Help me pick a charity

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For some time I have been meaning to give away more of my money to worthy causes. I am conflicted as to who to give this money too. I always get the impression some charities are more worthy than others. Often you hear of CEOs and employees at some of these charities earning obscene wages. And my understanding is that to be registered as a charity you only have divert a certain proportion of monies raised directly to those charitable causses. Giving me a somewhat corporate impression of some of these entities. It's like some of them are basically businesses that divert a relatively small part of their turnover to their direct cause - or at least that's the impression I often get. Rightly or wrongly.


Besides the obvious high profile charities such as cancer research, BHF etc, which I'm sure we have all been touched by can people share any insight as to who or what they think makes a good charity and why? And how they would go about choosing whom to give their money too? I usually donate a £300-£500 each year to various causes but this year I would like give a more substantial some of £10k.


There is a local hospice that looks after people with terminal illnesses, and my mother who is getting on these days has seen a number of her friends spend time there. She has always spoken fondly of the care that they have received. This is certainly a place I am considering donating to. Any insight is appreciated.:)
 
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There must be a website that identifies running/admin costs.

Something local and personal to you like the hospice sounds like a good one. I work in rare diseases, there are lots of associated charities who struggle to get funding because their disease community might be small.
 
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www.britishlegion.org.uk

Royal British Legion | Armed Forces Charity

The Legion is here to help members of the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force, veterans and their families. And we’re not going anywhere.
www.britishlegion.org.uk www.britishlegion.org.uk

Canal & River Trust | Making life better by water

We're the charity looking after 2,000 miles of historic waterways across England and Wales. Find out how we're making life better by water.
canalrivertrust.org.uk canalrivertrust.org.uk

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society

www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk
 
Ronald MCdonald House Charities perhaps.

My niece had a baby and it turned out the father was a total lunatic who attempted to murder the baby girl and left her for dead.

She was revived by paramedics and airlifted to the nearest specialist childrens hospital 100 miles away.

Their house was a crime scene and all their clothes etc were locked down so they were homeless and without any of their personal belongings.

The most help they received ( other than the NHS ) was Ronald Mcdonald House Charities who gave them free accomedation and food near the hospital.

It was a massive help for them in their darkest hour.
 
I donate to Andy's Man club, as they are men's mental health charity that has personally helped me.

They also don't have a huge admin team "sucking up" money at the top - with just a handful of staff, meaning most of the money actually ends up benefiting the end users more directly.

andysmanclub.co.uk

ANDYSMANCLUB - It's Okay To Talk

ANDYSMANCLUB are a men’s suicide prevention charity offering free to attend peer-to-peer support groups across the United Kingdom and online.
andysmanclub.co.uk andysmanclub.co.uk
 
Annoyingly Amazon have done away with Amazon Smile - could look up lots of local charities on there and they are usually much more worth donating to than some of the big almost commercial ones now. There are other sites for looking that stuff up but you need to filter more stuff out.

Personally I tend to find local places that seem in genuine need, especially those helping disadvantaged children.

hornetstinger said:
Read up what percentage goes to the target. I worked for one they've just been done for fraud. lol
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I used to work for a company who provided IT solutions to primarily charities and some of the things I've seen both good and bad in terms of resource usage is crazy.
 
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Might have to stop it due to funds, but I donate monthly to great ormond street hospital. Feel like trying to give kids a real chance is a worthy cause.
 
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Unseul said:
Might have to stop it due to funds, but I donate monthly to great ormond street hospital. Feel like trying to give kids a real chance is a worthy cause.
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A worthy cause though I'm biased ;). And yes we do - particularly those with rare and complex diseases/conditions.
 
There are plenty of genuine needs in your local area of people that need help. Be it a lift to a hospital appointment or a child's dying wish. These are things you can effect. Local Facebook groups etc. Beware of scams obviously but some are very genuine.
 
I'd look around your local community and invest in local things that make a difference


not exactly near me but this kinda thing seems like a worthwhile cause

Donate - Scotswood Garden

scotswoodgarden.org.uk scotswoodgarden.org.uk

Scotswood Garden | Localgiving

We are a charity and community garden in Newcastle upon Tyne. We use permaculture to support people of all ages and to provide a home for wildlife in the city.
localgiving.org localgiving.org

even like 100 quid probably makes a big difference to something like that.

you can probably find many examples in your area on localgiving, forget about all the big national charities
 
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