nada's favorite charities
Since the holidays are coming up, and since someone is coming by in an hour to fix the hot water heater, for which I feel particularly thankful, I decided to list out my favorite charities for my own record-keeping and for your inspiration. Giving to charities has traditionally been pretty agonizing for me, because along with the perennial question, "Am I really giving as much as I can afford?" there's also the question of, "Am I giving to an organization that will ultimately do more harm than good? Am I just throwing money at a problem, without sufficient thought, in either an inefficient way or in an ultimately self-defeating way?" So slowly, over the years, I've built up a list of charities that I feel really confident about giving to. I'm listing them below, with links to the Forbes guide and the organization's annual reports, in addition to my own reasons for picking them. The main ones are:
If you know of any great charities that I missed, please comment and tell me about them. Well, I already know about the United Way and Red Cross and Salvation Army (a really efficient charity - I regret not donating to them) and St. Jude's and so forth - but I'm really interested in hearing your opinions. I'm trying to put together a reasonable portfolio of giving, and in order to do that, I'd like to hear your opinions. (Hmmm, I should give to PBS, too, I think.)
- Habitat for Humanity International
- ACORN, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
- Grameen Foundation USA
- Heifer International
- ACLU
- America's Second Harvest
- Amnesty International
- Rails to Trails Conservancy
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- Doctors without Borders (Médecins sans Frontières)
If you know of any great charities that I missed, please comment and tell me about them. Well, I already know about the United Way and Red Cross and Salvation Army (a really efficient charity - I regret not donating to them) and St. Jude's and so forth - but I'm really interested in hearing your opinions. I'm trying to put together a reasonable portfolio of giving, and in order to do that, I'd like to hear your opinions. (Hmmm, I should give to PBS, too, I think.)