Instead of giving money to the Salvation Army bell-ringers, I'll usually slip a piece of paper in there reading "when you stop discriminating against gays, you can have my spare change".

Give to your local AIDS charities instead. (But research them first, too.)

Another good link? Snopes (Urban Legends):
[www.snopes.com]

@Transuranic:

I didn't know they discriminate against gays. I guess I won't be donating to them anymore and I'll make sure my friends and family don't either.

@jaydez: [en.wikipedia.org]

The more you know.

@Transuranic: That doesn't surprise me. I would imagine that most Christian charities have a problem with "the gays."

I save my pennies for the Toronto Humane Society. Kitties and puppies FTW!

@Transuranic: Oh wow, I was totally unaware of that. Well dang. Guess I'll have to find a more open-minded Christian Organization to gift to my friends this year - any suggestions? (They're christian and would probably appreciate me donating to a christian charity since I'm a heathen :P )

I give to [kiva.org] which is a micro loan site for the developing world and [www.heifer.org] which buys animals for families. Both are designed to help people in ways that allow them to become more self sufficient.

They both offer gift certificates which can make a neat gift.

Wait, so I shouldn't have written that $10,000 check to The Human Fund?

Ok, this is probably going to piss people off, but I'll never understand why people get their panties in a wad over a groups beliefs. For the record, the salvation army is a church. If you don't agree with that church's beliefs, you aren't required to support them, but please respect their right to their religious beliefs.

The same thing really should apply to any organization, like the Boy Scouts. If you don't agree with the Boy Scout's beliefs then by all means, don't join them. But this is the United States, and groups have the right to their beliefs (as do individuals). No person or group should be forced to do something that is contrary to their long-established beliefs or to change them because some other segment of the population disagrees, especially when they are based in their religion of choice.

::closes eyes and waits for the ad-hominem attacks::

@Transuranic: Thanks for the info! Guess I'll just save my spare change on the way out of the store now.

@CaptainCynic: I think the point is more that not many people KNOW that the Salvation Army is discriminatory in both their hiring practices and who they choose to give assistance to.

@CaptainCynic: Well said.

Also, it's important to differentiate between discrimination and the approval or condoning of actions. Being a Christian, I would give money to a gay person in need just like I would any poor or needy person. But that doesn't mean I agree with the gay person about their choice of lifestyle.

Although I haven't done any research, I am relatively sure the Salvation Army would feel the same. I'm sure they would give money to anyone with a need. That doesn't mean they have a moral obligation to let just anyone hold positions of authority or leadership in their organization.

I'm a fan of Charity Navigator. The interface is remarkably clear and I enjoy the pie charts.

Personally, I've been completely turned off to Save the Children and CARE - I think their overhead is too bloated and couldn't shake the icky feeling I got after learning about how they (and some other organizations) inflate refugee numbers and manipulate local poltical situtations, sometimes inadvertantly, but often with terrible consequences. Recommended: The Road To Hell, by Michael Maren. It's about aid to Somalia in the 1990s. [www.fpa.org]

@CaptainCynic: I didn't notice any disrespect in the comments about the Salvation Army - just people saying pretty much what you're saying: they disagree with what that group is doing, and would rather not support them. No one is forcing anyone to do anything.

@TacoChuck: Heifer is the #1 charity I support. Great organization. I am planning on buying a water buffalo this year in the name of my entire family. We'll see what they make of that Christmas morning. (They are getting other gifts too, though.)

@Transuranic: Does anyone have a PDF with that printed on it?

I escape the holiday charity guilt altogether by spreading out my charitable contributions over the year. I'm living under the poverty line, actually, but sending a few dollars a month to my favorite charities (Humane Society of the U.S. and ASPCA) I can help out more than I could otherwise. Plus, I figure with myself and everyone else suffering in this economy, it's more important than ever to share what you can.

@kittenfoo: I too, spread my donations out over the year instead of giving just at Christmas. My "pet charity" is the local battered women's shelter - not only do I donate money, but I LOVE going to garage sales/flea markets, and keep my eyes peeled for good quality children's clothing for the shelter. This summer I scored four unopened boxes of newborn Pampers diapers for $20 (less than the cost of ONE in the store) and brought them to the shelter. They were so thankful! It warms the heart knowing they will be put to GOOD use instead of just a fraction going to help people while the rest goes for "administration fees" like so many other charities.

@Nick1693:
It's on their website. Plus, I had a friend who worked as an external auditor for them. She had numerous stories about how messed up they are. For an example, a male Salvation Army member must marry a female member. And when they are married, both memebr's pay go to the male!

@CaptainCynic: They have the right to all the religious beliefs they like. What they don't have the right to is any of my money.

@bologna_wallet: That's screwed up.

The Salvation Army thing has been pretty well known for years. They don't just discriminate in hiring, they discriminate in giving out charity based on sexual orientation. That puts them at the top of my blacklist.

The SA bellringers used to be everywhere. All the grocery stores, Walmart, Target and the mall. The only ones I have seen this year is at Macy's. I'm not sure if they are scaling back or if retailers realized they annoy people and might drive down sales. I purposely avoided the stores that had bell ringers in the past because I find the noise annoying.

The best rule of thumb on giving is never give unless you initiated it. That solves most of the scam situations.

Those sites' inclusion of charities is pretty meaningless, except for Guidestar, which (I'm pretty sure) lists every nonprofit in the U.S. I work for a small local nonprofit (budget under $1 million) and although we have been incorporated for 30 years, have low overhead, and are financially solvent, we don't come up on those sites.

Another good avenue to pursue are local direct charities. My wife and I have sponsored various family dinners for needy locals, as well as contributed to community pantries. Speaking for myself, I feel better about being personalize what we are able to share, while knowing it is benefitting our local community.

