Goody Two-Shoes: Charities, Crowd Sourcing and Philanthropy

[Oxynia]

By request, here's the place to discuss your experiences with various charities, crowd-sourced funding sites and other philanthropic organizations.

[smitten]

Thanks for the thread, Oxynia. So, Mr s is always wanting to give a lot of our money to charity, because he feels a strange guilt for his salary. He grew up poor, but so did I through my formative years, so there's a lot of conflict about where this is coming from, and what's more important, a charity or his family. I thought that one way to compromise was for me to pick a charity. I read an article recently about this group:

nooneleft.org

But I can't actually find them on Charity Navigator, even though it sounds like a good cause. If it's not on Charity Nav is it legit?

[chonies]

There are a lot of reasons why Charity Navigator might not review a charity: here's their review policy. In this case, the org might be too new, even if it is a 501(c)(3). You can email Charity Navigator and see if you get a response. Otherwise, you can do things like google the names of the people involved, read the press and social media, etc. Does anything get under your skin?

If you're still uncomfy, move on until you feel secure in your choice.

[eclair]

I just wanted to drop by to ask:

"Don't drink, don't smoke, what do you do? You don't drink, you don't smoke, what do you do?" (Subtle inuendos follow...)

[ladyboy]

I have a somewhat unrelated question. I am developing a camp for trans youth in our area and want to raise money. Will I do better being affiliated with a non-profit who will act as my fiscal sponsor (and take 10%), or can I just go it alone and raise funds? I want to raise 10-15K to cover all costs. I'm leaning towards fiscal sponsor as they also have connections to help bring some money in too. Anyone have any experience with anything like this? I'm really starting from scratch and any guidance is appreciated!

[petitesuite]

I would definitely affiliate with someone else, unless you have run a non-profit before and know all the ins and outs. There are going to be tax bases you need covered, you will need volunteers to run the camp which will be easier to recruit with a larger organization behind you (or, if you're going to pay your workers, that's more tax stuff, or if you're going to work with a pre-existing camp, that camp is more likely to work with an established organization than a rando--albeit a lovely rando--off the street), they will have relationships with local spaces you might use as premises for your camp etc. I wouldn't try to do that on my own. But the camp sounds like a great idea and I hope it proves workable!

[batmom]

Hey ladyboy, if you need or want to start asking people who've led camps like that before, there's one offered in my neck of the woods called CampOUT.

[Carolinian]

Bumping this thread-

I can't protest in person, but I can make modest financial donations. Can ya'll suggest organizations that are supporting the protesters? I'd prefer to be able to make a paypal donation. Thanks!

[eclair]

link

we-are-writing-to-ask-you-to-give-1-to-ten-organizations-that-are-fighting-on-the-frontlines-of-the-black-lives-matter-movement This link was sent to me by Daily Kos, I hope it's useful. Thanks!

[chonies]

This link is what I'm using. List of Bail Funds