Thinking of donating clothes to Africa? Buying shoes so that someone else can have a pair (or just go a day without shoes)? How about buying charity products or visiting impoverished nations to volunteer? Please reconsider. Your good intentions are likely just paving the path to Hell (or economic danger) with Stuff We Don't Want.
posted by divabat on Mar 7, 2012 - 86 comments

How Private Is 'Private Charity'? Private charity may be more accurately described as "private donations coupled with involuntary, tax-financed public subsidies." And it's not fair: "very low-income people paying only payroll taxes get hardly any leverage for their donations. Very high-income people in states with high income-tax rates – such as New Jersey and New York – can through the tax code virtually double the money funneled to a charity per dollar of their own sacrifice." (previously)
posted by kliuless on Jan 17, 2011 - 39 comments

Looking to donate by New Year's? Know lots of charities' names/elevator pitches but nothing about who's good? Look to the Stars, the web's number one source of celebrity charity news and information, can help. Find out about the causes supported by all your favorite celebrities, from Adam Sandler to Zac Efron, as well as the work being done by organizations like the Marshall Mathers Foundation and Cocker Kids.
posted by Horace Rumpole on Dec 25, 2009 - 10 comments

Donors Choose "Public school teachers use Donors Choose to propose resources for their students. Concerned individuals like you can then select a proposal to fund."
posted by FunkyHelix on Mar 22, 2004 - 14 comments

Iran quake death toll hits 50,000. 150,000 survivors are homeless, hungry, and freezing. They really need your immediate help.

$110 can provide a tent for a family of five

$60 can provide drinking water to 30 people

$45 can provide space heaters to three families

$25 can provide blankets to a family of five

Mercy Corps has raised $188,397 so far, but this is far from enough.
posted by hoder on Dec 30, 2003 - 39 comments

'Tis the season to donate! How does your favorite charity stack up?
posted by ZenMasterThis on Dec 9, 2003 - 6 comments

Child's Play - Penny Arcade, the popular gaming web comic, is looking to reverse some of the stigma that comes with playing games, by asking the community to send games to children at the Seattle Children’s Hospital.
posted by Orange Goblin on Nov 26, 2003 - 10 comments

Adopt-a-Pagan-Soldier - No pagans in foxholes? Think again! Meanwhile, the Adopt-a-Soldier movement gains momentum. Heed this well, opponents of the ongoing invasion (or liberation) of Iraq: US troops did not engineer the plan for a "Pax Americana" which underlies the US action in Iraq. No, they were pulled away from their families and their jobs, and lack basic necessities: such as SPF-30 sunscreen, and chapstick. Send them a care package. And while you are at it, why not donate to the UN Refugee Fund set up to cope with an expected 1 millon or so refugees, and a possible humanitarian disaster, in Iraq?
posted by troutfishing on Mar 20, 2003 - 23 comments

Donate Your Old Computers The February issue of Woman's Day magazine has an interesting blurb on recycling old computers. Two places mentioned in Woman's Day were Share Technology and PC's For Schools. Both have search engines to find local places to donate your computer parts and accessories. Tis the Season.
posted by sadie01221975 on Dec 24, 2002 - 8 comments

Thanks for the cattle! As a follow up to This Thread, This site was inspired by the New York Times article about the Masai village in southern Kenya who donated 14 head of cattle to the US in sorrow over the 9/11 attacks. This is a place where you can say "thanks" to the villagers who made the donation. "There are three cherished things that a Masai can offer as a gift -- a child, a plot of land and a cow, which is far more than a source of meat and milk to a Masai." Source.
posted by Blake on Jun 4, 2002 - 17 comments

AIDS Programs: An Epidemic of Waste. Interesting article about AIDS funding in the USA... and these people want more taxpayer money! Heres a quote: The Stop AIDS Project of San Francisco, which received $698,000 (39 percent of its budget) in CDC grants in fiscal 200139, has sponsored several "prevention" events, including a gay prom in April. Last August it held "Booty Call," a seminar about dildos, plugs, fisting, and rimming. The advertisement read, "After a little basic science, share tales of intercourse and orgasm. Find out why so many of us find ass play a major turn on."
posted by Keen on Mar 4, 2002 - 47 comments

Minnesota man claims losing sons, one in WTC, one in traffic accident and collects $6,000 in donations. Reporter hears story, checks on it, finds no corroborating evidence. Fabricated? Granted, the man didn't ask for money, but what should he do now? If you had given him money, what would you want him to do?
posted by yesster on Jan 16, 2002 - 10 comments

A feel-good story for the holidays, involving a pro football player. Warrick Dunn of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers makes the down payment and furnishes homes for single mothers and their children in Tampa Bay and his native Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This program has now been copied by NY Giants' Jason Sehorn. (more inside)
posted by msacheson on Dec 19, 2001 - 17 comments

Holiday season comes to all, including those without an Amazon wishlist. New York Cares has a Secret Santa program where volunteers pick up letter(s) from [a] child(ren) from homeless shelter(s) and buys them gifts requested in the letter(s). There is a similar program in Charlotte, N.C. The Chicago Bar Association co-ordinates one such program in Chicago with the USPS. Salvation Army runs the effort in Annapolis. While not quite giving toys, Canada Post organizes a letter from Santa program. I am sure there is something similar near where you live.

