Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with donation

Where can I download notes for Salvation Army buckets?

melogranato — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:38:39 -0800

Any idea where to download pre-formatted notes to put in those irritating red Salvation Army buckets, explaining why you aren't donating? I was discussing this article with an older friend and she mentioned that there used to be little notes you could print out to put in the red buckets explaining why you didn't give cash. A cursory search didn't turn anything up for me, and I'm busy enough/lazy enough that I'd rather not go to the trouble of distilling and editing down all the many reasons I don't donate into a small, coherent, and well-formatted paragraph. I'm more likely to just keep scowling and muttering under my breath.

Anyone know what she was referring to or have an alternate suggestion?

Many thanks!

Looking for awesome charities for holiday donations

rmd1023 — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:25:15 -0800

One of the things I do as holiday gifts for folks is make donations in their names to charities. I prefer to use lesser known (and/or local) charities, that are doing awesome work and have a focus of interest to the gift recipient. I'm looking for more ideas. Suggestions? I'm in the US, in Somerville, MA. Charities/programs I've used before include adopt-a-penguin, local homeless shelters, arts in reach (to whom i first donated in soulbee's memory), and a group helping mentally retarded folks in western MA. (Inter)Nationally, yeah, there's MSF/Doctors Without Borders and Heiffer, but they're both pretty high profile.

I learned about the Fistula Foundation on the blue recently, and that's an example of a group I had not heard of before who are doing great work. What other awesome charities out there are doing great focused work that I've never heard of? Tell me your favorites!

I'm going home! (for 2 weeks)

Fiat124 — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:39:18 -0800

ExpatFilter: American Expat returning home for 2 weeks. What should I do while I am home? BonusFilter: Help me decide what to do with all my worldly posessions that didnt go Expat with me. I'm an American Expat whose been living in the Far/Middle East for the last 3 years. I'm returning home for 2 weeks for vacation and to visit family and friends whom I havent seen since I left.

2 Part Question:

1 - What things should I do in my hometown (San Antonio, Tx) since I will physically be there? One example is getting my Drivers License updated as it will be expiring next year. I'll also be getting a safety deposit box at my bank to store my important papers (currently being stored in a firebox at my parent's house). Fun suggestions welcome too.

2 - Before I left, I basically threw all my junk that wouldnt fit in my luggage into a 10'x20' climate controlled storage unit and left. Most of this stuff is not worth shipping overseas (3BR House worth of furniture, small appliances, books, old clothes, etc). What should I do with it all? My first thought was donating to a Veterans group but the ones my parents contacted all said they really only wanted money instead of household goods. Goodwill is my last resort as they will come and get it all. Any other recommendations? Tax deductible preferred but not required.

Thank you for taking the time to read.

Canadian definition of products for donation purposes

acoutu — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:12:14 -0800

Canada Donation Filter: Can you donate a productized service and have it count as an in-kind donation to a charity? Services are exempt from in-kind donations under CRA rules. But what about the donation of a tangible product? For example, what if a freelance writer provided a tangible product, such as a finished article in Word format? This is not a service, since it's an actual "thing". Or what if a consultant donated a report and not the services involved in developing that report? Or if a graphic designer donated a newsletter template or finished newsletter? These things could be sold on a website -- lots of consultants sell templates, ebooks, reports and such on demand.

It's unclear to me how these products would be treated under tax laws. For example, if you donate an ebook, which is a product, would that be eligible?

When I read CRA definitions, they seem not to get into how they define products, other than for capital or personal use. And certainly something like an oil change or haircut is a service and not a product. And CRA would not want volunteers to start writing off all the time they spend working in hospitals, at ticket booths and so on. But I am not talking about volunteer time. I'm talking about donation of an actual finish product. Is a report or ebook like a handmade wooden table, if there is a market value for the finished product?

When I worked for a charity some years ago, I did note that my boss did some sort of write off for donations of services by using some sort of definition of products. But I have no idea whether that was legit.

Note: If you're in the US, please note that your tax laws are different. I understand that, in the US, services can be donated at fair market value. But, in Canada, we can only donate products.

Books are Rad, Let's Spread the Word!

micklaw — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:46:34 -0800

DonatingTextbooksInAustraliaFilter: How would I go about donating a heap of recent secondary school textbooks to worthy causes. I'm in Melbourne, Australia. My aunt (actually) has a whole stack of textbooks that my cousins no longer need (having recently finished school) and they can't sell back to the school as new editions have come out.

There are textbooks on a whole range of subjects (English, Maths, Geography, Physics, French etc) and they are all in excellent condition.

