What are some good secular charities to donate to?

[Fearless]

Hrmmm concerning.

[Vonnie]

Originally Posted by Fearless

I actually supported MSF for a few months...
After 6 months I got the letter. Went something like: 'We have found that asking our existing donators for extra support is more affective then getting new members...

Almost all charities do this. It's standard practice. And it works.

I support a number of secular charities on a direct debit basis, so am familiar with the "standard practices". Because it's a bug bear of mine, I've discussed this with friends who donate to non-secular charities and - same same. (It's almost like the charities all follow a guideline book, or something.)

To get around this - and what I see as a waste of money, resources, postage, etc - once I sign up for a monthly direct debit with a charity, as soon as I receive the first correspondence containing my supporter number, I send an email containing my name, address and supporter number and ask that my name to be removed from the snail mail list and to ONLY contact me via email. (I've actually got a template set up for this, and just fill in the blanks.) Then, I pretty much delete any emails as soon as they hit my Inbox.

The main reason I do this, though, is that I hate what I consider to be wasted money and resources involved in the production, printing an paper costs, and postage for these mail outs, which should only be sent to those without an email address, or strictly on an opt-in basis.

However, as previously stated, almost all charities automatically opt people in to the snail mail list, and also try their hardest to get current supporters to up the ante. Standard practice.

[Fearless]

Thanks for explaining that Vonnie, I guess I anticipated it from the get go as I did ask them to note not to ask me for any more at that time.

I like to think if I am helping the cause that they would just respect my wishes. I was recovering from knee reconstruction and blood clots to both my lungs and maybe wasn't as forgiving as I normally was.

I do understand your points, cheers

[Logic]

Speaking of charities... I support one called Women for Women International (http://www.womenforwomen.org). Basically instead of sponsoring a child I sponsor a women who learns business skills for 12 months yada yada yada, then you get a new one.

I received a letter from her today (dictated to someone as she is illiterate) and I think the content was 75% thanking god and hoping god blesses me. Of course my initial reaction was... ugh. Then I tried to be more sympathetic - because surely if I lived in Nigeria and was uneducated I would need to believe there was an invisible all powerful being looking out for me. Then I thought, I wonder if she ever wonders why her god hasn't found her a better life.... hmmmm.

So many charities have been questioned over the years, stories of corruption, bureaucracy, overpaid executives etc. it’s hard to know if giving is really a good thing.

I was talking with someone recently who works as a volunteer with a group that offers assistance to people in financial difficulty, apparently they do not work with the Red Cross or Salvation Army because they have so many rules and so much bureaucracy, she believed that over 66% of the SA’s income goes into administration.

The RSPCA are a charity that is not entirely loved – even by those who care for animals, PETA is even more controversial.

You have probably seen the ‘Bricks For Bears’ TV ads, anyone know if WSPA is a worthwhile charity to give money to ???

[gruber]

The RSPCA are a charity that is not entirely loved – even by those who care for animals, PETA is even more controversial.

I do volunteer work with the RSPCA they seem pretty good but your probably talking about the administration level

A few years ago I volunteered at the RSPCA in Auckland, it was made pretty clear I was not welcome, there was obviously a lot of ‘politics’ going on. I went twice and couldn’t take the ‘abuse’ anymore, a shame because I loved being there, even if it was only to pick up dog poo.

I know over the years there has been controversy about the RSPCA, not generally about the work done at the coal face – more about policy I think, I seem to recall Linda McCartney speaking about the RSPCA, but it’s a few years ago now so I am not sure.

There was also a story in the UK a few years back about the number of animals being killed in shelters and how they were making it to hard for people to adopt, also failures to take a hard enough line on farming and experimentation – but again I am vague on the details.

Not sure what the general view of the RSPCA is these days although the ‘boss’ Dr Hugh Wirth, comes across (to me) as an odd and unappealing character.

[SchizoDeluxe]

I think a lot of the secular charities tend to do more good than bad but even they can be susceptible to corruption. PETA are nothing but trouble makers as well. I think the ones that have become big business franchises tend to be more trouble than its worth. I don't know of any really good honest ones which probably means they are the more smaller independant ones, but I really don't know.

Originally Posted by Yarra

You have probably seen the ‘Bricks For Bears’ TV ads, anyone know if WSPA is a worthwhile charity to give money to ???

Well I've bought some bricks, I can only hope it helps these poor animals.

I have to say I find Australia pretty backward and hypocritical in animal abuse. Recently they were outraged at the use of their national icon 'Skippy' being used in America. While I agreed with the complaints why aren't they equally outraged by animal circus. When I saw they still have travelling circuses using Lions and other wild animals here I could hardly believe it, I thought they had gone out of fashion decades ago.

Then there are rodeos, live animals exports etc....

[davo]

Hi Yarra, personally I have been using Kiva.org of late :

http://www.kiva.org/community (Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and the Non-Religious)

as it allows me to choose who I want to support with what. I like the idea that it removes a lot of the administration fees of similar groups (and I won't mention some religious charities doing similar with sponsoring children, where your admin figure is not far off either) which makes a lot of these charities just into another business.

There are quite a few good charities around such as Médecins Sans Frontières which I have been a big supporter of in the past ...

I used to spend a couple of weeks a year working at the RSPCA, cleaning cat cages and organising the 'disposal bins' which really makes you see the amount of animals put down .. I tend now for christmas make a bulk donation to the local RSPCA and photocopy the receipt as my 'presents' for christmas that I give my family, with their part of that donation marked out on the card. This is generally around $400 which can make a really big difference, especially in the smaller places ..