Short Stuff: Charity Tips

charity that you want to align with or charities. And I feel like we do that every year and we're doing that again this year. So this is some This is one of those good helpful advice ones about how to find and suss out the good ones. Yeah, And

it basically comes down to this. There are groups and organizations that have websites that are dedicated to pointing you in the right direction to where you can confidently and comfortably donate your money and know that it's being put to good use and also which one is to steer clear of too. So um, there's a bunch of like different points that this covers. I think this is just a helpful one. Check it was a good pick. Yeah, those sites and we're gonna talk about. You know, Dave

interviewed some of these people from these sites. But charity watch and give well, Uh, those are the two standards if you want to go find out if these charities that you're looking into her good and worthy and honest and effective. That's where you should start. But you should also dig into like if your first question is are they effective, dig into the charity a little bit. Go

to their website. They will probably if there are a charity worth supporting, have an outcome section uh in their annual report and check it out and see, you know, if they have concrete goals that say we fed this many people this year, or with this much money, we can house this many people. That's a really good first thing to look for. Yeah, and you might say, huh, that seems pretty good. All right, here's a check kind

of thing. Um. You can also go to other sites like charity watch, Give Well, Charity Navigators another good one, and um they've done a lot of this this homework for you, and in particular give well um has identified like nine particular areas that certain charities are like really

killing it at. And the the idea is is that these charities that they've picked that you can go and be like, I'm picking this, and you will know you're you're donating to one of the top best charities that's going to put your money to the best use that you could possibly find. Um. And the criteria is that they are evidence based, so they can definitely show that the money you're you're donating is having an effect, um their cost effective, which kind of ties into that. They're

also very transparent. That's a really big one too. You don't want it to be opaque and you want to be able to get a straight answer about how your money is being used. And then lastly, and this is really important check that I think a lot of people don't think about they're underfunded, that they need money, they actually need money, because there's a lot of charities out there that actually don't need your money. Um, they're doing just fine. These guys pick charities that I actually need

money that can really make a big impact with that money. Yeah, and if you know, if you don't have a lot of money to give, it's not like you know, some places need you know, millions and millions of dollars to

build this new big whatever. Some charities, uh that they mentioned from give Well, Like it doesn't cost a lot of money to get uh insecticide treated nets to people who UH to you know, in countries where they have a malaria problem, so you know, give a little bit of money to them, you'll know that you paid for this many nets. And it's a really sort of inexpensive way to make a difference if you don't have a

lot of doughe to give away exactly. Um. They also they focus on give Well in particular focuses on global health and global global poverty because those are the two areas where like a little bit can make a big, big difference, like literally saving lives with just you know,

a few dollars a year. Yeah. Um. Another question is if you start to dig into charities, you're gonna find like one of the things they broadcast is how much their executives make, um, how much their overhead is administrative costs? Another big one is fundraising costs. How much money do they have to spend to raise a dollar in in donations? And even when you start to dig into him, you might not really have much frame of reference, like is

half a million dollars like or a million dollars? Is that a lot like that seems like a lot for somebody who's running a charity, but is it. And these sites have actually kind of gone to the trouble of like really getting into the nitty gritty to say like, actually, this is a really good charity despite that metric. Yeah, Like what you need to look at is percentages, and they will help you break it down, or the website

usually breaks it down for you. But they recommend to look for a minimum of sixty of the charity's budget going on direct program services. And if you really want like an efficient charity, that'll be closer to but not to be um, like, don't look at the raw numbers because just because the charity like spends next to nothing doesn't mean that could make them actually less effective running on a shoestring. Like you got to spend a little money to a raise the money like you talked about

and to be effective. So uh, don't just look at a larger number for administrative costs and dismiss it out of hand. You want to look at that percentage. Yeah. Another thing that they do is also they see through the or they know the kind of tricks that some less reputable charities will do to make themselves feel look more efficient, like they attract more money. Um. And so they'll have sorted through all this when you go to

like these sites. And also, just while we're talking about this, Chuck, our beloved co ED Cooperative for Education, UM, so highly efficient charity spends about sev on programming. Co ED spends eighty five point two percent directly to program and also there there um uh you know Joe the executive director, he breaks in seventy five grand a year for this

and he's he runs the show. Um. They also have an efficiency rating to where they spend nine cents for every dollar that they raise in donations, which is really outstanding. Plus lastly, Chuck, they're underfunded too. They can survive one point five seven years on their current funds, which means that they can actually use the money that you send them and then you you'll know they're putting it to

good use. To Yeah, I mean, some of these charities that you go to can survive the next twenty years, like without getting another dollar, which is great. That means a lot of people have given. But maybe maybe seek out the underfunded is some good advice. Should we take a break. Yeah, let's all right, we'll take a break and we'll be right back with a few more tips for you. All right, good tips so far? Another one

so far? I agree? And boy that's I knew that about co ED, but every time I hear it, it's just heartwarming. It's a good a good charity that we got aligned with many years ago. Uh. One question that a lot of people ask is it better to give small donations to a few charities are one bigger donation to one? And you know this sort of is a

personal decision to a large degree. Uh, what they really suggest is don't just spread it around to spread it around, only spread it around if you can really dig in and do this kind of research to make sure you're doing the right thing. Yes, which is a great I mean,

that's just great advice. Like you you you, it doesn't seems as long as you're you're not following for like the marketing and you're actually like giving each charity that you're you're you're donating to like the same amount of thought that you would if you just focused on one.