They are looking to donate them to an organisation that could distribute them overseas or even within Australia to those who might not be able to easily access these books. The oldest book would only be 4 or 5 years old and most are very recent.

My question then is who could we pass these books on to to get the most out of them

I have two friends; their parents are (separately) dying. How to help? Neither are in U.S./U.K./CAN.

taz — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 05:04:37 -0800

I would like to help my friends, if I can; two of them are individually dealing with incredibly stressful and sad health-related situations related to their parents. Friend one: I know her very well (via internet). Her father is dying, and it's end-stage, but it may take months and months. It's a terrible situation, because he's at home (as per his wish), and when he can speak, only says he wants to die. They have medical care, there's not a problem of money, but in terms of emotional pain and stress for her and her mother, it's dire. Their extended family live on another continent, and my friend's closest friends have all moved far away recently, so it's really just her and her mom dealing with this, essentially in isolation in terms of emotional support (and her mom is an expat, and I understand how this can be even more isolating and limiting). How can I help her? Are there any books that were valuable to you if you were any sort of similar situation? Is there an online forum that is high-quality, smart, helpful, warm, for people in this position? I doubt that there are support groups where she is, or much of that sort of help at all. (If you want to know what country, email or memail me, but I'm pretty sure it's not promising.)

My friend is a very smart, strong woman, career-successful in a highly sexist culture, so has an amazing amount of daily stress with her job, and must remain always calm, cool, always in control... which makes me worry about her even more, since now she has to also practice the same stoicism at home, day in and day out, and night after night. I know she can barely sleep, and there's no possibility of getting away from it. She can take time from the job, but she can't go away, and that would just leave her at home 24/7 with that special suffering.

Any advice about how to help very gratefully accepted.

Friend 2: I don't know so well, an internet acquaintance from a BB, and he might well be scamming, but I really don't think so. (2.5 years at that site* and always generous and giving as a poster; never talking about his personal/private stuff at all; never talking about money or any personal trouble at all. An on-topic friendly, helpful guy.)

His mother needs a transplant; he has most of the money, but lacks about $5,000 U.S. He appealed to the BB we both frequent, but of course the discussion was shut down. I told him to check out Modest Needs, after checking that they had "outside of U.S." and also "urgent health care" categories. But he told me that they do not extend their services to his country (India). Is there anything similar that he might look into? It just kills me that $5,000 might save his mom's life, though, yes, I realize that this is repeated a million times all over the world.

Don't worry about me, I don't have money to give away, but if there is any other sort of organization that vetts requests and makes it easy to donate (paypal), or any other options to check out, I'd like to tell him about it.

*: This BB is not metafilter or metachat; the person is not a metaverse person

Authentic Charity for donationing car to breast cancer

matthelm — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:26:19 -0800

I want to donate my car to a charity, specifically for breast cancer, how do a choose and how do i know they are for real? I want your help to find a authentic charity for breast cancer that i can donate my car to...I need your advice and if you have or know someone that has done so I want to know how to go about it. It needs to be in Los Angeles for that is our current location...thanks!

To thank, or not to thank

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:49:20 -0800

Is it appropriate to use an email address given as a part of a donation to send a short thank you note, when the person making the donation through my website did not consent to me using their email address? I have a small, non-commercial blog on which I have a donation button inviting friends, family, interested strangers, etc. to donate funds through PayPal to help my family cover the costs of reaching a personal/family goal. In the couple of weeks I've had the donation button up, a handful of people have donated. Some are individuals I know IRL, others are not. PayPal collects the email addresses of those who donate, and I'm sure has its own privacy policy associated with email addresses. I have NOT done any disclaimer or notification to people that I might use their email address to respond to them or in any other way, nor do I have any anonymous donation option.

I am considering sending a simple emailed thank you note to those who donate, but I am wondering whether as a matter of etiquette, this comes off odd. I have a ticker on the website through ChipIn that shows people I have received their donation. The purpose of my email would be a second acknowledgment and a brief thank you. "Good manners" says thank people for gifts, but I am just wondering if there is any reason in this particular circumstances that my thank you notes might seem spammy or intrusive, since I have not asked permission to use the email addresses. I am of course not really concerned about this for those I know IRL, more so for those who are otherwise strangers. I would not be using the email addresses to create a mailing list or for ANY other reason whatsoever.

Yes, I overthink EVERYTHING. This is anon bc the website is linked from my profile, and it therefore seemed skeevy to not anonymize the question.

