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Sounds like you're giving yourself a choice between donating nothing and donating a substantial amount. Why not donate a little here and there? I'm just a poo

Sounds like you're giving yourself a choice between donating nothing and donating a substantial amount. Why not donate a little here and there? I'm just a poor grad student, but my wife and I fast for two meals each month and donate what we would have spent on food for those meals (usually estimated as a couple times more than we would actually spend on the food) to charity. Is this a huge amount of money? Not from us individually, but if everyone did this it would be a considerable amount (I get $30 billion per year for the U.S. alone). Just because you can't make a huge difference individually doesn't mean you can't be part of something meaningful.

steven2012 13y ago
I didn't think about it that way, but now that you sum it up, I think this is relatively accurate. Like I said, I'm not against donating money whatsoever, and I definitely have plans to donate in the future. Besides donating more of my income later on, some of my more ambitious plans are to take on foster children, and give them access to the good schools in my area once my children have grown a bit older. Is there a particular reason why people feel that I should be donating immediately, given I have pretty specific donation plans in the future?
- nether 13y ago
  > Is there a particular reason why people feel that I should be donating immediately, given I have pretty specific donation plans in the future? Yeah. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
- hallmark 13y ago
  To build habits? My bank has free bill pay, so my wife and I have an automatic check sent out every month to a local all-volunteer charity that does very worthwhile work. We never see that money and we budget around the income we have left over. Whenever I peek at my bank statements and see those debits, I'm reminded of what we're doing. Even a small amount, say $50/month, is a great start. This also forces you to find a worthwhile cause now, and to attach yourself to and actively re-evaluate that cause on an ongoing basis. It becomes a part of your life instead of your future. All that said, thanks for the honest discussion. This stuff is important.
  - bobdvb 13y ago
    Agreed, I give occasionally when I am feeling generous and regularly to certain charities. But I also demand a certain value from the charities I donate to, I chastise any charity that sends me paper mailings because they are wasting my money and not heeding my wishes. As to the OP's posting about waiting vs donating currently. Remember there is no time like the present and perhaps it needs to be thought of like loosing weight, you can always put it off but a little of what is good for you each day is sustaining. Plus, loosing a small percentage of your income probably won't make you any richer, but it might make someone else's life much better. A little money can save someone's life, can the same be said for what is 'waiting' in your pocket?
- epsylon 13y ago
  It's good to have plans for big charitable actions, but small actions can make a difference too. Even if you give only 100$ or 50$ per year (and 100$ is close to a rounding error on your yearly income), it can still go a long way for some charities. Charities in general need money all the time, and their work is easier if they can rely on a steady flow rather than big sporadic gifts (which require them to invest part of the money they get into fundraising - that's also why small monthly donations are better). It's also super easy to help, you just need to donate a small amount of cash. You don't have to invest any of your time or to think and plan deeply about it. The advantage of small donations over large donations is that you don't have the same emotional attachment to how well spent your donation is gonna be. (Just investigate briefly which organizations support causes which you care about and look into how well-managed their funds are - usually most of these organizations are pretty transparent, and consistently managed over the years. So you can pick a few favorites and give to them blindly afterwards.) One big advantage of numerous small donations is also that you can contribute to many causes you are attached to without having to "choose one". As far as I'm concerned, I give to food banks, emergency relief organizations, human & digital rights associations, and environmental protection associations, because I find all these causes to be important.

steven2012 13y ago

I didn't think about it that way, but now that you sum it up, I think this is relatively accurate. Like I said, I'm not against donating money whatsoever, and I definitely have plans to donate in the future. Besides donating more of my income later on, some of my more ambitious plans are to take on foster children, and give them access to the good schools in my area once my children have grown a bit older. Is there a particular reason why people feel that I should be donating immediately, given I have pretty specific donation plans in the future?

nether 13y ago
> Is there a particular reason why people feel that I should be donating immediately, given I have pretty specific donation plans in the future? Yeah. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
hallmark 13y ago
To build habits? My bank has free bill pay, so my wife and I have an automatic check sent out every month to a local all-volunteer charity that does very worthwhile work. We never see that money and we budget around the income we have left over. Whenever I peek at my bank statements and see those debits, I'm reminded of what we're doing. Even a small amount, say $50/month, is a great start. This also forces you to find a worthwhile cause now, and to attach yourself to and actively re-evaluate that cause on an ongoing basis. It becomes a part of your life instead of your future. All that said, thanks for the honest discussion. This stuff is important.
- bobdvb 13y ago
  Agreed, I give occasionally when I am feeling generous and regularly to certain charities. But I also demand a certain value from the charities I donate to, I chastise any charity that sends me paper mailings because they are wasting my money and not heeding my wishes. As to the OP's posting about waiting vs donating currently. Remember there is no time like the present and perhaps it needs to be thought of like loosing weight, you can always put it off but a little of what is good for you each day is sustaining. Plus, loosing a small percentage of your income probably won't make you any richer, but it might make someone else's life much better. A little money can save someone's life, can the same be said for what is 'waiting' in your pocket?
epsylon 13y ago
It's good to have plans for big charitable actions, but small actions can make a difference too. Even if you give only 100$ or 50$ per year (and 100$ is close to a rounding error on your yearly income), it can still go a long way for some charities. Charities in general need money all the time, and their work is easier if they can rely on a steady flow rather than big sporadic gifts (which require them to invest part of the money they get into fundraising - that's also why small monthly donations are better). It's also super easy to help, you just need to donate a small amount of cash. You don't have to invest any of your time or to think and plan deeply about it. The advantage of small donations over large donations is that you don't have the same emotional attachment to how well spent your donation is gonna be. (Just investigate briefly which organizations support causes which you care about and look into how well-managed their funds are - usually most of these organizations are pretty transparent, and consistently managed over the years. So you can pick a few favorites and give to them blindly afterwards.) One big advantage of numerous small donations is also that you can contribute to many causes you are attached to without having to "choose one". As far as I'm concerned, I give to food banks, emergency relief organizations, human & digital rights associations, and environmental protection associations, because I find all these causes to be important.