SPCA, Girl Scouts.

Is there a topic in particular you'd wanna support?

Yes, but I already have those covered. Here I'm just looking for more general ones that do something good and make good use of the money they're given.

Stay away from the cancer charities and big medical charities.

Veteran organizations.

That and prostate cancer. Where the brown ribbon and the rubber glove for your fellow man.

Think global, act local... Look to the local charities where more of your donation makes it where it is needed and not lost in overhead. But at the national level, the American Red Cross and I second Putin's recomendation of the ASPCA (their real name). But I would also give to your local animal shelter and especially the no kill shelters as they have a higher overhead caring for animals many of which will never be adopted and have extra special needs.

I second a local no-kill shelter.

No-Kill shelters, etc.....If you really want to help in the homeless pet world, foster animals. It's a pleasure to always have kittens around. :)

I can't believe Krellin fosters kittens. But good on him.

I've heard that there are some people in the semi-public sector making only €500.000,-- per year. Their salaries are not comform market salaries and if I understand correctly what these people say, they are making a huge sacrifice for the public cause. You should consider providing them with a little extra to reward them for the burdens they carry on their shoulders.

Anyone in the "semi-public sector" making $1000.00 a year is, like, the spouse of someone making real money, and they are probably doing it because they enjoy it. You know...Stay-at-home mom's or dad's, or kid living of a trust fund...becuase nobody actually lives off $1000 a year...

The good lord did say that even murderers and thieves have families and they too do love. It would be a surprise to me if there are many people who do absolutely no good and are the embodiment of evil.
But yeah, it's pretty surprising that krellin fosters kittens. Who knows? Maybe he debates them to death for sports. What do you name them anyway? Bad Liberal #1 and Bad Liberal #2 and so forth? or do you go for something more specific, like Putin, YJ, and Zul?

@Krellin Not everyone has the space or time to foster. Donating to a no-kill shelter is the next best thing.

LOL! Krellin, the "." is to europe what the "," is to us. That is nearly $650,000. Don't know if you were being intentionally funny or not but I sure hope so.

Special Olympics has always been an awesome organization, whether or not Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter agree or not. If you want to give money, any local organization you're passionate about it good, but honestly, I find it a lot more rewarding for both the organization and for you to donate your time rather than money. I understand that time restraints are an issue but it's always a good thing to do.

No-kill shelters are great too, no doubt. If I had any money to donate I'd find something for shelters >_>

Draug....I misread his post....thought is was 500.00 Euros...I thought he was seriously saying we need to help the people that volunteer at the shelter! lol I was actually *not* trying to be a douche in this particular instance.

@ CalticFox - I understnad not everyone can foster -- I was not suggesting that everyone can or should, for that matter. I can't do puppies because of space and time required. So yes, donating money is great, and food and blankets, etc. I was just further adding that *actual time* given to charities is often more valuable than cash. No Kill shelters can adopt out kittens and puppies that are terrified of people -- fostering is an invaluable part of the shelter, otherwise they will die of old age in a cage because nobody wants to adopt a at that you can't touch. We turn essentially feral kittens into lap pets.

http://www.charitynavigator.org/
might help with researching charities

Anyone know how to start a charity? I've been thinking we as a community should donate to feed the Congolese children. They're quite hungry, I hear.

Being completely serious, if webdip created a charity (or agreed to help one particular charity that already exists) to feed the Congolese children, I'd donate. Only about $20 this year as most of my charitable dollars have already been donated, but yeah, I'd be down for this.

Yes, the children in the Congo eat people down there.

But realistically, if that is where you want your money to go, I'm sure you can find a charity that does that. Why A) burden some unpaid volunteer (the mods or Kestas) here at webdip to start handling a fund and B) incur the tax nightmare that comes with running a charity.

Find a charity that feeds people and do an informal challenge donation - donate your twenty and challenege all the webdippers to do the same.

When I'm able to, I like to donate to local soup kitchens/homeless shelter. They get plenty of money raised around the holidays, but most of the rest of the year they're left high and dry.

I support a charity called WaterAid. They work to improve access to clean, safe water. Water for drinking and washing is such a basic necessity that it really bothers me to think that so many people don't have a reliable source of it.

@Jamie - My nephew works in third world countries doing water reclamation stuff with Engineers Without Borders (like Doctors Without Borders). He lovesit and his company gets to write off his salary when he is doing one of those projects (he is a civil engineer specializing in residential water systems reclamation systems). So he still gets paid his salary, just sacrificing energy and time with family to go live in a hut while he designs and assists in building the system to get fresh water to all kinds of villages which currently live on nasty water from mudholes and have high levels of diseases, especially malaria from the cess pool mosquitos.

At 32, he is probably the person I admire most within my own life. I wish I, a late 40s guy, had half the courage and willingness to sacrifice as he does.

+1 to him, then. Good work.

Ten Thousand Homes is one of my favorites, a small outfit working hands-on with AIDS orphans in South Africa.