Will my Nintendo Wii fit into the donation envelope?

pecanpies — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:06:04 -0800

What shall I do with a new but unwanted Nintendo Wii? Without going into too much unnecessary back story, suffice it to say I now have a brand new Nintendo Wii that I have no intention of using, or even opening. I have no one in my immediate circle of friends and family that I can give it to, for various reasons (some wouldn't use it, others are too busy, some I don't know well enough to give a $300 gift, etc.), so I think I'd like to give it away. But how?

I think a charity or orphanage might appreciate it, but I'm not sure - I realize it's going to be an outdated console soon, and even if they had a Wii, they might not have the funds to purchase additional games. I'd definitely like to give it to someone deserving, but don't think I'm really in a position to be judging who's "deserving" or not. Any ideas regarding a group or organization that could actually make good use of a Wii? Bonus points if they're anywhere in Kentucky (I'm in Louisville).

(Also, I highly doubt this will be an issue, but this is not a pathetic attempt to sell the Wii, and I will not respond to any offers of money, kittens, bacon, etc., no matter how tempting.)

Where can I donate a car to be used for auto repair training?

EatenByAGrue — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:55:04 -0800

I'm looking for a charity that will take a non-operational car, use it to train people in auto repair by fixing it, then sell it or give it to someone that needs a car. This is in the SF bay area. I realize that the tax law no longer treats car donations favorably, and I'm not really interested in how much of a deduction I get. Nor does it matter to me what the charity is, as long as it's for what I think is a good cause.

I'm mainly looking for two things:

(1) that the proceeds from the car's sale (or the car itself, if not sold) go as much as possible towards the charitable cause, as opposed to a middleman; and

(2) that the charity provides disadvantaged individuals with an opportunity to learn a marketable skill by teaching them for free or at a reduced cost how to fix cars, and specifically the car being donated.

I seemed to remember a radio ad from a few years back when car donations were all the rage describing a charity operating according to just this scenario, but I don't remember it and all my web searches have only turned up organizations outside of California. Thanks for the help.

Help me put my money where my Favorites are!

haltingproblemsolved — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:43:01 -0800

My taxes should pay for health care for all Americans, but they don't. I can donate $1,000 right now; what organization will use that money most effectively to provide care for uninsured/underinsured people in the United States? This thread made me check my finances and realize I can afford to help. Ideally, I'd like to find something with a broader scope than Remote Area Medical, but RAM seems to do a tremendous amount of good per dollar even with the limited services they can provide. The Children's Health Fund covers more territory and scores high on Charity Navigator, but its size, mission creep beyond providing care, and sources of corporate support make me skeptical. Most of the other charities I've found are local free clinics in places that aren't near me. What other organizations should I consider?

Muffins on the rocks

Groovytimes — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:58:31 -0800

Where do you donate day old coffee shop pastries? I was at my local coffee shop around closing and saw them throw out a lot of perfectly good pastries (I know I took home a few).

I was wondering who would I talk to in my community about possibly donating them to a shelter or something similar? Is it even legal or helpful?

Would some sort of "Top of the Muffin" incident ensue if I tried?

how to give my money away while pretending not to have done so

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:09:37 -0800

I want to donate $500 to my favorite local volunteer-run non-profit. I'm friends with the folks who run the thing, and would prefer to remain anonymous. I know which bank we use, and can name 2-3 of the 5 people on the account. Can I just show up at the bank and deposit this money? Is there any reason why I shouldn't do this? I don't really want to go through a lawyer, or mail a money order. I'd rather just go to the bank and deposit it to the account, if it's a legitimate option.

Where to donate a new black dress?

Kronoss — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:25:44 -0800

Strange circumstances have led me to possessing a nice, brand new black dress that I don't need. Where should I donate it? It looks like it's this dress. The tags are still on it. I usually give all my old ho-hum guy clothes to thrift stores, but I feel like I should do more with this new dress. I know of Dress for Success, but I'm not too sure this dress is the kind garment that would make for appropriate work/interview clothes. But then again, I'm not too well-versed on appropriate women's work wear either. Are there any other organizations that would take this thing?

I'm not looking for a tax deductible type thing either. I just want it to drop it off somewhere where the dress will go to someone who could best use it.

Which charity is the most cost-effective?

SamuelBowman — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:20:42 -0800

What is the most cost-effective charity I can donate money to online, in terms of welfare increased per euro donated? I'd like to donate money to a charity, preferably one in the developing world because I want my money to be used as efficiently as possible. Which charity's work saves the most lives (etc) per euro donated?

