Good Charities to Donate too

[Sebastian]

Hey Guys,

 

When you're not practicing cultivation and feeling generous, do you have any ideas which charities are good to donate too and have the most impact ?

 

I remember Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh saying that in some countries, even buying a simple pill could save a child's life.

 

Most charities are so opaque and you never know where the money is going, so if you could vouch for a few good ones in this thread, I would appreciate it.

 

Certainly not bragging about it, but I recently donated to haitiwater.org. For $250 there they can create a chlorinator that cleans water and helps hundreds of people have access to clean water.

 

That's like the gift that keeps giving, and I'm looking for charities that have similar impacts, ideally health related.

 

Thanks, from Paris today

 

Seb

[Aetherous]

http://www.charitynavigator.org/

[Nungali]

http://www.lifesaversystems.com/

[soaring crane]

Plan International

 

https://plan-international.org/

 

Great people who help kids in places others won't go, and who stay long after the public has forgotten.

[thelerner]

I like Heifer.org.   They seem to have the idea of setting up long lasting help then one time charity.  We donate a flock of chickens each month with the idea, it'll provide eggs, insect control, fertilizer, aerate soil, ultimately meat.  And if the flock reproduces well, they can give extra chickens to other families. 

 

They have other programs from bee keeping to bison.

Edited October 13, 2015 by thelerner

[soaring crane]

We've bought two lamas and a other livestock for South American families through Plan. I love the idea!

[Ell]

The question now having been put to me, I'm suddenly feeling as though I'm not as knowledgeable on the subject as maybe I'd like to be, but three I would feel ready to plug would be To Write Love On Her Arms (mental health), The Dr. Theodore A. Atlas Foundation (general/children; New York based), and NEADS (service dogs for deaf/disabled Americans). 

[Golden Dragon Shining]

You could support organic farmers, benefits local farmers, the environment, your family and a healthy future for all

Edited October 14, 2015 by Sionnach

[Sebastian]

Researched this more and found a few good ones,

 

evidence action

 

living goods

 

Thanks

[doc benway]

Here's a great one - http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/support-us

Another one - http://www.idrf.org/

I used to donate regularly to ISTT - a support organization for survivors of torture and trauma but sadly they closed through mismanagement by their accounting and financial people. 

[MBZ]

I'm an ASPCA guy...but then again I love animals more than kids, lol!

Blessings!

[Seeker of Wisdom]

http://www.thelifeyoucansave.org/Impact-Calculator 

 

We designed this Impact Calculator to help answer the first question on a donor's mind: where does my money go? While it's easy to focus on overhead percentages, the real impact of a charity is reflected in what that charity can do with its budget. A donor who cares about reducing extreme poverty has hundreds of organizations to choose from – some of which are thousands of times more effective than others. Our Impact Calculator highlights the work of twelve of the world's most effective charities, allowing you to compare each organization – and the evidence supporting each intervention – side by side.

 

Iodine Global Network looks awesome! Iodine deficiency is a major cause of brain damage/poor neural development, obviously a big deal, and it's so cheap to iodize salt that donating to these guys is really cost-effective.

[Aaron]

If you're feeling generous, go down to your local homeless shelter and volunteer some time. You can give them money too. The most needed, but least often given item of clothing are socks. Go grab a couple bags of wool or thermal socks and donate them. A little thing like this can help decide whether or not someone loses their toes. If that's not your thing, then offer to help hand out food, or better yet, make some sandwiches, add a snack and some fruit and give them out to the homeless on the street. The people who say the homeless don't want food, only money, have never handed out food. Trust me, they want food. 

 

Anyways, I always encourage people to help others, rather than pay for others to help them. You'll get so much more out of it and you become part of the solution, rather than oblivious to the solution. 

 

Aaron

Edited November 10, 2015 by Aaron

[mYTHmAKER]

We give to soup kitchens who feed the poor and homeless directly - no middle man

[soaring crane]

We give to soup kitchens who feed the poor and homeless directly - no middle man

 

we do that, too, but fully aware that the poor in our community are living like royalty compared to poorest of the poor in the bigger world. 

[Aaron]

I met a guy on one of outreaches suffering from mental illness that couldn't even communicate with me. He was covered in his own feces and you could smell him from 20 feet away. I had to prepare his meal for him because he didn't have the capacity to do it himself. I meet someone like this every time I go out. If this is living like royalty, I feel bad for people in other countries. Don't fall for the hype, people are suffering extreme poverty here in America too.  

[Bodhicitta]

 I prefer those which are not funded by multi-millions, but the smaller ones.

Here is one in the USA: http://farmrescue.org

[thelerner]

There are benefits to.. mindless giving, ie having money automatically taken out each month.  This way it goes beyond your feelings, its just done.  Thus a flock of chickens (theoretically) goes to some family somewhere each month, ala Heifer.org.   The reality I expect, is the money is pooled where it can do the most good.

 

It probably helps a charity tremendously to get steady streams of money they can count on, instead of boom and bust periods. 

 

Good to help far, good help local too.  We make bag lunches of sandwiches, chips, cookies every two weeks for the homeless, collected and organized by our temple.  I suspect most houses of worship have similar programs.

[Aetherous]

http://deliverfund.org/

[silent thunder]

I support Heifer and The International Wolf Center.

[nine tailed fox]

http://www.haitiwater.org (bringing clean safe water , which can save many lives, pls do check this site )

 

https://www.kiva.org (a micro banking site, do check it )

 

http://daitangvietnam.net/index_en.htm ( for suppprting translation of dharma texts )

 

http://www.dlightdesign.org (giving light to some family )

 

 

 

 

Edited January 29, 2018 by nine tailed fox