Excellent Charities?

[Cod Liver Oil]

A couple of my clients are foundations with wide charters. Do you guys know of any charities which do good work and  most of the money gets to the people who need it? Thank you!!!

Edited October 13 by Cod Liver Oil

[cubsfan]

I've been a big fan of Dakshana, the Foundation run by Monish Pabrai. Personally, I think he's done great work, regardless of what you think of him as an investor:

 

https://www.dakshana.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/AR23.pdf

 

[Ulti]

https://www.kylepeasefoundation.org/#intro
 

local in Atlanta… I personally know the founders and can vouch for how hard they work , and what great joy they bring to all the athletes that participate. 
And the vast majority of the money goes to the athletes and their experience 

[vinvest09]

Charitynavigator.org is an independent evaluator of charities around the world. I've used it many times to look at different ones. If you're looking for specific recommendations, I like Save the Children, World Central Kitchen and Doctors without Borders.

[Dinar]

4 hours ago, Cod Liver Oil said:

A couple of my clients are foundations with wide charters. Do you guys know of any charities which do good work and  most of the money gets to the people who need it? Thank you!!!

Why don't you donate to Catholic schools that give a great education to inner-city kids for $6K per kid per annum?

[Masterofnone]

4 hours ago, vinvest09 said:

Charitynavigator.org is an independent evaluator of charities around the world. I've used it many times to look at different ones. If you're looking for specific recommendations, I like Save the Children, World Central Kitchen and Doctors without Borders.

+1 Especially Doctors Without Borders.

[adesigar]

3 hours ago, Masterofnone said:

+1 Especially Doctors Without Borders.

Also +1 for Doctors Without Borders.

 
I also suggest Sankara Eye Foundation. https://www.giftofvision.org

Last one is Direct Relief https://www.directrelief.org

[SharperDingaan]

These things are very specific to the state/province/country they are in; hence, it really comes down to what you would like to achieve, and how. Part of it is also the 'bang for the  buck', and ability to do things 'quietly'. 

 

There is a great deal of positive to be said for contributing to hiking/walking trails. Quiet, and non controversial. Most often its either capital purchases to help secure the land the trail crosses, or a few operational bucks to buy materials (wood, gravel, nails/screws, equipment rental, etc.) that volunteers will use to maintain the trail. There are many such trails around the world, and the by-product is often a boost to rural/local tourism. The Bruce Trail Conservancy is just one such example  https://brucetrail.org/

 

There is also a lot of positive around botanical gardens; similar to the trails there are both capital and operational opportunities. Again, quiet and non controversial; but the payoff is typically more paid employment at a bit better than minimum wage, and for many who wouldn't otherwise find work. The Burlington Royal Botanical Gardens are just one such example https://www.rbg.ca/

 

No bullets or drama to these picks; simply young kids through to the aged, building memories and doing their thing outdoors, to the best of their abilities. All cultures, and all year round. 

 

Enjoy!

 

SD

Edited October 14 by SharperDingaan

[adesigar]

Another one that I am looking at is 

https://www.mercyships.org/

[Saluki]

I would look at what the Robin Hood foundation gives money to.  It's run by a bunch of hedge fund guys, like Greenblatt, and they use a metrics based approach to getting the most ROI on money invested.  So they avoid charities like breast cancer which spread "awareness" and find stuff that is measurable, like charter schools.  Some of the stuff that has the best ROI is not on most people's radar, like literacy programs for inmates.  No one likes giving money to prisons, but literacy programs make it more likely that they will be able to complete other job skills programs and hold down a job when they get out.  

 

Some stuff might not be the highest ROI but it's okay if it's important to you. I used to foster dogs and I sttil give money to animal charities even if there are probably higher ROI things for society. 

[oscarazocar]

I donate to Rails-To-Trails Conservancy and think they do outstanding work that has a huge positive impact on communities around the country.  They are the main lobbying group that works with federal/state/city agencies to promote the building of public bike/walking trails, often through conversion of dormant rail lines.  They have a terrific website and magazine (I think quarterly) that highlights their work.

 

https://www.railstotrails.org/about/

https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/521437006

[LC]

I donate to:

Cobalt: https://cobaltadvocates.org/

The Alexander Foundation: https://www.thealexanderfoundation.org/

and Colorado Parks & Wildlife: https://cpw.state.co.us/donate

 

These are Colorado centric but I think they are great causes. 

[Castanza]

I always prefer to stay local with my charitable donations (personal pref). Could always stop by a local church (big or small) and talk to their leadership to see what their needs are to better serve their local community. 
 

Example: there are a lot of local churches that would have food pantries, but cannot due to increased regs like “having a walk-in freezer/fridge for proper food storage.” A lot of food banks end up having food go to waste because there aren’t enough places to distribute the food too. Those things aren’t cheap and simply out of the budget for a lot of places. This was exacerbated during covid when demand surged well past supply. Having the facilities goes a long way. 