[As G-d/Allah would have it, this year both the eighth night of Chanukah and Eid-ul-Fitr, the feast celebrating the end of fasting during the month of Ramadan, will fall on December 16^th. An $18.00 gift can feed "a month's worth of nutritious lunches for an Ethiopian child in Israel." There are also other Israeli/Jewish charities. There are various Muslim charities and organizations that help the poor and war-torn Muslim women, children and orphans around the world.]
posted by tamim on Nov 30, 2001 - 17 comments

The Red Cross has a decade-long pattern of using local crises to raise funds, and then to spend those funds on other things. The donors had thought their money would go to help specific victims, and sometimes up to 80% would be diverted to other causes. I think this is wrong.
posted by Steven Den Beste on Nov 19, 2001 - 39 comments

(the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens) is donating a hefty chunk of the royalties from his forthcoming US 4-CD Box Set (spanning 1965-1997 and due out 30 Oct 01) to the September 11th Fund, with the remainder going to homeless charities in underdeveloped countries. He's issued two statements on the WTC tragedy; a brief initial comment from September 12th and a more considered message on September 18th. (more inside)
posted by RavinDave on Sep 29, 2001 - 8 comments

America: A Tribute To Heroes Special/telethon airing across all four networks to raise money for 9.11 this Friday from 9pm to 11pm. Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Deniro, Jim Carrey and more celebs than you can shake a stick at.
posted by owillis on Sep 19, 2001 - 21 comments

The forgotten heros: dogs. Rescue dogs need booties for their feet (such as these) to protect them from the rubble and glass as the search for survivors continues. The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation is also asking for donations now.
posted by mathowie on Sep 14, 2001 - 16 comments

This IS the scientific definition of the whammy... The Scully Marathon is coming soon to an area near you - worldwide, fans of the television series The X-Files are getting together to watch ten of the best shows ever made, as well as raise money and awareness for neurofibromatosis. Don't miss the boat, Starbuck.
posted by ZachsMind on May 11, 2001 - 20 comments

Is Bill Really that bad? Giving away money steadily, tens of millions of dollars at a time, Mr Bill Gates has become the single most influential force trying to reverse the growing health crisis afflicting the world's poor. With his wife, Melinda, he outspent the United States Government last year by nearly $US300 million ($538 million), to fight global health threats such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
posted by murray_kester on Dec 25, 2000 - 52 comments

Kansas City's Secret Santa has been handing out cash in hundred-dollar bills to needy individuals and random people during the Christmas season for the past twenty-one years. He's completely anonymous, preferring to give joy without getting any credit. He tries to find people with specific needs and surprises them in their homes or at their jobs with the cash they need. He gives out well over ten thousand dollars every year.
posted by daveadams on Dec 22, 2000 - 11 comments

AIDS Project Los Angeles can help you observe World AIDS Day and get a start on those pesky holiday cards. For $5 each, APLA will personalize and send your choice of holiday cards to friends, family or clients! Cards are also available in sets of ten for $25 to be mailed by you.
posted by CrazyUncleJoe on Dec 1, 2000 - 0 comments

Donate a dollar to fight breast cancer. October is breast cancer awareness month. Click on the little pink ribbon in the left hand column of this link, and Yahoo will donate $1 to the Susan Komen Foundation. Tell your friends!
posted by kristin on Oct 21, 2000 - 0 comments

Clearing landmines with a click It costs $3 to put a landmine in the ground and $1000 to pull it out. Along the same lines as The Hunger Site, head over to this site and help make war-torn areas safe again for the people living there.
posted by Calebos on Jun 16, 2000 - 4 comments

GiveQuick! I'm not sure what triggered the thought, but I realized that MetaFilter - and many of the sites of MetaFilter users - weren't around when GiveQuick began, and so I thought it might be nice to (re)introduce the idea. The premise? Affiliate fees from your own site can easily be redirected to nonprofit organizations - with absolutely no administrative costs deducted from those fees. You might also consider making online purchases through a participating GiveQuick site. Just a thought.
posted by judith on May 3, 2000 - 1 comment