I know that it's tough to compare different positives with others (how can you compare, say, restoring somebody's sight with giving someone an artificial limb in terms of utility?) so this will have to be a rough measure, but I want my money to have the highest marginal utility possible.

This isn't a question about overheads – those don't necessarily matter. Nor does the country in question. I'd prefer to avoid politically active charities. Thanks!

I'm in Ireland, if that's relevant.

Compressed schedule moving tips?

Riki tiki — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:27:20 -0800

Compressed schedule move (from Seattle), advice? I have to move on very short notice, like within the next few days. I had enough notice to arrange for movers and vehicle transport and whatnot, but I'm freaking a bit at how much I still have left since this is not only on a time crunch but it's my first big move, period.

Of immediate concern: my vehicle is getting picked up today, any advice there? I'm going to clear everything personal out of the car, but I'm thinking of the stuff I'm not going to think about until it's too late. Do I tip the guy who picks it up? Is there anything I *should* leave in the car?

Of slightly-less-immediate concern: I'd like to purge a lot of stuff rather than move it cross-country. I'd love to donate some of the stuff (large desk, big screen TV with stand, sofa) rather than junk it, but have yet to find a place that will take them. Any suggestions of a Seattle charity that would take objects like that on very short notice? Are there any other options besides junking and donating that could be accomplished at a reasonable cost so quickly?

You spin me right round, baby, right round

Chrischris — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:19:04 -0800

Due to a strange series of auction-related events, I am now the proud owner of a IEC clinical centrifuge (this model). it appears to be in good working order. I don't believe I have a use for such a piece of equipment. I'd prefer to send it on to a good home. Its been over 25 years since I was actually in a high school lab (and back then we certainly had nothing like this available to us) and I honestly have no clue if this would be appropriate (in terms of safety and usefulness) for such a setting.

My question: might this item be useful to a high school lab , and barring that, what other sorts of non-profit organizations would find such a thing to be a welcome addition?

Please give us money?

LolaGeek — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:28:24 -0800

After 28 years of existance and 5 years of working toward this goal, my community band became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization six months ago. Yay! Now... How can we start getting donations? Everyone is very eager to start accepting donations for the band, which would be put toward the purchase of music and instruments, and for other expenses like renting rehearsal and concert space, etc. So far we have received one donation, which was from our conductor's parents at our last concert. With another big concert coming up in a month, how can we ask the audience for money without coming off as rude/needy/pushy or worse, clueless? Nobody in the band (100+ members) seems to have any experience with this, or if they do, they're not volunteering to help out.

Probably our conductor will make some announcement about it during the concert. We are also planning to include an insert in the concert program to collect information about the audience (e.g. how they found us, contact info for our mailing list), and they can also indicate if they would like to make a donation of money, goods, or services. At some point we would like to send out letters to people on our mailing list, as well as local businesses.

We are also planning to apply for grants, which we have done in the past, but more will be available to us now as a non-profit org. So the question is really about how to ask nicely for donations, not other ways to get money. We really don't want to do things like sell stuff (cookies, candles, etc.) or hold auctions.

Thanks!

Organ donation - the aftermath

jaimystery — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:29:27 -0800

13 yrs ago, my BF (and roomie) had a brain aneurysm on a Friday and died the following Monday. At least 6 of her organs were donated to various people. What I would like to know is: How are the people who received BF's organs doing? I don't want to know their names, locations or anything else.

I am not in contact with BF's family (for many reasons) and have no desire to ever speak to BF's mom again (for my own sanity if for nothing else) so I can't ask them for any info.

The hospital where BF died was closed after a new local hospital was built (6-10 years ago) so I'm not sure if they would be any help.

Where would I start asking for info? Should I even bother trying?

From needle to baby

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 04:56:30 -0800

Pros and cons of egg donation? I'm in my mid-20's, young, well-educated, and about to be broke. I'm thinking about doing egg donation as a way to put aside a little money while I'm looking for a job in the new economy. I'm not remotely bothered by the "selling your body" part of it, but I have a few questions -- would appreciate any feedback from people who have done this before, or who have experience in this area.

Logistical questions: (on procedures)
1. The process for donation lasts about a month? What can I expect on a day to day basis?
2. How long does the screening process take? (How early should I start applying?)
2. I'm looking at going through an infertility program, not a private broker (so medical costs will be covered). How does insurance work for this? Will my medical insurance cover if something goes wrong, or do I sign some sort of temporary policy with them?

