Preferences

I stopped donating (with a few exceptions) because of the general lack of transparency in where your money really goes, and the stories of fraud, absurd salaries of CEOs/management and cold-calling which turns out to be so expensive that the first 1 or 2 years you are effectively paying for the call center. Etc. etc.

My wife and I have given reasonably large donations to various groups and told them we're not interested in getting push communication from them. We'll donate again if and when we can.

The orgs that don't respect that (Medecins sans Frontieres comes to mind--multiple glossy mailings per year) get removed from the list. It's kind of harsh, but there are plenty of deserving orgs to support who are compatible with this stance. I understand why, in general, such outreach makes sense, but in my specific case, I find it annoying and it doesn't motivate me.

I've found the Against Malaria Foundation to be stellar in this regard. They were very responsive in getting set up to accept Canadian stock when I inquired about it. They did one unexpected followup communication, but it wasn't a solicitation. Instead, they were considering changing how stock donation would work in Canada in order to minimize their fees, and wanted feedback on whether it would be a good or bad change from the perspective of a donor. They were explicit that the feedback was optional, and that they weren't soliciting a donation, just effectively doing market research.

You should examine the nonprofit's Form 990 if you have concerns or look at their page on Guidestar.

This item has no comments currently.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Story Lists

j
Next story
k
Previous story
Shift+j
Last story
Shift+k
First story
o Enter
Go to story URL
c
Go to comments
u
Go to author

Navigation

Shift+t
Go to top stories
Shift+n
Go to new stories
Shift+b
Go to best stories
Shift+a
Go to Ask HN
Shift+s
Go to Show HN

Miscellaneous

?
Show this modal