Donation levels by HHI

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poorer people are often more generous than rich people.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-helpful-brain/202206/are-poorer-people-more-generous

Remember the story of Oseola McCarthy?

In a profile, The New York Times wrote, “Oseola McCarty spent a lifetime making other people look nice. Day after day, for most of her 87 years, she took in bundles of dirty clothes and made them clean and neat for parties she never attended, weddings to which she was never invited, graduations she never saw. She had quit school in the sixth grade to go to work, never married, never had children and never learned to drive because there was never any place in particular she wanted to go. All she ever had was the work, which she saw as a blessing. …

“She spent almost nothing, living in her old family home, cutting the toes out of shoes if they did not fit right and binding her ragged Bible with Scotch tape to keep Corinthians from falling out. Over the decades, her pay — mostly dollar bills and change — grew to more than $150,000.” In 1995, McCarty contributed her savings so that Black students at the University of Southern Mississippi could receive something she never did — an education.

Thanks for sharing this story! Very inspiring.

I am genuinely surprised by the posters with high incomes claiming they donate nothing or very little with "no guilt."

I'm a "no guilt" person. Honestly, it doesn't even occur to me to feel guilty about not giving my money away? I was raised to be a functioning and contributing member of society. Volunteer, obey laws, work hard, pay taxes, return library books - I would feel guilty if I wasn't doing those things. And of course we donate here and there to fundraisers. I totally accept it's all in how we were raised and I actually find this discussion really interesting. Honestly, I can't imagine prioritizing giving 5-10% of my income away to charities or a church over, say, saving for my retirement or kids' futures. It feels like a totally different mindset.

+1. If there were more functioning, contributing members of society like us, the world would be a better place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't totally disagree with you . . . but my time IS worth something. And I feel like I'm making a bigger difference in the world by being a girl scout leader than by donating 10k to the ACLU.

I do think tithing to a church is bananas.

Being a Girl Scout leader is a lot more work/time than being a volunteer parent manager for a travel soccer team or helping out with other kids' sports, so sure, your time in this case is probably more significant a donation than mine is!

Also it’s not an either or, that you give only time or money. Give both if you can. But if you can give one, it’s better than nothing.

Sure, I'm just saying, I give both, but I don't consider the time I give to be in any way a complement to or a replacement for giving money; I would never say, well, I'm spending two hours a week volunteering instead of giving money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't totally disagree with you . . . but my time IS worth something. And I feel like I'm making a bigger difference in the world by being a girl scout leader than by donating 10k to the ACLU.

I do think tithing to a church is bananas.

Being a Girl Scout leader is a lot more work/time than being a volunteer parent manager for a travel soccer team or helping out with other kids' sports, so sure, your time in this case is probably more significant a donation than mine is!

Also it’s not an either or, that you give only time or money. Give both if you can. But if you can give one, it’s better than nothing.

Sure, I'm just saying, I give both, but I don't consider the time I give to be in any way a complement to or a replacement for giving money; I would never say, well, I'm spending two hours a week volunteering instead of giving money.

There is no mandate or guideline to give anything. Where does this even come from?

[Anonymous]

To whom much is given, much is expected.

[Anonymous]

Our income has been around $3M-$4M recently. We have been donating just under $100k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To whom much is given, much is expected.

Only if you are religious. We don’t believe in any of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $450k. We only donate ~$1,500. I don’t really feel guilty about it but do sometimes think about giving more.

I hope you’re as shameless as you are cheap because normal people would be embarrassed to show themselves to be that much of a tightwad to the accountant.

Hahaha. So you donate because you worry about what your accountant would think? Grow up.

My husband is my accountant and he’s the one who considers our hefty tax bill to be public charity. If it wasn’t for me, we would donate nothing. So don’t worry about what your accountant thinks. They likely don’t care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To whom much is given, much is expected.

Only if you are religious. We don’t believe in any of that.

Christian fundamentalists tithe. Think Jerry Falwell followers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't totally disagree with you . . . but my time IS worth something. And I feel like I'm making a bigger difference in the world by being a girl scout leader than by donating 10k to the ACLU.

I do think tithing to a church is bananas.

Being a Girl Scout leader is a lot more work/time than being a volunteer parent manager for a travel soccer team or helping out with other kids' sports, so sure, your time in this case is probably more significant a donation than mine is!

Also it’s not an either or, that you give only time or money. Give both if you can. But if you can give one, it’s better than nothing.

Sure, I'm just saying, I give both, but I don't consider the time I give to be in any way a complement to or a replacement for giving money; I would never say, well, I'm spending two hours a week volunteering instead of giving money.

There is no mandate or guideline to give anything. Where does this even come from?

Leviticus 27:30. Also somewhere in Deuteronomy…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't totally disagree with you . . . but my time IS worth something. And I feel like I'm making a bigger difference in the world by being a girl scout leader than by donating 10k to the ACLU.

I do think tithing to a church is bananas.

Being a Girl Scout leader is a lot more work/time than being a volunteer parent manager for a travel soccer team or helping out with other kids' sports, so sure, your time in this case is probably more significant a donation than mine is!

Also it’s not an either or, that you give only time or money. Give both if you can. But if you can give one, it’s better than nothing.

Sure, I'm just saying, I give both, but I don't consider the time I give to be in any way a complement to or a replacement for giving money; I would never say, well, I'm spending two hours a week volunteering instead of giving money.

There is no mandate or guideline to give anything. Where does this even come from?

It comes from my own sense that I'm very fortunate and can afford to give money to organizations that need resources whose causes I agree with. (Plus also some significant Jewish teachings about giving to charity, in my case but obviously not everyone's.) And since I'm fortunate enough to have disposable income, I don't feel like giving my time suffices in my case. Not making any claims or evaluations of how anyone else chooses to spend their time or money here.

[Anonymous]

I hit it from the back so you don’t get attached

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HHI is $400k. We don't really donate. We'll throw $25 here and there to friends running charity races or PTO events. That's about it. No guilt at all.

+1

[Anonymous]

Income varies from 350 to 450. We donate about 60K a year.

[Anonymous]

I grew up poor but now my HHI is $450K so I donate to organizations that align with my values. I donate to organizations that help democracy, ones that support education, and that support the food insecure (capital food bank, DC central kitchen, and World Central kitchen). I also make political donations but those are not charities.

[Anonymous]

Income around $1.2M and give maybe $5k a year across various organizations and events. I may give more in the future but not until I am confident my family is financially secure no matter what happens (illness, layoffs, market crashes) and we are not secure yet.