Q4 Charity Ideas?

Charity for Q4- (votes are anonymous)

  • Pencils of Promise

    Votes: 3 8.8%
  • National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI)

    Votes: 12 35.3%
  • American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

    Votes: 3 8.8%
  • Doctors Without Borders

    Votes: 13 38.2%
  • Mercy Corp

    Votes: 1 2.9%
  • Medical Teams International

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Relief Resources

    Votes: 2 5.9%

  • Total voters
    34
  • Poll closed .

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Hey Guys,

We collected $1255.25 for Miriam's Kitchen in Q3. Q4 is underway, and I'd like to start a vote on who to support. This quarter is wide open, we don't have a theme, and I'm thinking to just leave it like that to help ideas flow.

So, if you'd like to go ahead and suggest charity ideas in the thread below, we'll shortlist these for support in Q4.

For those of you who weren't aware, the amount of donation is equal to what I would earn via credit card signups, we have a bunch of cards available, including top offers, but the list is not curated, so do your homework.

Cards can be found at https://saverocity.com/creditcards

Please feel free to kick off with charities you'd like to support.
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
I'm new to the forum, so don't know the history. But have either Zidisha or Watsi been done?
Hey Kint,

Welcome, great to have you here. Zidisha I hate with a passion (because they keep taking my money rather than letting me decide what to do with it) Watsi is new to me and I'll certainly look into them further.

Cheers
Matt
 

Kint Sakurai

New Member
Care to elaborate on your experience with Zidisha? I invested about 1k with them last year to make donations and my repayment rate was really bad...less than 70%. However, after emailing the owner, she agreed to refund back my original 1k per a money back guarantee she'd posted in their forum. So, while my initial experience wasn't good, they made up for it in the end.
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Care to elaborate on your experience with Zidisha? I invested about 1k with them last year to make donations and my repayment rate was really bad...less than 70%. However, after emailing the owner, she agreed to refund back my original 1k per a money back guarantee she'd posted in their forum. So, while my initial experience wasn't good, they made up for it in the end.
Their repayment rates are bad, but beyond that I want to decide who gets the loan, Kiva will allow me to pick, but Zidisha sweeps my account every 3 months despite me saying that I don't want them to. They just annoy me.

As for Watsi.. I love the concept, but I just pulled up the July 2015 balance sheet:

$139K to medical treatment expenses (their mission)
$100K to 'other operations'

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1956napip3bxebw/SA_07_2015.pdf?dl=0

Doesn't cut it for me.
 

Kint Sakurai

New Member
That's interesting. I have never really dove into their finances as I haven't donated with them yet. I do know that they offer the opportunity to donate an additional amount above your directed medical donation to help with their administrative costs. Do you think this might account for that $100k line item?
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
That's interesting. I have never really dove into their finances as I haven't donated with them yet. I do know that they offer the opportunity to donate an additional amount above your directed medical donation to help with their administrative costs. Do you think this might account for that $100k line item?
I don't know that it would matter... its all about inflows and outflows.. I don't think it is fair to spend $100K on non mission purposes because 'someone said it could help admin' its still spending too much on admin rather than on mission.
 

ElainePDX

Level 2 Member
Doctors Without Borders - top rated in Givalike
http://givalike.org/Public/Blog/Americas-50-Worse-and-50-Best-Charities.aspx

Mercy Corp - also on Givalike's list of the so-called best
Medical Teams International - also on Givalike's list of the so-called best

Disclaimer: I never heard of Givalke until it showed up in a google search.

We all travel a lot - or want to - and I like the idea of supporting those who travel, often paying their own way, to do good work around the globe.
 

smittytabb

Moderator
Staff member
Name: National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI)
Location: 3803 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Arlington, VA 22203
Web URL: http://www.nami.org/
Starting Year: 1979
Efficiency: Financial 84.13; Transparency 96.00 according to Charity Navigator
Type of Charity: Health
Basic Description/Mission Statement: NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. We educate. Offered in thousands of communities across America through our NAMI State Organizations and NAMI Affiliates, our education programs ensure hundreds of thousands of families, individuals and educators get the support and information they need. We advocate. NAMI shapes the national public policy landscape for people with mental illness and their families and provides grassroots volunteer leaders with the tools, resources and skills necessary to save mental health in all states. We listen. Our toll-free NAMI HelpLine allows us to respond personally to hundreds of thousands of requests each year, providing free referral, information and support—a much-needed lifeline for many. We lead. Public awareness events and activities, including Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW), NAMIWalks and other efforts, successfully combat stigma and encourage understanding. NAMI works with reporters on a daily basis to make sure our country understands how important mental health is.