Selection questions: (on eugenics?)
1. For selection purposes, do they care about things like employment history? SAT scores? GRE's? I'm a standard humanities type - which means I can't do math, thank you very much. Is this going to be a problem?
2. Family history: Like I said - I'M OK with this, but my family isn't, and I'd rather not discuss it with them. Are they going to need family history / medical records on paper, or is this something that can be covered in the interview process?
2. Awhile back, I was going through a rough patch in school, diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, and put on a very low dose of Prozac. I'm now off the medication and doing much better, but am not sure how this affects my selection for something like this. Should I even bother applying, or is this going to put me out of the running?

Thanks in advance for all your help!

If it's going to be empty anyway, why not?

Medieval Maven — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:50:00 -0800

How common is it, or is it common at all, for a commercial property management company to donate the use of space to a nonprofit? We run a very, very tiny nonprofit theater, and we could use some sewing workshop space. There are a ton of older strip malls around our location. Lots of space has remained vacant in these locations for quite a long time, and things being what they are, I cannot imagine that's ripe for change. Is there any advantage to a big company in donating space to a nonprofit? At $10-$14/square foot and assuming about 1,000 square feet (which is average), it seems to me that's 10-14K a month that could be written off as a charitable contribution. We would basically be ready to be "evicted" if they had anyone who wanted to pay to be in the space, so our long-term occupation of the space should not be considered a problem (or so I would think). Any commercial r/e people who want to weigh in, I'd be really interested in your take on this kind of proposal. Assume, as it would be correct, that we do not have cash on hand enough to pay for any kind of rent.

Place to recycle or donate CAT6 cable in Centennial-Aurora-Littleton?

everichon — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 08:19:00 -0800

I have a lot of Cat6 cable we need to donate or recycle--a bunch of partial boxes and some bags of random lengths. Ideally, it needs to be somewhere in the Centennial/Aurora/Littleton area. Anyone know of a good place to do so?

Donations and Dragons

Parasite Unseen — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:23:29 -0800

How can I contact local high school roleplaying game clubs? I've been reflecting recently on my early experiences as a fan of roleplaying games, and how much of the enjoyment that I got out of them as a teenager wouldn't have been possible if one of my friends hadn't had an older brother who allowed us to use all of his gaming books that he was no longer using. I'm currently in possession of a considerable collection of Dungeons and Dragons 3rd (and 3.5) edition game books, and I'll likely never use them again. With that in mind, I'd like to pass them along to a group of worthy teens who'll put them to good use. There's only one problem... I don't really know any teenagers.

I'd like to figure out a way to donate the books in question to a local (Los Angeles) high school roleplaying game club. I know that such clubs exist; my old high school had one way back when. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to get in touch with any of them. Google hasn't provided me with any useful contact information, and I suspect that no school administration will give me contact information for a student group. Frankly, I'd like to keep my contact as minimal as possible, as I don't want to come across as being that creepy guy who's always hanging out with teenagers half his age. I tried doing something similar with Craigslist when I made the transition from 2nd edition to 3rd, but the guy who showed up to get my books was in his thirties, and I'm fairly sure he just turned around and sold them on eBay. I'd like to avoid something like that.

Help me out, hivemind. Is there any way for me to locate and contact a local Los Angeles high school roleplaying game group? If there isn't, is there some other worthy cause to which I can put my books? Shipping isn't exactly an option; at 40+ hardcover books, it would be too costly.

Help spread the love/poetry.

plaingurl — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 11:42:10 -0800

What organizations can you tell me about that would be happy to receive a number of books? The key--they're books of poetry. I work for Ahsahta Press and we're currently working to digitize our archives and clear ourselves of some back stock. This leaves us with about 35 titles, published between approximately 1974 and 2000. We've got a few of some titles, and plenty of some others.

I realize that there are a lot of organizations out there who are looking for books, but the number of organizations looking for books of poetry seems to be a bit less. Ideally, we'd like to find some groups who will actually be excited to get the books, rather than opening boxes and going "Poetry? Why do we need to poetry?"

Know of one? Work for one? Let me know who they are and I'll look into it.

We ought to be able to pay shipping, so if you think that might be an issue, don't worry about it.

Thanks!

Need adopt-a-penguin recommendations. Yes, that's what I said.

NikitaNikita — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:21:15 -0800

Recommendations wanted for "adopt a penguin" gift donations. This penguin research organization came up, but can't find any info if it's legit or not. Links to other recommended/donation-worthy animal "adoption"/charitable gift sites welcome too. To clarify, I'm trying to make a donation on someone else's behalf as a christmas gift. I've done this at my local zoo, but I also need some penguins. :) Thanks!