Choosing a charity to support this December

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Emma needs input on selecting a charity to support this year:

Charities online
Every year our family chooses a charity to donate to instead of giving each other more “stuff.”

This year it is my turn to choose, and I am having a hard time finding a useful legitimate charity to donate to. I am interested in a group that is involved on local fronts as well as global, I want the money to go towards what they say it will and I would love for it to be less widely known (not Salvation Army or Toys for Tots — I would love to donate to a smaller charity).

Do you have any ideas or a good place to start looking?

I LOVE HEIFER INTERNATIONAL. It’s an incredibly direct way to help people around the world: you can fund a hive of bees, a gift of a water buffalo, a trio of rabbits, or any number of other livestock. Heifer International then delivers your gifted livestock to a family who can use it to make money, feed themselves, and start to support themselves.

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I also have a friend who works for ONE: they work with my teenage crush Bono to fight AIDS, inequality, and extreme poverty around the world. I’ve worked with relatively rinky-dink non-profits, but my experience with them makes me appreciate how ONE administrates — they focus on going to the root of problems, not treating symptoms.

Looking locally, you could band your family together to support a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, or even to sponsor a holiday meal at your closest Ronald McDonald House, a charity which supports families of severely ill children.

I know there are tons of great organizations out there, and we can give Emma and her family a smorgasbord to choose from. Pitch your cause in the comments.

About the Author: Cat Rocketship

I was the Managing Editor of Offbeat Home for a year and a half. I have a rich Internet life and also a pretty good real life. Hobbies include D&D, Twitter, and working on making our household more self-reliant. I also draw things.

Comments on Choosing a charity to support this December

  1. Can I chime in with a big push for http://www.sophiascure.org/
    It is a registered charity set up by a regular mum and dad whose daughter was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy. 100% of donations go towards research for this disease which is almost entirely funded by parents and supporters. This one couple have raised over half a million dollars and are pushing research forward. They are a wonderful couple who help families all over cope with this awful disease. They also fundraise via ebay, the proceeds of this go towards buying SMA children iPads http://www.sophiascure.org/get-involved-blog/get-every-sma-kid-an-ipad. I can’t push this organisation enough!

  2. I’ve been won over to the concept of cost efficient giving, that’s donating to charities which can improve and extend the most human lives. I give to charities working in developing countries because $100 goes so much further when spent on basic healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa than in a developed country. The website Give What We Can advocates this position and suggests some charities which they view as cost efficient.

  5. My friends work for an organization called LoveGrows, which partners with the Royal School & Orphanage in Uganda. It’s not like those $.60 of every $1 you contribute goes to the orphanage and children, but 100% of all donations collected is sent directly to Uganda. Current projects for the orphanage including building a latrine as well as giving the orphanage opportunities for self-sustainability – their own chickens for eggs and greenhouse-type structures for crops. You can sponsor a child monthly, donate specifically for meals as a one-time gift, or a general donation for the aforementioned projects also as a one-time gift.
    For more information: http://www.lovegrows.org

    P.S. – Sorry for the novel. It is a charity that is very dear to me. My husband and I sponsor one of the children, and the charity was started by my husband’s bandmate and our long-time friend.

  6. The international justice mission is an organisation of investigators and lawyers who work to build and try cases against human traffickers and slaveholders around the world. They are at the forefront of the modern abolitionist movement, and it really doesn’t get better than that.

  7. I grew up on a farm so giving to Heifer International was a logical charity for my family growing up.
    While I still support Heifer International, a lot of my giving is directed towards the April’s Army charity causes vetted and picked by April Winchell of Regesty. I like that she takes the time to find people I’d love to help.

  9. The Heifer Project in my FAVORITE charity! One of the best charity ideas in existence!

    Another amazing one is Kiva.org. They’re a non-profit organization that basically deals with mircofinancing (correct me if thats the wrong term!). You lend as little as $25 dollars to someone who is impoverished (usually in the 3rd world, but I think other places, too) to help them build up a business. Its beautiful, I just love Kiva.

    I love companies like these two because they’re a “teach a man to fish” type charities. You’re giving the gift of being able to take care of themselves in the long run which is so much better than short term solutions. I love it! And I love how many people are into charity on this site!

  10. For those in the Tampa Bay area, my long time friend Russ Fletcher started a yearly tradition called “Hamburgers for the Hungry”. He collects donations and on Christmas day goes and around passing them out to those in need. Here is the link for those who are interested in helping either with a donation or if you are interested in passing some burgers out yourself. http://www.facebook.com/events/112993538811003/

  12. The Salvation Army was only briefly mentioned and with little interest, but if any is thinking of donating to them, they should read the organization’s religious/political position statements first: http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf/vw-dynamic-index/B6F3F4DF3150F5B585257434004C177D?Opendocument. It never occurred to me (because I’m an absolute idiot, apparently) that the “salvation” in the title was the religious type, but now it creeps me out that I’ve donated to what I see as a homophobic, misogynistic, sex-negative organization. So I thought I bring this up just in case anyone else was unaware.

    • I’m not sure if that link is working, but the information is at the Salvation Army’s website in the “About Us” section, under “Position Statements.”

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