OR

Name: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Location: 120 Wall Street, 29th Floor, New York, NY 10005
Web URL: http://www.afsp.org/
Starting Year: 1987
Efficiency: Financial 90.85; Transparency 96.00 according to Charity Navigator
Type of Charity: Health
Basic Description/Mission Statement:
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is the leader in the fight against suicide. We fund research, create educational programs, advocate for public policy, and support survivors of suicide loss. Led by CEO Robert Gebbia and headquartered in New York, AFSP has 75 local chapters with programs and events nationwide.

To fully achieve its mission, AFSP engages in the following Five Core Strategies:

  • Fund scientific research
  • Offer educational programs for professionals
  • Educate the public about mood disorders and suicide prevention
  • Promote policies and legislation that impact suicide and prevention
  • Provide programs and resources for survivors of suicide loss and people at risk, and involve them in the work of the Foundation
Why am I nominating either of these?

I would support either of these as our Q4 charity. Mental health issues in the U.S. should be a top priority. Most health insurance does not adequately cover the types of treatment needed by many patients. There is not enough support for family members of those with mental health issues. The stigma of mental health makes it hard for people suffering to reach out for treatment and support. Most people with mental health issues and their families are isolated in ways that others often do not realize. These illnesses are often misunderstood and misrepresented in the media and popular culture. It will take a major shift in order for this to change.
 

Chasing The Points

Administrator
Staff member
Thanks @smittytabb for finding the two charities, I wasn't sure where to start

@GettingReady no, redbird has nothing to do with it. A few weeks ago, for my yearly check up of blood work etc my doc had given me a mood assessment. It asked about me in the 2 weeks before it with various questions and while I found it funny because I think I am mentally strong, it gave me a little more self reflection and others who might not be so lucky.
 

smittytabb

Moderator
Staff member
Thanks @smittytabb for finding the two charities, I wasn't sure where to start
No problem. Have done a lot of work in the not for profit sector so quick work for me. I also have a particular interest in this area. My brother's wife committed suicide about five years ago leaving him as a single father of four. She and her family struggled so much as a result of her bipolar disease. And I have a parent and other family members with mental illness and so this really resonated with me.
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
OK I'd like to shortlist, we have the following proposals:

Pencils of Promise
National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI)
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Doctors Without Borders
Mercy Corp
Medical Teams International

I've excluded Zidisha and Watsi from the list. Does anyone have any objections to the above charities being put forward to a vote? Anything in terms of efficiency and whatnot?
 

ElainePDX

Level 2 Member
What about listing just one suicide prevention charity and one international medical charity? That might split the vote less. I suggest:

Pencils of Promise
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Doctors Without Borders

I eliminated solely on the rankings noted above, taking the one that had the best in the two categories.

Happy to defer to @smittytabb if she prefers the other suicide prevention group make the list.

I went with DWD over the others because it had the higher ranking and has been on my mind ever since the tragic mistake bombing of their hospital. I've followed and supported them ever since we met some young French docs who volunteered for them while we were backpacking in Europe in the 70s or 80s.

BTW, when we do this each quarter, can we carry over a suggested charity to be reconsidered the next quarter, if (and only if) the vote is very close?
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
What about listing just one suicide prevention charity and one international medical charity? That might split the vote less. I suggest:

Pencils of Promise
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Doctors Without Borders

I eliminated solely on the rankings noted above, taking the one that had the best in the two categories.

Happy to defer to @smittytabb if she prefers the other suicide prevention group make the list.

I went with DWD over the others because it had the higher ranking and has been on my mind ever since the tragic mistake bombing of their hospital. I've followed and supported them ever since we met some young French docs who volunteered for them while we were backpacking in Europe in the 70s or 80s.

BTW, when we do this each quarter, can we carry over a suggested charity to be reconsidered the next quarter, if (and only if) the vote is very close?
I liked the idea of narrowing it, but in the end I'm just going to run with 6 and see what people do.. there's not a whole lot of interest in this anyway, so it may be that one wins out by having 2 votes rather than 1!
 

ElainePDX

Level 2 Member
I liked the idea of narrowing it, but in the end I'm just going to run with 6 and see what people do.. there's not a whole lot of interest in this anyway, so it may be that one wins out by having 2 votes rather than 1!
No prob. And thanks for posting since it reminded me to vote!
 

docntx

New Member
NAMI, but, I am biased. I have actually seen them do very good work.
Doctors Without Borders seem to always have some highly biased political agenda that they bring along whenever they do their "charity" work.
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
NAMI, but, I am biased. I have actually seen them do very good work.
Doctors Without Borders seem to always have some highly biased political agenda that they bring along whenever they do their "charity" work.
Well I hope you actually voted then!
 
Top