How Much Do You Give Annually to Charity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I give 10% of my gross income (increase monthly donations every time I get a raise). The part of that goes through a church (a small part) goes directly to a free breakfast program for our local community. I used to volunteer with the program before kids but I can’t get a baby sitter for 5am on Sunday morning so I now donate instead.

I agree that redistribution of wealth should be a societal policy driven by the government but until that time comes, the food banks and other charities get a chunk of my pay check.

sounds like socialism.

+1. I'd love to be more of a socialist society. Elon Musk buys Twitter like it's a candy bar, but pays $0 in taxes?

[Anonymous]

This is what my tax dollars are for.

Anything I give is to family. Until my family is fully secure I won’t be giving to others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Charity? I’d not characterize my kids private and public school as a charity. We donate about 12k to each divided equally between the 2 schools.

All other charity does not make it on our tax form. We help my sister heavily.

Yea none of that is true charity either. It's all for the benefit of your kids and you own family. You're doing nothing for the greater benefit of society or the common good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I give 10% of my gross income (increase monthly donations every time I get a raise). The part of that goes through a church (a small part) goes directly to a free breakfast program for our local community. I used to volunteer with the program before kids but I can’t get a baby sitter for 5am on Sunday morning so I now donate instead.

I agree that redistribution of wealth should be a societal policy driven by the government but until that time comes, the food banks and other charities get a chunk of my pay check.

sounds like socialism.

Yes. I believe that part of the government's job is to ensure that no one is priced out of basic needs (food, shelter, health care, education) and to do that they need funding which necessarily must come from the richer members of society aka taxes aka redistribution of wealth aka socialism. This can be done in a democratic state (and some of it was done in this country in the mid-20th century) and I think we should get back to that. I'm not advocating for a totalitarian government but I would love to see the US swing a little more towards socialism and away from unrestrained capitalism. Personal preference, of course. I vote for this and if the majority don't agree with me then it won't happen, and I'll just keep donating to the food bank. Such is democracy -- you don't always get your way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Charity? I’d not characterize my kids private and public school as a charity. We donate about 12k to each divided equally between the 2 schools.

All other charity does not make it on our tax form. We help my sister heavily.

I don't know how you're spending the private school money, but tuition, fees, and gala tickets for the private school aren't giving to charity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I make a slightly higher HHI and give slightly less than you. I am very, very passionate about the idea that if some portion of society needs funding, the government should do it - through both more efficient spending and cutting waste, as well as through raising taxes.

Would you consider giving to your college scholarship fund? Or World Central Kitchen?

This "government should do everything" mentality is selfish.

False!! College is a PRIME example of an area where the government should be fully funding public colleges.

[Anonymous]

0 we pay over 250k in taxes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I give 10% of my gross income (increase monthly donations every time I get a raise). The part of that goes through a church (a small part) goes directly to a free breakfast program for our local community. I used to volunteer with the program before kids but I can’t get a baby sitter for 5am on Sunday morning so I now donate instead.

I agree that redistribution of wealth should be a societal policy driven by the government but until that time comes, the food banks and other charities get a chunk of my pay check.

sounds like socialism.

Yes. I believe that part of the government's job is to ensure that no one is priced out of basic needs (food, shelter, health care, education) and to do that they need funding which necessarily must come from the richer members of society aka taxes aka redistribution of wealth aka socialism. This can be done in a democratic state (and some of it was done in this country in the mid-20th century) and I think we should get back to that. I'm not advocating for a totalitarian government but I would love to see the US swing a little more towards socialism and away from unrestrained capitalism. Personal preference, of course. I vote for this and if the majority don't agree with me then it won't happen, and I'll just keep donating to the food bank. Such is democracy -- you don't always get your way.

I am on the opposite end of this. I want a smaller govt and I want everyone to be held accountable and in control of your own life. If you don't like your life, work it out of it. But like you said we don't always get what we want.

[Anonymous]

Around $2 per year – occasionally I get roped into rounding up my grocery purchase to the nearest dollar for charity. But I’ve gotten pretty good about putting myself in the proper headspace to say no in those situations.

I also don’t tip for DoorDash and similar services. Sorry but life is hard and I need my money. Income currently $175K (single) but it was $70K not too long ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tax time reminded me once again how little my family gives to charity. HHI $400k. We give to any friend / family raising money, we give to our kids’ school charity drives, we round up at the store, etc. That typically adds up to, say, $1k per year. Are we outliers or are you all giving about the same to charity? (I mean straight up 503(c) charity, not what you pay in taxes or spend on your family and friends…).

Wow. I'm a single parent with an income of $94K, and I usually donate about $1,000 per year, not including a few Go Fund Mes for people I know or ones for local people in need. I'm not religious, so don't do faith-based donations. Mine are primarily for hunger, humanitarian, children, and environmental nonprofits.

[Anonymous]

Around $2 per year – occasionally I get roped into rounding up my grocery purchase to the nearest dollar for charity. But I’ve gotten pretty good about putting myself in the proper headspace to say no in those situations.

I also don’t tip for DoorDash and similar services. Sorry but life is hard and I need my money. Income currently $175K (single) but it was $70K not too long ago.

You're a bad person. You need to tip delivery people.

[Anonymous]

Giving to your church isn't particularly generous. It only means you give to people who think like you do. It doesn't mean you're giving to anyone or anything in need.


+1. Giving to your tax-exempt church isn't charity, it's you trying to buy your way into heaven.

You're incorrect.

Our church does a lot of mission and outreach work -- some direct donations, some hands-on work that requires supplies, gas, etc.
The church youth group does a week of direct service every summer, and some families can't afford to send their kid(s). We give to support them having that experience.
Our rector is incredibly supportive and deserves to earn a fair salary.

I don't belong to a mega church with a highly paid leader. I have been on the board of my church, have seen the financials including all salaries, and am comfortable supporting this org like I do other charities.

[Anonymous]

I need to give more. Recently doubled my income and make around $130k and donate 1,500 a year to various charities. Hoping to donate more once I pay off my student loans which take up a big portion of my income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Around $2 per year – occasionally I get roped into rounding up my grocery purchase to the nearest dollar for charity. But I’ve gotten pretty good about putting myself in the proper headspace to say no in those situations.

I also don’t tip for DoorDash and similar services. Sorry but life is hard and I need my money. Income currently $175K (single) but it was $70K not too long ago.

You're a bad person. You need to tip delivery people.

That's horrible that you make $175k and don't tipping service people. If your life is so hard, don't order in or dine out.

[Anonymous]

HHI 550 - 600k but we are young, early 30s.

We are trying to build our base so we can be very generous down the road. Give around 2,500 (some years more). We have a large chunk of our estate going to two charitable orgs.

Life is expensive with a young family. We really want to be better but we also need to secure our family/kids future.