What on earth was that photo taken for in the first place? Is there a big demand for stock photos illustrating "Sucks to be you, kid!"?

I think planning your charitable giving is a great idea. When you decide to give more to a few places instead of a little bit to everybody, you have a better chance of actually seeing the difference your money made, which is really rewarding. But then, so are Thin Mints.

that photo brings an old Eddie Murphy skit to mind....

I ♥ that photo, reminds me of my mom and me. Also kind of hate it in a way.

I hate being asked for a contribution every time I buy something. Would you like to donate $2 to this, $1 to that...

Yesterday the donation request was for the SPCA when I bought something at PetSmart. I told the clerk that I support the Humane Society every time I feed my dog I adopted from one of their shelters.

I just slap my pants and say Sorry. When I was in dire straights, I remember who helped me out.

Buying Girl Scout cookies..I always viewed it as supporting the little girls in my family to do things in their local outfit..it's a bit of a stretch to call it charity.

What annoys me the most is how so many charities sell my name to other similar charities when I donate. For example, I give to some environmental organizations that I care about. But I feel in doing so I'm harming the environment more than I'm helping, since giving to any of them triggers a tidal wave of bulky junk mail. And yes, I'm always careful to check the boxes saying not to sell my information if they actually ask me.

My daughter's been selling Girl Scout cookies for about 3 years. Not everyone buys. It happens. We have neighbors who simply offer a "No Thanks." That's all that's really needed. Don't feel the need to concoct a long story. A simple "No thank." should take care of it.

I'm the same way. I try to be nice and pull out a few bucks. But where we live now, it happens *way* too often. Now, I just tell them to leave some pamphlet with me and I'll decide later. They may not like it and I probably won't ever look at the information but I can't be giving $10 or $20 to every John and Jane that knocks on my door.

After the stuff I've read on this site, I have a much easier time saying no...

I just don't like it when people approach me and ask for money (charities or sales), so it's really easy for me to say no to them. If they try to bother me about it after I say no, I just tell them that they are now guaranteeing that I will never do business with or donate to their organization.

That picture reminds me of the meme picture of two kids with the redheaded girl holding the fish and the little boy just staring DEATH at her.

I prefer to contribute goods. I will give canned foods and such to the homeless shelter, furniture or home items for families who live in my area and have a house burn down or something. Money, is not a donation. I've worked for about 10-12 charities and I found out the charities were giving less than %15 of money collected to the actual cause. That's when I realized the best way to help somebody out is to do it on a more personal level- and I actually felt like I was really helping.

btw- Half of those charities I worked for was the actual charity itself, not a telemarketing service. Although it was the same thing as a telemarketing service. Places are getting smarter and my telemarketing company started its only charities so they wouldn't be effected by the do not call list. What's sad is that it's %100 legit.

But even places like United Way and Red Cross, pay rediculous salaries to their higher ups.

I've always told myself if I was going to hand over money as a charitable gift, I know plenty of people in my own family who need it badly, and I know that my money will go directly to helping them out.

I used to be like that. A couple of years ago, I put my foot down, and haven't looked back. It doesn't stop the junk mail, and the cold calls, though.

It's a matter of priorities. I contribute something like $7K a year to my son's college tuition, books, and fees. Since he's over 18, I consider that my tithe. Anyone else who wants money from me will have to convince me they need it more than he does, and that's a hard sell.

"You got no ice cream. You got no ice cream. Cause you on welfare."

+ Watch video

@RandoX: Hey, I wonder what they'd say if you answered "No, thanks. May I have $1 off my bill today?"

I have to say my biggest pet peeve is co-workers hawking cookies, chocolates, wrapping paper, or other various goods for their kids...

for me it's not so hard to say no to a stranger or store clerk but when I am constantly being solicited in my office its just an uncomfortable situation! I mean I go to work to make money not give it to my coworkers various causes... and don't even get me started on "what if I give to one person ... then do I have to give to everyone because that adds up... and frankly girl scout cookies may be good but no one needs to buy 20 boxes... so which colleague gets my business?

I swear no selling of charity goods in the office!

I've only given to 3 organizations:

1 - MD Food Bank, because I feel bad that I'm a fat ass and people are starving

2 - Local Volunteer Fire Company, if my house burns up I hope they'll get there faster

3 - Salvation Army, old clothes and stuff, because I'm a fat ass (see #1)

Here is another approach. Pick a charitable organization or two or three and donate to them exclusively. When some other group comes along say that you currently donate to the following orgs (name them here) and that you will consider there offer and get back to them.

Not only does it defers your saying no, as you can still acknowledge you do give (and get over the bad feelings of saying no), but if you do want to later chose to give to this new org, you can, either add it to your list, or shift around your list.

