Which charities do you donate to, and why?

[MamaLema]

Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto

They saved my son’s life. Nothing I can give will be enough.

 

[klacey1]

Monthly I give to Farm Sanctuary and Rancho Relaxo, because I believe in the currently unprotected rights of farm animals.
I also give to Operation Christmas Child/fill shoeboxes. That’s probably the only “extra” thing I do during the holidays.

 

[dclpluto]

Local spca

 

[CynBeth]

I also like animals better than people. We make donations to our local animal shelters ( we have also adopted several dogs from 1 of them) and ASPCA, Humane Society and WWF. We are members of the 2 zoos near us. We also give to our place of worship and the local volunteer firehouse.

 

[tvguy]

SPCA. After decades of pets, we have decided to not have anymore. So this is in memory of the 5 cats and 3 dogs that were such an important part of our family.
Homeless Shelter. DD did some High School community service there, and since she was under 16, I had to go with her and it was a wonderful program.
Food bank. Same reason as the Homeless Shelter
American Cancer society. Because we have lost soo many loved ones to Cancer. My dad. My Mom, my Father In Law.

 

[MataHari22]

Fanconi Anemia Research Fund
Church
Other smaller local places or people that need help

 

[ZephyrHawk]

To answer one of the OPs questions, yes, we do give more round the Holidays. But that is entirely because the "holidays" fall towards the end of the year, and it's important to get one's charitable contributions in before the end of the calendar year.

Our charities change from year to year, but those we do tend to always donate to:

Our Alma Mater (to the LSA college and specific donations to the fencing team)
Doctors Without Borders
My employer's charity (it's a hospital)
The Yellowstone Foundation

Unfortunately, our local humane society has...issues.

 

[aprilgail]

I give to a small local charity that I know and I see the work that they do helping sick and under-privileged children and also to a local cat place that traps spays and releases to cut down on the feral population. I will not give to Red Cross and certainly would not give to St. Judes as they really don't "not turn anyone away"- I know 2 people personally that they would not help-if you don't fit into what they want to keep their cure rate high they will not treat you.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I give to a small local charity that I know and I see the work that they do helping sick and under-privileged children and also to a local cat place that traps spays and releases to cut down on the feral population. I will not give to Red Cross and certainly would not give to St. Jude's as they really don't "not turn anyone away"- I know 2 people personally that they would not help-if you don't fit into what they want to keep their cure rate high they will not treat you.

It seems to me that their policy is, they won't turn anyone away, based on their ability to pay."

 

[aprilgail]

It seems to me that their policy is, they won't turn anyone away, based on their ability to pay."

I do not have a good impression of them at all from first hand dealings either way- won't support them.

 

[powellrj]

Our church, missionaries, Samaritans purse, saap a pet rescue that we got our dog from, plus local things as they come up.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Girl Scouts (both time and money)
ACLU
Planned Parenthood
The Waldrof School my son attended from grades 7-12

If anything, I give less at Christmas time---I think it is important to be sure there is support coming in at all times of year.

We also make a point of going to all of our town festivals where local clubs and organizations make the lion's share of their money for the year selling drinks or snacks or whatnot---we plan ahead, set aside far more than we would typically spend in a weekend and make sure we get out there and support these groups on the local level.

 

[paisleys]

We give to the rescue organization our dog is from, along with adopting as many classes at school as we can each year. A few others here and there. It's hard to decide. With social media, I feel like neighbors and friends are asking daily for their charities but I try to stick with those I am familiar with.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Shriner’s Hospitals for Children

We donate to them because when DS was learning to walk we thought he had some issues with his feet. His pedi sent us to All Children’s who wouldn’t take our insurance. They suggested we go to Shriner’s. We did, and he was seen(luckily no treatment was necessary) for free, no strings attached. Love them!

 

[winterman]

I give, by far the most, to my church to the special collections that they have almost weekly and to the Bishop's Appeal. I give lesser amounts to my University and to a small land trust organization that is run by a friend.

 

[L&Lfan]

I donate to:
my local church
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
Various pro life and veterans groups
our local food pantry and women's shelter
EWTN

 

[Mokat76]

Various pet rescue groups who do good in their local areas. I usually know someone who volunteers there so I know they’re legit. A local pet pantry (food pantry for pets). All the above because the animals need our help and these people do so much with so little.
Samaritan's Purse and Red Cross for their disaster relief.

 

[SirDuff]

Diamond Blackfan Anemia Foundation (really rare blood disorder that I studied as part of my MSc and then discovered that a friend's son had - I was the first person that the mentioned the disease to that had heard of it)
Toronto's Sick Kids
As part of a few different groups, "adopt" families
Since I travel a lot, I collect the small toiletries (from hotels and airplanes) to donate a local women's shelter

Those are my "always" ones. Plus others as I see needs arise.

 

[sets14]

Samaritan's Purse- after Hurricane Matthew flooded eastern NC, they were the first on scene in our tiny little town-volunteers came for months to clean out houses and they are just now finishing up the building of new homes for those who lost everything. They came and stayed and served without asking for anything in return. All the Red Cross did was drive through, drop off MRE's and cots and drive away while 100+ people were without a home. I will never give a dime to the Red Cross.

MS Society- my mom has MS

Our church, schools, Scouts are some others we give to.

 

[DVC-Don]

Salvation Army and the USO.