Why not? It doesn't hurt at all. Um. But there's a person over at give well, um who points out, like, if you're going to if you're going to pick a charity, though, there's a way you can even maximize it further, which is to give a roughly the same amount every year about the same time every year, because then they'll start to see that, oh, wait, we can depend on this

this check from Chuck, who's a super nice guy. He sends it in every year, and they'll actually like figure that into their budget and then start planning according accordingly, rather than being like, we can only afford this this year and then all of a sudden they have more money for nets, but they didn't order nets early enough and now there's a problem and malaria's still spreading. They'll be able to budget for more nets if they know that there's a certain amount coming from you each year.

That's right. And if you give them a pretty good donation that they'll probably email you and say, hey, this is great. Uh, can we count on you for next year? Yeah, because you know, they gotta they got to figure out that budget and it really helps them to know what

they're looking at year after year. But that's right. Also, Chuck, if it's if it's really big enough and it's a terrible charity, they'll send you a gold plated diamond encrusted malaria as a thank you gift so you can wear it around to fancy holiday parties and just be like, oh this, I got this for donating. Another question is you know, are you being scammed as this charity of fraud? There are frauds, for sure, I think in Dave points out that the FTC investigated and found more than a

hundred actions against dozens of fraudulent charities. Uh. Sadly, a lot of these were claiming to serve US military veterans in their families, which is just reprehensible of course, but uh, it doesn't happen as much as you might be afraid it does. But you need to like make sure you're donating to the charity. A lot of them have similar names to really great charities. So one example that they pointed out was the Breast Cancer Research Foundation versus the

Breast Cancer Research and Support Foundation. And Breast Cancer Research Foundation is great. They get an A plus and their budget goes to supporting breast cancer research and they spend seven dollars for every one raises. The Breast Cancer Research and Support Foundation earns an f from charity Watch eight percent eight percent of its budget goes to to actual programming, and it spends eighty seven dollars for every hundred that it collects. Yeah, not on programming, yeah A seven Yeah,

go on gold plated mosquito nets. Probably maybe, But you know, that's just a point. It's like, I'm not gonna like call them a scam or anything, so I haven't done a lot of research on them, but those numbers are really bad, and their name is awfully close to a really good breast cancer organization. Yeah, and the fact that

they are just seems a little fishy. But I think and even an even bigger trap that you have to watch out for, especially if you're trying to suss out whether a charity is good when are not on your own, is that, Um, there's a lot of charities out there that just they mean well and they're trying to do well, they're just not that good at it, and so your money is just not going to be spent as wisely

as it might with another charity. Again, the way to resolve this is to just go to charity watch, Charity Navigator, give Well, some of those sites that really know what they're doing, and say, oh, this is highly rated, I'll give them some money. Yeah. I think sometimes people forget these are nonprofit businesses, and running a business is still running a business, and some people aren't very good at it.

That's right. What was the last one here? The last one is and a lot of people want to give locally to help their communities, and that is absolutely great, um, But the but don't do it well. The thing is is if you are doing that, there's a good chance that if you stop and reflect on it, you might come to the conclusion that you're doing this to feel good about yourself, maybe to to the for the fields

you get out of it. And if you really stop and look at um with a just a just a kind of sober view of how to help the most people with the you know, whatever money you're donating, you're probably going to find that there's people outside of your community, whether you wherever you live in the developed world that it might even benefit from it more. Who knows. I don't think anybody in charity says don't give locally. It's just saying don't overlook global charities, including big ones, um

entirely in favor of giving locally, like consider consider both. Yeah, and I think one piece of a device they gave. Which is really good is look at it from a cause point of view, Like if you're uh, if you're into the environment, let's say, and you really want to support the environment as your only cause this year or next year or every year, maybe look into a local thing that's doing something like planting trees locally in neighborhoods.

And then maybe also look at a big global environmental uh cause that can our charity that can really have a big impact. And that way you're kind of spreading the wealth and covering a cause that you love in both ways. That's right. Good. Whatever you do, just make sure that you're you're giving to a good charity. And bless you for for donating in the first place. However you donate, blesses everyone. But since Chuck said blesses everyone,

of course everyone, that means short stuff is out. Stuff you should know is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts my Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.