The hard part is naturally to keep that list to something you can manage as part of your budget. But at the very least it's budgeted, and not impulsed.

@Juggernaut: Hell yeah!

@shmompa: I do a first come first serve on my girl scout cookie purchases. The early bird most definatly gets the worm- and I make that clear to all my co-workers who ask after the first guy. Sorry I know you as a friend, but bought off of somebody else. I like cookies, they were there, you were not.

My biggest pet peeve on this subject is that every single store you go to now try to get a dollar for this, a dollar for that. Quit trying to get all the middle class/ lower class to pony up a dollar, and start hitting the upper class up for thousands. What's sad is that it usually is people that don't have anything to give that give. They (unlike the rich) actually know what it's like to not have shit.

Nancy Reagan had a saying back in the 80's:

"Just say NO!"

It works.

Oooh I forgot, also rich people will only donate to a %100 tax deductable charity. It's not even about donating as much as it is a tax break.

And one of the places I worked for only gave %18 of the proceeds to the charity, but yet it was still %100 tax deductable.

I have a budgeted amount for charities for every quarter, and I NEVER give to people knocking on my door, nor calling on the phone. I only give to charities directly, using their websites (not to fund raising companies, who typically keep a significant portion for themselves), and only to charities I care about.

@RBecho: That's a very effective strategy. It also gets the salesperson to back off quickly, especially if they're in the same type of charity.

It was one way to survive at Berkeley...

This is what we do.

We have 4 favorite charities that get the big bucks from us (we include giving in our yearly budget) and then we add about $100 to the yearly budget total for misc. charity requests (i.e. girl scout cookies sold by our neighborhood girls). We only give to known charities that we have a relationship with and we only buy cookies, etc. from kiddos that we know and care about.

I don't have a problem saying NO to everyone that asks/begs for money. I have to take care of myself and my family first and if there is any extra money it gets saved.

@shmompa:

I very much agree with this comment. Co-workers selling things for their kids/church/whatever is a big no-no in my book. It gets even worse when the company itself asks for donations of vacation hours for someone who has been injured in an accident or on leave from childbirth. I can understand an accident - but pregnancy doesn't make the grade for me. My boss almost made it sound as if the donation was mandatory and looked surprised and angry when I told her I preferred not to partake in this one. This led to some nasty office gossip going around about me, but luckily there were plenty of others who resented the practice of pressured donations at work and the hubub quieted down when it appeared that those making a fuss were now in the minority.

Salvation Army, the special care nursery at our local hospital and the War veterans. The rest NO.. try saying it NO it is even faster than saying yes and you don't have to stop to hand over money. Say it NO NO NO what ticks me off is how much of the money goes to administrative, new desks, chairs, paintings, carpets, guess that some of them have never heard of recycling.

We generally donate to the Shriners. My wife's son got treated at Scottish Rite for some problems when an infant. She likes to give back when she can, since they really helped with her son.

And my daughter is a Girl Scout, so we always get some cookies. I don't consider GS cookies a "charity" as such, since you are getting a product back for your money. But the kid should do the selling, not mom and dad doing all the work at the office.

@LordieLordie: I generally agree. We do get calls from places like the Leukemia Society looking for old clothing and such, so we give away unused items. No cash, though.

For the door to door/phone people, I tell them I never make contributions that way and they can ask for my dollars in WRITING, I would happily give and would apply for a match with company's matching program etc. For everyone else, I tell them that I either have brand new [insert whatever they're selling] or I just gave to [charity] already. They can't argue with you.

I have a pretty big budget for charities and churches, but ONLY because I budget everything else too. The advice in this section is wise. Manage your expenses so you can manage your giving. The consumerist recently posted a link to mint.com

If you aren't organized yet, use your new mint account to get started!

@SacraBos: "But the kid should do the selling, not mom and dad doing all the work at the office."

Not too many people like the idea of their precious little (female) snowflake interacting with the adult public unsupervised. Parents bringing a order sheet to work is expedient and safer, and you still don't have to buy the damn cookies if you don't want to.

Knowing how crappy the funding is for after school programs at my local schools, I will gladly purchase anything consumable from a school kid to benefit Cheerleading, Baseball, the Music Program, etc.

@Steaming Pile: While I agree with your statement, nothing upsets me more than when an 8-year old child comes to my door to sell me something w/o a parent in sight.

I find that people who stand in intersections with buckets soliciting donations are the most obnoxious. What? I'm supposed to give money to you because you have a bucket in your hand?? Why don't you wash my car or do something useful with yourself? And how am I supposed to know you represent the charity you say you do? My hometown's high school sports teams do this ALL THE TIME.