Might be below the scale you’re after though. 

[dealraker]

5 hours ago, Castanza said:

I always prefer to stay local with my charitable donations (personal pref). Could always stop by a local church (big or small) and talk to their leadership to see what their needs are to better serve their local community. 
 

Example: there are a lot of local churches that would have food pantries, but cannot due to increased regs like “having a walk-in freezer/fridge for proper food storage.” A lot of food banks end up having food go to waste because there aren’t enough places to distribute the food too. Those things aren’t cheap and simply out of the budget for a lot of places. This was exacerbated during covid when demand surged well past supply. Having the facilities goes a long way. 

Might be below the scale you’re after though. 

Agree.  Got involved locally beginning in 1994 and say unequivicolly the most task related rewarding part of my life.

[Cod Liver Oil]

My friend runs this one and it’s great:

https://cureblindness.org/
I also like Greg’s idea of random acts of kindness like leaving huge tips or helping strangers in unexpected ways.  Being involved in a hands on way in your community is also very fulfilling.  I prefer a personal rather than institutional approach but foundations skew towards naming rights and other forms of puffery. 

[thowed]

On 10/15/2024 at 2:14 AM, Castanza said:

I always prefer to stay local with my charitable donations (personal pref).

 

Think this is spot-on, generally.  The good, smaller charities tend to be a lot more efficient with their spending and expenses.  Some of the big-name charities can be shamefully wasteful with their expenses.  It might be a bit nerdy, but I look at a charity's accounts these days before donating, to make sure they're not doing silly things with their money.

 

I don't know what it's like in the US, but in the UK there are some decent resources for finding good, smaller charities.

 

Finally, Doctors Without Borders (in the UK we use the French name) got some stick above - I haven't looked recently, but traditionally they were one of the best big charities, and would go to help people in the danger spots - when people were saying 'they help the bad guys', I think the truth is that they help ordinary people who are suffering in countries with bad governments.  Again, this may no longer be the case, but the Red Cross used to have a not so good reputation, in terms of spending, but also being a bit shy about going to the danger spots.  But as I say, I'm not guaranteeing this is still the case (I hope it isn't).

 

Anyway delighted for everyone giving money to deserving causes!

[cubsfan]

Kudos to you guys. This is a very worthwhile thread with some terrific ideas.

[james22]

I'm a Founding Member:

 

https://www.uaustin.org/support-us

[cubsfan]

1 hour ago, james22 said:

I'm a Founding Member:

 

https://www.uaustin.org/support-us

 

Very impressive and refreshing. Congratulations to you as a founder.

 

Any higher education institution that is dedicated to the truth, as opposed to social indoctrination is bound to do very, very well in the United States. There are far more educational institutions that have  shifted hard to political/social activism at the expense of truth.

 

A large part of the country is sick of the disgusting state of higher education in America.

[james22]

Selfishly, I get invited to some very interesting talks.

[cubsfan]

45 minutes ago, james22 said:

Selfishly, I get invited to some very interesting talks.

 

I was unfamiliar, but had heard of UATX - thanks for bringing it to my attention.

 

It reminds me a lot of Hillsdale College and New College of Florida. I've given plenty to Hillsdale as my former alma mater, Lawrence University in Wisconsin as taken a sharp turn to indoctrination and I stopped my giving.

 

Teaching kids "what to think" as opposed to "how to think" has become the new mantra of higher education.

 

We need trailblazers like Hillsdale & UATX. They will do extremely well as they demostrate real moral courage.

Edited Saturday at 10:08 PM by cubsfan

[james22]

I'd most likely have given to Hillsdale if UATX hadn't come along.

 

Or maybe UT's Civitas Institute: https://civitas.utexas.edu/.

 

And I'd heard of the New College of Florida, but was unfamiliar - thanks for bringing it to my attention.

[ElstonG]

For those interested in global health or “money-balling” philanthropy — ie., trying to maximize how much good your dollar can do — you might like GiveWell and/or their recommendations for top charities. They are mostly focused on global health interventions that in expectation save lives, for example, bednets in malaria-infested areas, and suggest you can save a life in expectation for something like $5,000 (I haven’t checked recently as they update their models over time). GiveWell itself is essentially a research shop that looks into the most effective charities (by their lights/philosophy of what’s impactful) but you can also give directly to the charities they recommend, like Against Malaria Foundation, etc. 

 

A related charity I have been following recently is the Lead Exposure Elimination Project (LEEP) which works on lead reduction. In the US, we all heard about lead levels in Flint, Michigan a couple of years ago, which were much too high, but many are surprised to learn how much worse the problem is globally, where lead poisoning accounts for something like 1% of the global health burden, and something like 1/3 children are exposed to dangerously high lead levels (which impacts things like impulse control and intelligence). Interventions are pretty tractable too — many governments just don’t have the tools to test for lead levels but once they do, they’re obviously incentivized to ban/remove such products (e.g. it’s still used in spices for coloring in some places).