is great but do a little homework to make sure the money is going where you intended it to go.

 

[greeneyegi]

Give.org was a great an easy way to see the amounts spent on fundraising,administrative,etc.
For the st jude I was pleased to see 10% was for admin costs,17%fundraising for and 70% went towards the cause.
Give.org was a BBB site also which makes me more confident in their results.

 

[longball]

70% would get an organization a 'B' rating - the 5th highest score possible.

https://www.charitywatch.org/charitywatch-criteria-methodology

 

[greeneyegi]

70% would get an organization a 'B' rating - the 5th highest score possible.

https://www.charitywatch.org/charitywatch-criteria-methodology

The best so far!!!
Thank you, this is what I wanted,hopefully others will check out this sight..
https://www.charitywatch.org/top-rated-charities
You can look up the type of needs and grades .