Is your "donation" really doing any good?

[Cyrano]

Or are greedy grifters profiting from your wish to give to a worthy cause?

Case in point: I recently had a 2008 car, in good condition, with low mileage and no major mechanical problems. Given that it was an older car, I decided not to sell it, but to donate it to, in some small way, help out people who needed help.

I recently googled the organization to which I donated the car. It turned out to be some shit house group that called itself by a name with "Veterans" in the title, (I've chosen not to name them here), but organizations that rate charities came up just a bit short of calling them "thieves." Given what I was able to find, they may have made a couple of thousand dollars from my "donation."

So here's the bottom line. Before you make a donation, whether it's contains words such as cancer, children, veterans, elderly, wildlife, or any of the countless worthy causes that need help, check them out.

The very fact that you want to donate to a worthy cause is admirable. Just a bit of homework can often determine if your donation is making a difference, or if it's just money ending up in the pockets of some really horrible pricks.

[Moostache]

1. Sorry to hear of that experience...

It is disheartening to see the intention of the charitable stolen by the base among us.

I hope that you find organizations that restore rather than steal your hope in man.

[Cyrano]

3. One that I found that I trust is Doctors Without Borders

From everything I've learned, this is an organization of medical people who go wherever they are needed and, far too often, put their lives on the line in dangerous areas of the world.

[blm]

6. ✔️

[genxlib]

8. They are tops on my list

Saw them working first hand in Haiti after the earthquake and they have been my biggest charity ever since.

[KS Toronado]

9. Yes, one of the best charities out there.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

24. We donate regularly to them. . nt

[NewHendoLib]

2. Ah, but that "Kars for Kids" theme song....

[electric_blue68]

23. Oh, gawd... I HATE that Song! 😬😬 😑 😄 ...

The rawk version is sorta toleratable

[BlueIdaho]

4. Also check out the administration skim off the top.

If you are giving money check out what percentage of your gift is swallowed up by “administrative costs.” It can be a real eye opener in some cases.

[blm]

5. I'm partial to Habitat for Humanity. You can SEE

the results from your donation in your county.

[Tracer]

12. Habitat for Humanity is my go-to for donating cars.

Since I could never afford a decent car, HFH was the recipient of several dead/dying vehicles.

[KS Toronado]

7. My Mom gets a lot of requests in the mail

I'll do a search on reviews & financial statements. One thing I found recently, these middle men who take up
90% and give the actual charity 10%, are mailed from these cities....

Merrifield, VA
Topeka, KS
Milford, NH
Hagerstown, MD
Washington DC

Plus one other thing, be careful if their return envelope has real or fake 1 cent stamps on the top.

[Initech]

10. My scam-o-meter instantly goes up when I see the word "veteran" or "American" in a charity name.

I don't know why (maybe it's because of the clusterfuck known as Wounded Warrior Project) but it is an automatic red flag for me that this charity is up to something shady.

[SharonClark]

16. That and also "Police" or "Firefighter".

[Initech]

17. Yeah I get tons of junk calls for "support the police" organizations.

And I hang up on every single one of them!

[ProfessorGAC]

11. I Donated My Last Convertible...

...to the American Lung Association.
I didn't have much doubt about their credibility.
I don't even know that i trust "Kars for Kids"
We know what ALA does.

[Xolodno]

13. Company I work for used to donate heavily to the United Way...

...then they found out about the "administrative costs". Went from proud sponsor to "we're out" in no time flat. Now we have a website that you can donate to and approved (vetted) charities will get a match. What's great about it, it includes local charities and prior to Covid, the company approved a certain amount of volunteer time, such as planting tree's, painting walls at public schools, etc.

But, yes, today you have to even watch out to the charities you give to. The most impact is usually local, for example, the local church (which I'm not part of) does a food bank every Saturday, gives out clothes, etc. that's donated locally.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

19. One company I worked for used to strong-arm the employees for

donations to the United Way. It was inexplicable, and despicable.

I now give mostly local, maybe 30% national or international.

[Deuxcents]

14. I buy big bags of dog n cat food

W/ coupons from the big box stores n drop em off at the animal rescue center just a few miles away. They always are appreciated n the volunteers act like it’s Christmas! I love that they use my donation n leave feeling like a million bucks 🐾 I also donate to Habitat for Humanity b/c I like their mission..

[SharonClark]

15. Several people I know donated their cars to Public Radio.

[moondust]

18. Maybe try Charity Navigator.

https://www.charitynavigator.org/

They rate charities and when available include the compensation of the bosses. I don't give to charities that I feel pay their bosses too much.

[keithbvadu2]

20. A friend donated to some right wing causes/politicos and now gets 1 to 3 inches of mail every day se

A friend donated to some right wing causes/politicos and now gets 1 to 3 inches of mail every day seeking money.

Rarely less than 1 inch.

Sometimes with a quarter or even a dollar as seed money. Not often.

[Corgigal]

21. When Betty White passed away.

I gave 50 dollars to Best Friends Animal Society.

It’s the chance we take to try to do good. All we can do is try. I’ve only read good things about Best Friends, so I put my trust there.

[hunter]

22. Many rotten charities have purported aims and names similar to...

... more effective charities.

Car donation charities rarely handle cars directly. They negotiate with (to put it politely) the car recycling and resale industry for the use of the charity name and a certain percentage of the take from each car.

Some of these recyclers and resellers are not at all fussy about the sorts of charities they'll do business with.

The last car I "gave away" I did most of the work myself, selling the car directly and giving that money to one one of my favored charities. But yeah, that was a lot more work than calling some toll free number and having the old car towed off within week.

[Raine]

25. I think more of them are scammers then real charities

have to be really careful before donating. It's sad that one has to be so skeptical of everything.

[634-5789]

26. ALWAYS use the Charity Navigator. ALWAYS

https://www.charitynavigator.org/