Charitable Donation Goals?

[jenn_jenn]

How does this group determine how much they donate each year? Do you have giving goals based on % of income? Is that based on gross or take home?

I’m looking ahead to our financial goals for 2023 and I’d like to be more intentional with our giving. Online guidelines suggest 3-10% of taxable income (with the caveat that you should be able to pay your bills first).

Right now, we’re pretty inconsistent about it. We have a few charities we support annually. We donate anytime a friend or family member is raising money for a cause (and we’ll continue to do this - I love being able to support the causes the people I care about support). And depending on various situations that come up during the year, we’ll donate for that. So one month may be $500 in donations and some months only $50. There’s no plan behind it.

Just curious how others here go about it.

[kork13]

We run our finances strictly off of gross income -- it's simpler & more consistent.

For charitable giving, we give most to our church, which generally is very good & responsible with how those funds are used. So 10% of gross goes to my church as tithing, to provide for the normal operations & core programs within our church, among others. Additionally, we give another 2% to our church specifically directed toward our church's programs for hunger, homelessness, teaching/proselyting, outreach, and global humanitarian aid.

Finally, through a pair of annual charity drives with the military, we give another ~1% to a variety of charities providing emergency financial assistance to active duty members/families, housing assistance to widowed military spouses & veteran families, as well as a couple charities that provide programs & support for kids/families living with childhood cancers.

So we structure most of our giving through our church & the military's charity drives. But we do also maintain a $3k slush fund for "outrageous giving" -- basically, if family, friends, acquaintances, or other random folks have a specific, immediate, & legitimate need that we can help to provide for them, we'll pull the cash from savings & wow a check. We've used that money a few times, and it's always fun to be able to do something relatively small for us, but hugely impactful for the people we help.

[ua_guy]

My short answer is we don't have a goal based on % of income or an annual budget, we give what we feel is appropriate, and what we can afford to give. We don't subscribe to any religious or moral obligations to give.

Same for us with regards to friends/family. Things like fundraisers for the kids at school, PTA, or activities that the kids enjoy, we give when presented with the opportunity to do so because we find those things to be worthy causes. Some of those things are predictable and recurring and some just come up, so they impact the monthly budget differently at different times. No plan behind it.

There have been a few instances where we've dug deep and given a lot, mostly to political/social causes of freedom and equality which directly impact us. We find a way to make it work when we need to. I definitely would not describe to a hard rule of up to 10% of taxable income. We come first, as the earners of our money, and 10% could make a difference to our retirement or other major causes.

[jenn_jenn]

But we do also maintain a $3k slush fund for "outrageous giving" -- basically, if family, friends, acquaintances, or other random folks have a specific, immediate, & legitimate need that we can help to provide for them, we'll pull the cash from savings & wow a check. We've used that money a few times, and it's always fun to be able to do something relatively small for us, but hugely impactful for the people we help.

I love this idea. We have always donated or helped out friends and family if the need arises but having an ear marked slush fund is perfect. We’d be more inclined / able to help out more if it was already ear marked for this purpose. Thank you for the idea!

[jenn_jenn]

I definitely would not describe to a hard rule of up to 10% of taxable income. We come first, as the earners of our money, and 10% could make a difference to our retirement or other major causes.

While I greatly admire those that donate 10% of gross (looking at you Kork!), I don’t think it’s something we’d do either. At least until we were *very* secure in our financial future. We’re doing alright but, if we subscribed to this, we’d be donating $50k annually and that’s not something we’re in a position to do without making significant sacrifices elsewhere. It may be selfish but I agree as the earners of our money, we come first.

I do like the idea of working off gross and having a target % though. Helps me plan and I execute better with a plan. We’ll just do a smaller %.

[disneysteve]

We don't do any set amount or percentage. There are a few organizations we support on a regular ongoing basis. Then there are always the one-off things like a friend's kid doing a bikeathon or somebody doing the Heart Walk or whatever. We also end up attending 2 or 3 fundraising events in person each year.

[kork13]

While I greatly admire those that donate 10% of gross (looking at you Kork!), I don’t think it’s something we’d do either. At least until we were *very* secure in our financial future. We’re doing alright but, if we subscribed to this, we’d be donating $50k annually and that’s not something we’re in a position to do without making significant sacrifices elsewhere. It may be selfish but I agree as the earners of our money, we come first.

I do like the idea of working off gross and having a target % though. Helps me plan and I execute better with a plan. We’ll just do a smaller %.

FWIW, donating 10%+ is similar to having a savings habit.... If you've always done it & it's just a normal part of your financial life, you don't miss it as terribly. I've done it since I was a broke college student when 10% was less than $100/mo. It's a significant commitment of money, but believing in the "why" helps alot.

And to be clear, zero judgement that everyone isn't able/willing to donate at a high level .... It's a life & faith choice for us, and while we've been happy & grateful to do so, it's always been a very personal choice.

[Snicks]

I am done giving to organizations. Charity begins at home. I try to help people in a more face to face way. Giving furniture, used appliances, home goods etc to people who need them. Taking food to people, etc. As far as giving money national groups, that's a hard pass for me.

[ua_guy]

I am done giving to organizations. Charity begins at home. I try to help people in a more face to face way. Giving furniture, used appliances, home goods etc to people who need them. Taking food to people, etc. As far as giving money national groups, that's a hard pass for me.

Very good point!! There's so much we can do right around us that doesn't require partnering with an organization or blindly giving money. People close to us sometimes need assistance more than we know.

[rennigade]

We donate to science based stuff, usually cancer related.

We like to do toys for tots. Buy a bunch of gifts and drop them in a bin at our local bank.

As far as religious based things, not a chance.

No set percentage for us.

[myrdale]

I am sure Jesus would throw a handful of quarters at my head while shouting "Give to Washington what is Washington's!" but keep in mind a significant amount of what we pay in taxes equates to "charity" (if you disagree then use the word "theft" instead).

Currently, +$25k annually of my payroll goes towards taxes. The break down is:
54% Federal
5% Medicare
22% Social Security
19% State

The list of federal government spending I found for 2021 is as follows:

Total Spent $7 Trillion

39.6% Social Security, Unemployment, Labor
22.7% Medicare & Health
10.9% Military
6.2% Education
4.3% Interest on Debt
3.6% Veterans Benefits
3.4% Food & Agriculture
3.2% Housing & Community
2.9% Transport
0.9% Government
0.9% Internal Affairs
0.7% Energy & Environment
0.5% Science

Considering that 57% of the population paid $0 into Federal last year, and of the $13.5k I paid to federal, the better part of $10k of that I would consider "charity".

Past that, I'll gladly give money to fire departments, and kids sports teams, and the Shriners.

[jenn_jenn]

myrdale


I don’t disagree that some of our taxes go towards charitable / social programs.

In Europe, the taxes are so high and social programs so strong that giving to charity is not nearly as common as it is in the US. Last holiday season, the employee engagement group I led organized a toy drive for underprivileged and sick children. It was US centric and we wanted to do something similar for our international offices so I reached out to our international HR colleagues. They looked at me funny and then kindly explained that it wasn’t really a thing where they are because of all their government funded social programs.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I give mostly locally or to people i know asking for their charity. My aunt runs a charity and we donated big to them both time and money. It's a nationwide charity and she does the state program so not a non-profit she started but one she runs. It's a good cause and I like it. They did a walkathon and I donated a good amount in my grma name. And DH helps them do target fundraising. And we donate a lot to our school where the kids are. And girl scouts we participate and donate a big chunk to their military cookie drop.