I prefer family planning organizations, so I’m not sure what category to put that in.
Planned Parenthood is the charity I most often donate to.
I’ve given to Heifer International before, and I really like the concept of giving a family something they can use to help themselves over a long period, as opposed to handing them a bag of rice. That one, and “Nothing but Nets” (for mosquito nets for malaria-affected countries) have been my regulars.
Disaster relief usually gets me, too, and in those cases I give through the Red Cross. I also try to be a regular-ish blood donor.
My latest cause is the Fistula Foundation, because I was moved by the NOVA documentary A Walk to Beautiful (link goes to the NOVA website, you can view it there online).
My husband is a fan of microlending through Kiva.org.
I mostly donate my time (about 300 hours last year, not including the foster dogs we took in), but when I do donate money, it’s mostly domestic causes and often related to sports I participate in - i.e. my runs are usually to benefit a charity so I fundraise and/or donate myself. Donating close to home is important to me, and I also tend to donate to place like the Ronald McDonald House and Canadian Cancer Society because my family has used them in the past.
I donate a bit to my undergrad alma mater for their general scholarship fund – I wouldn’t have been able to attend without the full-tuition grant they gave me and will only ever be able to repay a small fraction of it. I used to do some volunteer translation for a local nonprofit that provides pro bono assistance in asylum cases, but haven’t done so lately (my boss is a founder, and I suspect he told them to stop hogging his paralegal’s free time).
Other stuff is on an ad hoc basis, sometimes disaster relief, sometimes human rights orgs, sometimes a cause a friend is involved in (for example, a friend’s daughter went to Honduras a few months ago on a volunteer relief mission to help staff a medical clinic; they were looking for in-kind donations of basic drugs and supplies, so I bought her some).
I am in LOVE with a new charity because I care about everything it does, but also because talk about getting the most bang for your charity buck!
Puppies Behind Bars trains inmates to raise rescued puppies to become service dogs for the disabled and explosive detection canines for law enforcement.
So you are helping:
- Rescue unwanted dogs.
- Rehabilitate prisoners so they will be less likely to offend when they return to society.
- Helping disabled people, especially VETERANS.
- Helping law enforcement.
:):):)!!!
Talk about stretching your charity dollar as far as it can go!