Charity of the Month Club

November 6, 2010 8:27 PM

What groups exist that support a "charity of the month"?

One of the things I love about roller derby is the underlying charitable theme. Are there other CIVIC groups (not churches) that adopt a different charity each month?

posted by meindee to Society & Culture (9 answers total)

This is actually probably not such a good idea. Whatever your values are, there's one charity out there that does the best at doing good according to those values. Give all your charitable donations to that charity, and you'll be doing the most good according to your standards. Anything else, and you'll be doing less good than you otherwise would be. If your goal is to save lives, GiveWell, which apparently has done its homework, says StopTB or VillageReach are your best bets.
posted by novalis_dt at 8:54 PM on November 6, 2010 [2 favorites]

I know of a "voluntary gas tax" group that has several different options each month.
posted by aniola at 8:54 PM on November 6, 2010

On a very small scale (ie, it's not what they do with most of their money), Whole Foods does this -- or has their customers do this, I guess. If you bring your own bags, you can either take 5 cents per bag or donate it to their charity of the week (which are, in my experience, mostly local charities).
posted by brainmouse at 9:07 PM on November 6, 2010

Best answer: Probably not what you're looking for, but I'll throw it out there just in case. There's a charity knitting group based in the Pacific Northwest that knits for a different charity every month.
posted by ErikaB at 9:09 PM on November 6, 2010

Best answer: This is actually probably not such a good idea. Whatever your values are, there's one charity out there that does the best at doing good according to those values. Give all your charitable donations to that charity, and you'll be doing the most good according to your standards. Anything else, and you'll be doing less good than you otherwise would be. If your goal is to save lives, GiveWell, which apparently has done its homework, says StopTB or VillageReach are your best bets.

I don't really agree with this. If I support lgbt rights, and want a cure for cancer, and and want to support education in Africa, there's simply no way I could contribute to each of those causes through one charity. I don't see any reason to not donate to multiple charities, and doing a one charity per month thing is a practical way to split up the giving. Changing charities can also get people more excited if it's a fundraising type thing.

Not sure if this counts, but the club I'm president of at my high school (Global Citizens Club) changes the charity it supports each quarter.
posted by kylej at 9:50 PM on November 6, 2010

Best answer: Foundation Beyond Belief is a fairly recently started humanist organization that selects charities quarterly to support.
posted by CarolynG at 10:57 PM on November 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Eat for Equity. "Each month, we cook food from a specific country and raise money for an organization working in that part of the world."
posted by munichmaiden at 1:40 AM on November 7, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks, all. This is very useful!
posted by meindee at 6:57 AM on November 7, 2010

Perhaps not exactly the same idea (it's not "every month we help someone else"), but my Rotary International chapter raises money and directs part of it to RI for their world-wide mission, which is to eliminate polio, and also makes various donations to worthwhile local charities. I find the local charities quite interesting, and $500-$1,000 gifts make a lot of difference to them. Everything from donating to the local family support center (battered wives and children, job training, etc.) to giving money to replace a failed A/C unit at the local humane shelter.
posted by randomkeystrike at 2:35 PM on November 7, 2010