I also give to Toys for Tots every year.

@TacoChuck: I don't like the fact, that at Heifer, you cannot contribute money for some projects, unless you give at least XYZ amount. If I cannot afford minimum contribution, I cannot support the project at all. Not very charitable :(

@bohemian: I don't remember ever seeing SA bell-ringer in Canada... We do have SA stores. And SA mostly works with homeless here.

I don't find the fact that Salvation Army doesn't want to hire gay people as strange. They are based on religion... Just don't donate, if you disagree (same way, you shouldn't shop at some stores, that displease you with their policies).

I find strange that the USA's army doesn't hire gays. And all USA's citizens contribute to this ''charity'' with their taxes. Sad.

@Transuranic: Thanks for the heads up. I'll be sending my money to other organizations this year.

@Meltdown: Please excuse my grammar... Not enough caffeine today...

@Oranges w/ Cheese: "open-minded Christian Organization"??? I'm not knocking Christians, this is probably true of other religious charities as well, but I thought that they were all pretty much of the same ilk as far as their level of tolerance.

This page: [answers.yahoo.com] on Yahoo Answers includes a bunch of posts of non-religious charities; surely there must be one in there that your Christian friends would appreciate a donation on their behalf...

@Meltdown: Ummm, unless 10 USC SubSection 654 has been repealed, the USA's army does hire gays, they just don't ask about it.

@oneandone: I think Doctors Without Borders is the best charity for international relief. They actually stopped taking money during after the tsunami because they knew they couldn't use it all... and they won the Nobel Peace prize.

One charity was just found guilty of supporting terrorists! [news.bbc.co.uk] wow, that's even worse than being fake!

I can't say that the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development was very high on my charity list.

I've been trying to help with this by posting a charity per day on my blog which I've researched. A great site for research they didn't mention is Justgive.org. They've got groups you may not have heard of broken into categories. Of course, local giving is great, I just can't possibly list them all.

@Transuranic: You misstate The Salvation Army's position - it does not discriminate in the provision of services to gays.
As a religious organization, it chooses not to endorse the ordination gays to the ministry.
Salvation Army officers, if married, must both serve as officers. this is only a requirement for officers, who are ordained ministers, not for all "members." The salary goes to the male officer as their are significant advantages at retirement due to the Social Security rules.
The Salvation Army does a world of good in 117 countries.

@humphrmi: If you admit to being gay, you get kicked out. So it's more like boyscouts, then.

I work for the S.A. and I can comment and say that 100% of the money raised by these kettles goes to social services such as the food bank, shelter, street ministries to homeless, Christmas food hampers/toy bags for low income families, and other social projects. Kettle money does not go to the "church" part of the organization. The Army does other fundraisers throughout the year to fund it's non social services side. Not contributing to the kettles will not prove a point against what you think of their stance on same sex partners, it will only serve to take away from services to those less fortunate than us.
I believe in Canada now that a Salvation Army Officer can marry a non-officer.
As for the Salary part, as vonvand said, it is at the advantage of the couple to have it work that way.

@chrisfromnl: I still can't be sure your food banks don't "suggest" that people get a Bible lesson before they're allowed to eat. You would be surprised how many Christian food banks do this - hold people hostage for preaching before dinner. Also, I don't consider "street ministries" to be anything worth giving money to.

Guidestar in my opinion is the best resource. You are able to accurately verify the status of the organization and even view their tax return which are required to be published.

Just FYI, in 2007 the IRS began requiring ALL charitable donations regardless of the amount to be backed up either by a receipt from the organization, canceled check or bank statement listing the organization. So, that $10 you drop in the Salvation Army bucket is non-deductible unless you have them write you a receipt (IRS Publication 526).

Meltdown, what makes the practice of discrimination acceptable in 2008?

Another option, if you're really interested in a charity but think its sketchy is to ask for their federal tax id number. Then call the IRS (877-829-5500 Extension 2 then 4) and ask them to verify the tax exempt status of the charity. Most shady charities aren't stupid enough to register with the IRS and try to get 501(c)3 status.

Last year I ran into a collection of Toys-For-Tots scams where a pair will set up in front of a store. They would pressure you to buy $1 to $5 dollar store type gifts for $5 to $25 from them for the drive. They had no tax information, and their only association with the charity was through an old Toys-For-Tots box. Called the charity and found out that it was a scam.

I can speak for what we do locally:

Food banks (giving out boxes of food to families) do not have any stipulations on them before receiving food other than having a valid ID as to make sure they are not abusing the system.

The Shelter I believe has supper than a voluntary service/sermon/sing before sleep.

I probably should of been more clear on Street ministries. This involves the passing out of blankets, warm clothes, hot chocolate, food etc to people who will be spending that night on the same street. They also assist women who are in human trafficking situations by getting them off the streets and into a program. For full disclosure, I believe they also pass out those small bibles, so take that as you see fit.

Do some research, too, because I did that with one of these in-store deals where you buy a whatever (sneaker, pumpkin, stocking, etc) for $1 and have your name written on it charities -- and the woman running it made HALF A MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR. Some charities may not be out-and-out scams, but they don't necessarily use their money wisely.

@Pipes: If they're not willing to listen to someone preach in order to get free food, then obviously they're not hungry.

@kittenfoo: "I escape the holiday charity guilt altogether"

Me too, I don't give anything to charity and I sleep just fine at night.

@StutiCebriones: Thousands of years of practice....man we're just getting good at it.

Oh? And what else should they be willing to do in exchange for a free meal? Vote the way they're told to? Sign themselves into indentured servitude? Give up their children? Provide "intimate services"? Because if they aren't willing to do any silly thing that occurs to someone else, they must not be hungry "enough"?

Are you a Christian? Because your tit-for-tat, "do what we say or else you can starve" kind of "charity" sucks.