Do you believe you donate a lot of money to charity?

I give money to various animal charities and odd charities that my friends or family are doing sponsored events for. It’s not a lot, I don’t have a lot to live on myself but there are two charities in particular that I try and give to when possible. I’ve never thought about whether I give more or less than my family and friends though, I dont think that is important as it’s all relative.

I don’t donate money to charity. I really should though.

No, I donate a lot of time to charity, plus excess belongings and old cars.

I don’t compare what I do to friends or family and never will.
I never give phone solicitors the time of day. Tax breaks have no influence whatsoever and I don’t go to church.
I give to and have done work for certain charities because their mission is close to my heart.;)

I do give, I don’t compare what I give to my friends and family since its my private business, I enjoy giving its just in my nature and its never over the phone especially if they call me because I don’t know who is really on the other side of the phone.

I also look at a charity before giving to see how their $$ are spent and if my money would go to pay big salaries for the people working their then I want nothing to do with them. I want to know my money is going to help the people who need it, there are several charities out there that for some reason or another the money never gets to the place you intended it to go. I always suggest do your research before giving money.

Tax breaks have no influence what so ever on how much I give.

I don’t give money.

I give a lot of stuff (clothes, household items) to the Salvation Army. I also give boxes of comic books to the Boys & Girls club. When i get some free time, i have a giant box of mint-condition action figures to bring to Childrens Hospital.

It works for me as I’m always cleaning and re-organizing (I’m kind of an anti-packrat).

I do take the tax deduction on these donations, but that’s not the reason I do it.

And, I have no idea what or how much my friends donate.

I don’t give to charities that often. I give homeless people cash if they ask nicely. And I do do a lot of small web development jobs for people if they promise to donate to a homeless shelter or a battered women’s shelter since I have depended on both a few times. I don’t really need the money and don’t want to deal with it.

But generally I avoid giving to large charities.

I don’t trust people enough to donate anyting.

I donate what I can and give of what time I have left. I give a lot.

We don’t have a lot of money, so we don’t have a lot to give. We’ll donate a few dollars here and there to St. Jude and American Red Cross or AMVETS when they solicit outside of stores. I also donate clothes we don’t need anymore to churches or Goodwill.

I donate when I have extra. Like when my parents gave me a very generous gift for my birthday, I donated part of it to the foundation that helps people who have been domestically abused. I find that what goes around comes around, and that people will be blessed if they bless others.

My family is not that rich, but we give anyway. I personally give money and do a lot of service, too, of course. Most of our donations are through our Church, our parish and my school.

I have a foster child through Foster Parent’s Plan of Canada. I’ve been doing this since watching my fat baby boy crawling on my carpet in my warm house.

There are some surveys that show conservatives donate a lot more to charity than liberals do. I think as much as ten percent of their income. I give, but not nearly that much, so I don’t feel like I give that much. I would give more, but my wife is concerned about getting the kids through college and assuring our retirement. That makes me feel selfish, but I do think it is important to take care of our kids and make sure we don’t become a burden on society when we’re old.

I tend to give to local groups that I know. I also give to my alma mater. Also a few medical charities that work on problems friends have had. And a little money for international disaster relief.

It seems like a well-rounded list, I guess. Still, I wish we gave more.

I’ve donated to a couple things when I had a bit of spare money. I wouldn’t characterise it as a lot, though. Now I have little to no disposable income, so charity isn’t high on my priority list. However, I do donate a lot of my time to ventures that don’t have immediate or even short term payback. I won’t count those, though, because I do them assuming that it’ll make lots of peoples lives easier in the long run, myself included. So it’s as much a survival strategy as it is volunteering.

Do you think you donate more or less than most of your friends and family?

It isn’t something I talk about with other people so I don’t know. I give as much as I am comfortable with. As a couple, we tend to increase what we give as our income increases. I just see it as giving back.

How do you decide what charities to give to, and how much?

I have certain charities I feel very strongly about including World Vision, the Fred Hollows Foundation, the Fistula Foundation and others. I may give a one-off payment or regular monthly donations. I also give in other ways though. For instance here you can donate things like old cars to charities so they get the money from the scrap metal. Or I donate goods that are in good condition and can be used again. I buy gifts for children at christmas to be donated by certain charities.

I would like to give more and certainly more of my time and it is on my list of things to make sure I do this year.

What percentage of the money you give goes to your church?

I don’t belong to a church.

Do you give money when solicited over the phone?

No. It actually irritates the hell out of me when a charity I have made a donation to then harasses me for more. I give when I can give and as much as I can afford. I don’t want to be phoned every five minutes for more and I will first ask them not to call me and if they persist, I cross them off my list. It just really gets up my nose.

Does a tax break influence if you give and how much you give?

No. Unless it is a regular payment, I often forget to include it in my tax return. Oh well.

I donate much more than I think is the standard among my friends.
I do this for many reasons. None of these reasons are related to guilt. One of these reasons is that it makes me feel useful and a little more important than if I did nothing, and feeling useful and important is good for me.
A big reason is that it gives me the moral authority to criticize the government for presenting their corrupt and greedy selves as being legitimate brokers of forced charity by taxing some citizens and giving gifts to others (in exchange to their votes and breathless affection and gratitude). They are lying, and I want to be able to back it up when I say it.