Sweet Charity *bup bada ha! bup bada ha...*

[Madge]

OK folks, you're a wise and well-knowledged group so I feel that you are an appropriate set of people to whom to talk.

First of all: I have a very very ambitious new year's resolution to donate 10% of my income to charity this year. I really want to do it.

The problem is, charities are HARD to find, and I am really worried about picking the wrong ones.

Also, since I get $100 a week pocket money from my grandfather (Yes, I am that lucky/spoilt/etc), I am wondering how best to put this money into "chunks" and then give it to the worthy charities. What size chunk is good? After all, administration fees mean that the charity is better off receiving several large donations than one small one. I was thinking $US20 or $US30 or something. What sort of chunk size would you guys recommend?

Anyway, I'm mostly looking for charity recommendations. Here are a few hard-and-fast criteria:
- Minimal advertising/administration costs
- No religious affiliation at all, unless it is a specifically atheist charity (e.g. "Atheists for feeding sick goats") [these I would actually really like to hear about]
- Take donations online
- No violent connections; I'm talking about things like PETA's connections with people in the ALF and that sort of thing
- Australian is a bonus!

Apart from that, it's fairly open - make them charities about things you're passionate about, whatever they may be!

Here's a few charities I'm planning on supporting:

- My first donation was $5 to some sort of bike ride for youth depression/suicide charity that I walked past at a music festival, the girl asked for pocket change and was pleased at the $5 note we bestowed upon her

- I'll be donating to a few of my favourite podcasts! Not charities in the strictest sense of the word, but science education for young people and awareness and all that is something I'd like to ensure the podcasters are able to continue doing. Skeptoid and The Skeptic Zone have both already been donated to; I'm planning on donating to Astronomy Cast soon as well

"Real" charities:

- MSF (Doctors without borders) & Engineers without Borders - Give medical and engineer-y related help to people who need it. That's just the sort of thing that makes you all warm an' fuzzy on the inside. EwB's site seems pretty crappy though, but they talked about them during one of the first year engineering lectures I was at. Anyone with charities for engineers would be awesome because I am an engineer on the inside I just need a degree so I'll be an engineer on the outside. The oopma loompas of science, we are!

- Australian Red Cross- Because I give blood, or did so until they told me I couldn't thanks to my fainting. So they need money to help with that. I'm also thinking about volunteering my time and giving the people who donated blood cups of tea and trays of biscuits since they had a sign last time I went with my brother but I never get around to it...

- Kiva - This cool charity my boyfriend's family introduced me to. You give someone poor a loan, and they pay you the money back - you help someone out, and you can get your money back afterwards or, in an even nicer gesture, lend it out to somebody else. It seems a little bit selfish but it's a pretty cool idea. The only thing is that it gives money to people who can pay it back, which means you're not stopping people who would otherwise starve. But by giving a family more money, they can send the kids to school for longer, so when the kids have kids those kids will live better and stuff due to the money... y'know, you're helping the economy and all that.

Those are really the only charities I've heard much about, not many I know, so that is why I want you guys to help me out.

Of course if it turns out any of the above charities drown kittens or something let me know so I will not give them my future money!

[DamionDarkheart]

Child's Play!

If you haven't heard about it, they're this awesome charity set up by Penny Arcade to give video games to poor kids.

[EofS]

Along with MSF etc you might also consider Reporters without Borders. It's particularly topical right now with the ban on international journalists entering Gaza. I can't comment on their budget distribution etc so you might want to investigate those sorts of details.

For other ideas - you say you receive money from your grandparents. Maybe there's a charity which would mean something to them - kidney disease or parkinsons or similar. Have a look around for local groups providing activities which give children things to do, things like that.

[Fjorab_Teke]

Here are two that are near and dear to me in the USA, and you should be able to find worthy causes in Australia that are similar.

Feeding America (was America's Second Harvest) - a network of food banks, one of which I worked for both as a volunteer and as a semi-paid employee. It's awesome knowing I'm making a difference for those who are struggling to afford basic life essentials, such as food. (maybe Foodbank in Australia for your purposes?)

ASPCA - the main (actual trustworthy) society that advocates animals' rights and supports animal shelters and adoption programs.

[FaerieInGrey]

No other suggestions, but I'm glad you know about Kiva! That is what I was going to suggest before I saw that you're aware.

[Arviragus]

I'm a big believer in Right to Play, which is an organization dedicated to bringing sport to children in war-torn countries or those with high rates of disease and what have you. I'd actually like to volunteer for these guys in the future when I'm a little more financially stable.

[chocolatefairy13]

How about something that helps find a cure for a disease, like cancer?

One site that I have come across is Isaac's Foundation: http://isaacsfoundation.org/

There are many others, but that one puts ALL money toward research and finding a cure for childhood cancer.
And yes, you can donate via PayPal.

[Madge]

Let's see, I just feel I should post an update:

I've just got my second paycheck of the year and have already donated $55USD to Kiva. My next paycheck was for almost $990 AUD (woo a 30 hour week I did) and so $99AUD = 64USD I am currently in the process of donating, half (AUD$49) to the Australian Red Cross and half to (USD$32) Astronomy Cast (it's the international year of Astronomy after all).

The thought of giving $100 away especially given that I'm a poor university student is daunting but I'm doing it.

I think I may give every second paycheck to Kiva, though, since it means I can get my money back if I end up in serious financial strife, and if I don't I can keep lending money to more people.