@MercuryPDX: Oh, jeez. One evening this girl (about 12) came to my door selling magazines without a parent in sight. I said no thanks, then she leaned in and told me she thought she had gotten her period and would I let her use my bathroom. I know I'm an under-30 single woman, but I could have been a raving lunatic! I let her in, she used my bathroom, left a dirty tampon in my toilet (which she didn't flush), and then glowered at me when I refused her second attempt to sell me a magazine. But the thing that bothered me more than anything was that someone let their 12-year old girl roam around unsupervised in the apartment complex.

I'll tell you how to say no. Follow this script, "...Not interested. *click*."

THe alternate version for those companies you don't want calling back, "...Not interested. Put me on your do-not-call list. *click*."

I think some of us on here are confusing fundraisers for charities. Girl scout cookies was a fundraiser I thought. I can totally see how donating to the shriners, or childrens hospital would be worth it.

BTW- Those state police stickers DO NOT- I repeat- DO NOT help you. If you think the reason you didn't get a ticket was because he saw your sticker- your kidding yourself. He wouldn't have gave you a ticket anyway. I know because I used to work in the telemarketing office that gave those out for a donation. The cops get like %18 of the PROFIT we collect and it goes towards buying teddy bears to calm down kids who's parents are gone (car accident, cps, lost kids, etc). Not really much of a charity I know, but I was amazed at how many people swore that the sticker was the reason they didn't get a ticket.

Our telemarketing calls from charities have recently dwindled down to almost nothing.

We tried telling them we were on the Do Not Call list for a reason, but that didn't stop them.

Finally we started to tell every telemarketer: "We don't give anything to any organization that calls us, please take us off your list."

That is finally starting to work. The reality is that a lot of these charities "rent" phone bank time from private companies so it's the same person / company calling you even though they are representing different charities.

How to say no to charities?

Like this: "no." The more you say it, the easier it is.

Like others have said, we pick who we donate to carefully based on our values and how wisely the spend the money (so we're not subsidizing the charity's nice headquarters for instance).

People that call or knock on the door are told we don't give money to people that call or knock on the door. (Sorry, I don't want to buy magazines to send you to your youth whatever. I saw Office Space, thank you very much.)

Stuff that comes in the mail goes in the recycling bin.

I used to feel a little guilty about the grocery store donation thing when it was occasional...when I started getting hit up for something every time I went to the store, I became less sympathetic.

We buy Girl Scout cookies from the booth at the grocery store early so for the rest of the season we can say "sorry, we already ordered some..."

When I plan my charitable donations this way, I get to put more money into a really important charity: the "what if something happens to us" fund.

I got hit up at a Walgreen's the other day for a donation to the American Cancer Society. I had just given a rather good-sized sum to the ACS and completed the all-night Walk for Life in my hometown....but the clerk still looked at me like I was a stingy MF and thought my 'excuse' of "I have already contributed to the ACS" was an excuse to get away with donating.

During the March of Dimes campaign, one Walgreen's worker told me the reason they are so aggressive is that they have internal competitions to win a nice prize as the clerk with the most collections. While collecting for the MofD or ACS is commendable, I feel the next time I am hit up at the register I am going to walk away to another register and give the money to another employee.

Ruthless.

I usually say no when someone calls or knocks on my door. Usually they get insistent and try to plead with me. At that point, I tell them I have a rule that I don't contribute to people that call me or knock on my door.
(local school kids selling candy is different however)
I do enjoy how some charities offer to then mail me their brochure. I tell them it's too late. They already called me and I could no longer contribute to them.
Some don't learn though, such as the local groups that take used clothing. I tell them to stop calling me but they still call me every 3 months, or did until I ended my land line.

Anyone else find that checkbox marked "for sharing" on certain utility companies bills highly disgusting? Supposed to mark it and write down how much extra you'll pay this month. I just know it's going to pay off their bad debts first.

@sodden: I'm with ya. I seen that and was like what the f- crack would one have to smoke to be possessed enough to donate on a utility bill.

I have no problem denying someone random a request for charity. The problem occurs when it's someone I know...

I tend to give to charities that assisted myself and my family (American Cancer Society, Red Cross, St Jude's). It's more of a gratitude thing. Any others are selective...you really never know where your money is going. I usually also donate to soup kitchens in lieu of giving to people on the streets.

The only charity that I'll donate to in a public place (as opposed to a private, mailed in cheque) is the Salvation Army - I may not totally agree with their politics, but they kept my grandfather from starving during the depression, so i'll always throw some money in. I tend to donate directly to small local causes instead, and feel no shame in saying "i'm sorry, I already did my donation for the year"

Whenever I get the urge to contribute to some charitable cause, I remember what happened the last time I did: They re-used my phone number for future contributions to the original firm and ones they thought had related causes.

Now it's EASY to say no. And if they ask, I tell them why. They promptly, leave me alone and remove my number from their lists.