Money not put back into governmental systems that are deeply underfunded and the fact that charities are required to only spend 3% of their cash reserves per year on actual charitable costs means that a lot of charities are basically you paying directly to the bank account of a few rich people who employ and enrish themselves off the interest.
Something like only 13% of charities don’t pay themselves a salary. Which I don’t expect there to be no overhead costs and charity can be great for specific topics that need more nuanced approaches but a lot of charities are just a big business.
I am also jaded enough to believe most “charitable organizations” are not very charitable.
I’d rather donate to something I know like my local volunteer fire department or community association rather than some org that has too much overhead. And I’m not interested in researching if every org asking for donations is reputable.
I know right? It’s annoying and I don’t even think all charity is bad it’s just a whole lot harder to find actual charities.
You are just choosing to pretend I’m talking in absolutes when I point out glaring issues in our current setup.
Did you know in 2017 the number of Americans making tax deductions on charity donations whent from ~50 million Americans to 15 million without the amount of donations decreasing?
The amount needed to claim was just raised so only richer people could take advantage of it. Only those making more than 3 million a year can now get tax incentives on donations essentially.
Charity is broken at the moment. It’s been set up to make money in lots of cases and that isn’t easy to navigate in a simple absolute.
I’m not pretending that’s what you were actually saying - perhaps it’s a little unfair of me to make such a glib comment at your expense.
The truth is that I do understand your point and I starkly disagree. I do a lot of work in the nonprofit world, and at least in the USA, most charitable organizations are doing vital work and making an important difference in peoples lives (or animals, or the earth, or whatever). While there are a few large bad actors that come under scrutiny, and a few fly-by-night operations, charities that solicit public donations do good work.
The abuses in the charity laws mostly have to do with family foundations, and they are not the ones standing on the corner with their hand out. These “private” charities can easily be used as tax shelters and all variety of shenanigans. “Public” charities have to be better because they are under a spotlight more intense than most businesses could stand. they have to be better.
I also don’t think raising the minimum standard deduction harmed families - in fact it made it easier and cheaper for most Americans to file.
You can always still itemize your donations if you want to.
Money not put back into governmental systems that are deeply underfunded and the fact that charities are required to only spend 3% of their cash reserves per year on actual charitable costs means that a lot of charities are basically you paying directly to the bank account of a few rich people who employ and enrish themselves off the interest.
Something like only 13% of charities don’t pay themselves a salary. Which I don’t expect there to be no overhead costs and charity can be great for specific topics that need more nuanced approaches but a lot of charities are just a big business.
Okay, I was not expecting the double-down to be “checkout donations are bad because all donations are bad.”
I am also jaded enough to believe most “charitable organizations” are not very charitable.
I’d rather donate to something I know like my local volunteer fire department or community association rather than some org that has too much overhead. And I’m not interested in researching if every org asking for donations is reputable.
I know right? It’s annoying and I don’t even think all charity is bad it’s just a whole lot harder to find actual charities.
You are just choosing to pretend I’m talking in absolutes when I point out glaring issues in our current setup.
Did you know in 2017 the number of Americans making tax deductions on charity donations whent from ~50 million Americans to 15 million without the amount of donations decreasing?
The amount needed to claim was just raised so only richer people could take advantage of it. Only those making more than 3 million a year can now get tax incentives on donations essentially.
Charity is broken at the moment. It’s been set up to make money in lots of cases and that isn’t easy to navigate in a simple absolute.
I’m not pretending that’s what you were actually saying - perhaps it’s a little unfair of me to make such a glib comment at your expense.
The truth is that I do understand your point and I starkly disagree. I do a lot of work in the nonprofit world, and at least in the USA, most charitable organizations are doing vital work and making an important difference in peoples lives (or animals, or the earth, or whatever). While there are a few large bad actors that come under scrutiny, and a few fly-by-night operations, charities that solicit public donations do good work.
The abuses in the charity laws mostly have to do with family foundations, and they are not the ones standing on the corner with their hand out. These “private” charities can easily be used as tax shelters and all variety of shenanigans. “Public” charities have to be better because they are under a spotlight more intense than most businesses could stand. they have to be better.
I also don’t think raising the minimum standard deduction harmed families - in fact it made it easier and cheaper for most Americans to file. You can always still itemize your donations if you want to.