What is your style of charity?

During my time here in Afghanistan I've seen different styles and methods to charity and giving.

For the basic example I'll use the local kids and candy.

Some soldiers will respond to those who scream the loudest and take an aggressive tone 'Mista Mista! CHOCOLATE!'

Others, like myself tend to pass those by and give to the kids who are more calm and just look like they could use it.

Some won't give anything and others will order huge boxes of toys and candy and school supplies from home.

I lean towards giving to those who aren't screaming about it and act in a polite way and a screaming "Gimme gimme" is more likely to turn me off than encourage me to dig into the box o'goodies.

This extends to other forms of charity. I tend to give to established charities, especially with a military and veteran slant. I am less likely to give to a homeless person on the street with a cardboard sign, especially one who comes up while you are walking down the road.

My question is this... What is your style of charity? Do you differentiate between different groups? What is more likely to entice you to give or cause you to hold back?

Charity is the least of it.

this place kind of took a break on the whole "development" thing. It was in the news... Dirt poor is literally dirt poor around here.

However, one bum who panhandled me by telling me he wasn't going to give me a line, he was a bum and he needed a bottle got every dime I had. I've also given to people telling obvious sob stories because I've taken a close look at them and I've seen their ragged clothes and black circles under their eyes and I've hoped what I've given would extend to a sandwich as well as a rock. "Gimme your spare change," will get you nowhere, though.

when we have extra in the budget, my husband regularly dumpster dives and otherwise takes discarded appliances and electronic equipment he finds. He then rehabs them and donates them to charities like Salvation Army and Goodwill so that they get a second life. I must note that he does extensive research on each one to determine if there are defects or if they have been recalled for any reason before investing the time and effort. It's a hobby for him and a service to the community.

When I lived in the ME, I would give small amounts of money to those who begged on the street, especially those with disabilities. Our entire neighborhood used to care for a man with mental disabilities who had not identifiable family of his own. We made certain that he had clothing, food, and was given a place to sleep in the back of the bakery and a job cleaning the ash from the ovens. People used to pay him to haul groceries to their nearby houses in his wagon. That type of one-to-one caretaking is sadly missing in our culture these day, where you see more and more people abandoning the care of their own family members.

Personal touch is nice...

actually reach those in need and are not siphened off by bureaucracy or corruption.

... in passing the guy on the street who is bugging you as you get on the bus, if only because you think later on you'll give to a more organized group?

is a no kill animal shelter here), and Stew Pot (the local soup kitchen). I also give to my church.

If it weren't for the Food Bank of the Rockies and Metropolitan Community Church food bank, I would have lost much more than the 40 pounds I've already lost.

I give as much of my time to both of those organizations as I possibly can. In fact, I'm waiting for the MCC food bank director to pick me up in an hour so we can clean out and sort the items in the pantry.

Charity does not lift all boats. There are those who are missed accidentally because they are too meek to seek it out or deliberately as not deserving charity. Government run social programs that tax the haves to help out the have nots makes more sense to me. Also, many mainstream charities are notorious for being run as lucrative businesses with large CEO compensations like the Red Cross. Charities only have to use 30% of what is collected for actual distribution to a cause. The rest can be used for administrative expenses, salaries and advertising, especially advertising. I get stuff in the mail all the time from labels to T-shirts and other goods begging for money sometimes even money. Of course you don't have to send them money and can't send back the unsolicited goods so this has to be a really expensive and ineffective way IMHO to do this. Government does not have to advertise.

Once basic rights and needs are meant by government, then sure charity can fill in for other things like animal rights groups or Make a Wish type charities.

Also Doctors Without Borders after things like the earthquakes, and Feeding America during the recession.

I like a great deal even when we give to charity, and I love that a relatively small donation to a microfinance organization--just $60 to $100--can not only change the life of a woman forever (they mostly lend to women) but also help her kids get education and change their lives forever too, plus the loan is paid back about 97% of the time so it just keeps on giving and giving and giving. There is no bargain in the world better than a microfinance loan.

http://www.kiva.org/
http://www.grameenfoundation.org/