Another thought on charitable donations
 

Piggy-backing off of Lumberjim's thread (didn't want to derail), what is your opinion about giving to an organization in someone else's name as a gift?
I gave to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital last year in my brother's name as a Christmas gift for him. He reacted positively but I'm hesitant about doing it again this year. Don't want to seem like a copout in place of getting him something thoughtful ya know.

/edit: I had never done this before, not sure if I want to do it again hence the poll.

I think if you want to give someone a gift, you should give the person the gift, not another person. The reciever can then decide if they'd like to donate that gift to someone else.

I don't think it's up to me to decide where someone else should spend their money.

To me, giving to a charity in someone else's name really only flies if the recipient himself chose the charity. I would also be inclined to expect that everyone on your gift list got the charity donation, not just one person, otherwise yes I would say it does kind of look like a cop out for that one person.

So you'd rate this idea alongside Best Buy gift cards lol.

I would never do it.

I've said tacky copout, but actually I think Clod nailed it. I have given donations as presents when, for example, a friend has had a birthday party and requested that anyone wishing to give presents make a donation to a particular charity. I did once consider one of those adopt a *insert endangered animal here* type gifts for my niece as she's very into animals and conservation issues...but decided against because frankly, it's a shit present unless she gets to cuddle it :P

I think it would be OK only for the right combination of person and charity. For example:
Giftee - Very right wing brother-in-law
Charity - Greenpeace; WWF; GLOBE; Pro-choice Action League

Giftee - Left wing peace-nick, atheist
Charity - NRA; Moral Majority; Focus on the Family

And so on.

Oh what?!? You gave to something else for me? oh thnx....

Unless it's requested? Naaah. Nope. I have never even thought of doing that. Which makes sense now, because I couldn't even understand what you were asking at first.

I have decided to give your gift to the less fortunate....lol! Merry Christmas!! Here's a receipt for your charitable donation! Hope you like iiittt!! lol!

That actually makes me laugh. I would do that to someone that I didn't like, or thought was spoiled or selfish. That's a good one. That's a keeper. Heh. Especially if the donation was a lot of cash and they got the receipt. lol!


I could understand if it was their personal pet charity or requested. But out of the blue, just seems mean. My parents should do that to my brothers....they expect too much still during christmas, even though they are grown.

Thanks that's going in the hip-pocket. :)

I've done it but it depends on the person receiving. Heifer International or Homes for Our Troops should cover the spectrum. Lots of people are tired of getting stuff for Christmas.

I adopted a humpback whale in my grandmother's name - she needed nothing, and she thought the adoption certificate was funny & told everyone about it. But then the organization sent her tons of requests for more money. Late in the year she told me about all the mail she was getting, was so upset she couldn't send more money, etc. I think she was afraid the whale would starve without her $30. I learned. I would ask first now. But for me, I'd like a donation in my name to certain organizations when I'm alive (seems we only do memorial donations for the dead now).

Wow. I hadn't heard about such repercussions before. Soooo glad I didn't get my niece one.

I'd never hump a black whale named after my grandmother. That was Squirell Nutkin. I won't pay $30 to see that. That's crazy talk.

beest adopted me an elephant for our Ivory wedding anniversary. aaaaw. but that was an incredibly well-thought out gift rather than a cop-out. Which is what I generally believe such gifts to be, unless that charity is the pet project of that person and they want for nothing material.

On a related note, i got annoyed at a commercial for speedway gas stations this evening: "Buy everyone on your list a speedway gas card -everyone needs gas, it's the gift everyone will love...." or some such bullshit. Wait, what is the point of this gift thing again? shall we all swap speedway cards? What do we get for the non-drivers? bogroll?(TP) -everyone needs that too.....

lets all just exchange $20 bills. they're like gift cards you can use at any store.

That would be just like that scene in Donnie Brasco.

Giving a gift is rarely about the thing itself, it's a way of reaffirming the common ground and understanding between the people involved. That's why the best gifts are those that show real understanding of the receiver by the giver.

For some of our friends, a donation in their name is perfect way of affirming that connection. For others, we would give something else.

I agree, it would depend a lot on the people, and charity, involved. What you're really giving them is a tax deduction. Certainly not a catch all gift for everyone on your list.

For my old friend the dog catcher, I put money on her account at the vets. It's always welcome and greatly appreciated.

I'd rather have a stick blender.

Seriously, good gift giving is an art, involving matching with the donee's interests, lifestyle, economic means, and the joy of giving and receiving.

If a charitable donation, or any other gift, is just done because you don't know what else to give that person, and the person hasn't asked for it or indicated an interest--it's a poorly chosen gift.

I wanted to send items to the military men but when I checked out the performance quota on what percentage actually got there I changed my mind.

I think donating to local shelters animal and human alike is a good thing.

A coworker hands out blankets in the winter. I think that is awesome.

I hope some of the gifts I have been given over the years were convenient re-gifts or thoughtless purchases made simply to have something to hand over. If I thought that they really thought I'd actually want or like those things...:eek:

My brother has given to Nothing But Nets in others' names. I think it's a wonderful thing to do. He's a sports fanatic, and read about the program in Sports Illustrated, and he wanted to do something.

I chose "Tacky copout" but that's far harsher than I really feel.
I think it really works in some situations and with some people.

No-one I know really has everything. Apart from my brother, and it's not that he's rich, just that he has simple needs that he happily fulfills. Even if I had unlimited money it would be hard to work out what to buy him, but I like the challenge. I wouldn't make a donation in his name because it just wouldn't feel right - it would feel like I was saying, "Here, I did this because you're too mean to do it yourself!"

On the other hand, when I worked for the NHS the HR department decided to send out an email instead of sending Christmas cards. And the money they saved doing that was used to purchase a goat for a family in Africa. I thought that was a wonderful and elegant way of doing it.

I wonder if there is any relationship between men and women and how they voted concerning the charitable donation gift idea. I don't know if some of the Cellar members who voted have... errr, members or not, so I can't tell. Anyone else?

I've done it for my dad, but he asked me to.

Kiva. It's actually a really cool idea, since you will ideally get your money back.

Sweet - the men are for it, the women are against it (in general terms).

Fixed it for ya. ;)

I don't believe in giving to charities. If I want to express my philanthropy I'll do something with my own hands or give money directly to those in need. I don't want 90% of my contribution going to fund some non-profit organization. I want to HELP.

I would be incredibly offended if someone donated in my name. I would never donate in another person's name.

Yup, You need to be careful where you donate your money.

Perry, that perspective is always curious to me.

I guess I'm coming at this with the thought that when it comes to impacting poverty, $50 in the hands of an organization like World Vision or Heifer International is going to be used in a way that's much more effective, in the long run, than anything I could do with that $50 directly. My efforts will be haphazard, decisions made emotionally, with little understanding of the actual realities of the situation. Their efforts, on the other hand, are ongoing, sustained, pragmatic, and hopefully effective.

There is an infrastructure cost to doing things well, whether that thing is building a car or impacting poverty. I consider the institutional cost to be the price of professionalism, which I place a high value on, even in charitable organizations.

What level of institutional cost is acceptable? I don't know. 10%? 15%? Charity Navigator is an organization that audits non-profits and gives you a breakdown on how they spend their money. For World Vision, a group our family has supported for a long time, they spend about 86% directly on programs, about 5% on administration, and about 8% on fundraising. That seems very reasonable to me.

It seems possible that our lust for stuff is waning. Unless we're talking good booze.

Is good booze considered stuff?

I think the problem is that we've grown into this culture of giving every tom, dick and harry a present because we can afford to.

I think maybe now things are more expensive for most people, we'll start becoming more selective of who we buy gifts for, and also what we give. Instead of expressing our feelings with money, maybe we'll actually get back to trying to get those we love a gift that means something even though maybe it doesn't cost so much.

In 2001 my sister's MIL donated money to the families of undocumented workers who perished in the Twin Towers. My sister was not very happy about it. Her preferred charities are not really human in nature. Like me, she prefers animals to humans. That said, she felt if someone was going to donate in her name it should be a charity she cared about.

You don't like Jefferson, Nixon, and Truman?
:D

:lol2: - very witty

In my case, I'm afraid so. I'm approaching 11 months dry. My liquor shelf is still full...

That is amazing, Griff! Well done! Do you feel/look better?

I've lost some weight and I think I'm dealing with my shit more directly so I guess so. Thanks for asking. g

We do it at the request of people who have died but that is about it.

Thats about the best way, I think.