Comments on: Charity Pitches

By: Charity Update | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine

Charity Update | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:52:08 +0000

[...] been a while, and I’ve been meaning to provide an update on our little charity suggestion bleg. If you’ll recall, I wanted to take my ill-gotten gains from the 3 Quarks Daily Prize and [...]

By: Fedor

Fedor — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 19:31:23 +0000

I’ll second #17, RonPaul2012.com, or Cato.org. There’s no better investment than Freedom

By: Rebecca Sparks

Rebecca Sparks — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 13:11:15 +0000

Mickacoo — a division of Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue dedicated to the rescue of doves and pigeons in the bay area. It is a very little organization, but they have over 300 birds they are trying to rehome (taken from a hoarder, if memory serves). Adoptions are slow, as people are largely unaware that pigeons make good pets.

By: Eric J. Blommel

Eric J. Blommel — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 07:06:23 +0000

These days, a person has to get creative in raising money for school. That’s why I set up a free website to accept donations at http://ericjblommel.chipin.com

I am raising money for graduate school. I’m working towards a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology at University of Colorado Denver’s School of Education and Human Development.

I’ve decided to pursue this career for many reasons, but the most important one is because I’ve been helped myself. I would like to pass on the help that I have received to others. The area of study I plan to focus upon is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as second-hand PTSD (helping those who have suffered alongside a primary PTSD sufferer).

By the way, I recently discovered an article that confirmed my choice. It seems there is a shortage of male therapists, and men are more likely to seek therapy from other men. This article in the New York Times describes the situation: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/health/22therapists.html?_r=2

So, if you are able to help me achieve my goal, I would be extremely grateful. Any amount you are able to contribute towards my education and training will be deeply appreciated. Won’t you help? I thank you very much for your time and attention.

By: Rationalist

Rationalist — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:44:00 +0000

What is interesting about the pitches is that almost none of them make a rational argument as to why their pitch represents not just a worthy cause, but the best worthy cause. Givewell is the only suggestion which incorporates some notion of doing the most good for $100.

Personally, I would suggest that the best charitable causes at the moment are meta-charities: charities which work out what the most important problems are.

See http://blog.givewell.org/2010/01/28/can-choosing-the-right-charity-double-your-impact/

Paraphrasing: “There is a large divergence in relative cost-effectiveness in lives saved of different charitable programs (which can approach a factor of 1,000, not just a factor of 2″

DIFFERENT CHARITIES DIFFER IN LIVES SAVED PER DOLLAR BY A FACTOR OF 1000

IT REALLY MATTERS WHERE YOU PUT YOUR MONEY

By: Eric Church

Eric Church — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 15:47:28 +0000

I advocate that you give to Girls On The Run, Santa Fe: http://www.gotr-sf.org. GOTR is an organization that works in Santa Fe elementary schools to get often otherwise-inactive girls out running — the simplest exercise. GOTR-Sf is having its fundraiser coming up. It’s called Lunafest, and it’s a series of short films. Your $200 would provide a big downpayment on running shoes and tee-shirts for the girls — all the equipment they really need.

By: Steven

Steven — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 04:40:04 +0000

I’d like to suggest donating it to a camp put on for kids who have, or are affected by HIV/AIDS, where they get to attend summer camp and not be marginalized for a week.

http://www.hollywoodheart.org/Pages/CHH/CHH.html

By: Sean

Sean — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:26:42 +0000

Thanks, Gerard! Obviously too many worthy choices here…

By: Edgar Duenez-Guzman

Edgar Duenez-Guzman — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:16:24 +0000

I will go for the opposite pitch than the local charity that seems to be prevalent in the comments. I suggest VillageReach. From GiveWell:

“VillageReach aims to improve the systems that distribute medical supplies to rural areas in Africa, so that life-saving supplies get to those who need them.”

They are a very well regarded charity (top in the list at GiveWell) and they claim that $200 averts the death of a child on average (covers roughly 14 immunizations). So go ahead and save a life. What could have a greater impact than that?

By: Dr Gerard Hammond

Dr Gerard Hammond — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 14:52:07 +0000

I’ll add a $50 to your choice Sean.

By: jim

jim — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 07:17:10 +0000

If you want to maximize your freedom and human rights ROI, there is no better investment vehicle than Ron Paul 2012.

By: George

George — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 06:18:22 +0000

CASA. Take a look. If you need further information my wife would be happy to fill you in with more details. Invest in children some will be scientists.

By: Desiree

Desiree — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 06:02:14 +0000

My sisters and I recently set up this NGO with the aim of fostering disadvantaged, abused and AIDS-affected children in Cape Town, South Africa. We, ourselves are from a working class family and we were fortunate enough to be able to obtain a good education. This we want to provide for these children too to stop the cycle of poverty and hopelessness.

By: Helen Yoo

Helen Yoo — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 02:46:50 +0000

Speaking of DonorsChoose, I think this is an awesome organization. DC has definitely made a huge impact in my classroom! They have allowed my high poverty first graders, access to so many more books, materials, and technology! Especially during these times of limited budgets, and increased class sizes, DonorsChoose is a blessing. Donors can select projects by subject area, location, or grade level. If you’d like to see my projects or select one of your own, please visit http://www.donorschoose.org/hyoo.

By: fakename

fakename — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 02:44:53 +0000

Hopefully there will be no more comments then I have 1 in 13 chances of getting the money to go to where I want it. It is Skateistan. Here is their website where you can donate http://skateistan.org/

Initially it was started by an Australian who taught little boys/girls to skate board in the streets of Kabul, now they have grown in to an organization dedicated to providing these kids with a sweet few minutes of entertainment in a part of the world where life is tough.

By: EllieMurasaki

EllieMurasaki — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 22:12:05 +0000

kiva.org. It’s less ‘charity’ and more ‘loan’, but you can relend the money as it comes back in, indefinitely if nobody defaults on you (and nobody’s defaulted on me yet) and you can help a lot of entrepreneurs around the world who need a few hundred dollars lump sum to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

By: Dan Miller

Dan Miller — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:18:01 +0000

For straight-up utilitarian bang for your buck, it's tough to beat Deworm the World. Neil Sinhababu has a great writeup that goes into more detail than I can, including an easy donations link.

By: Allyson

Allyson — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:14:57 +0000

http://www.wootencenter.org/

Local afterschool program in South Central. I <3 them. Good people doing good work.

By: Krish

Krish — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:00:58 +0000

Innovations for Poverty Action: http://www.poverty-action.org/

They use the scientific method in their charity. They conduct randomized trials to ensure what works and what doesn’t. They find out what works and they scale it up. Jacob Appel who works for this organization has written, along with Dean Karlan, the excellent book, ‘More Than Good Intentions”, in which they outline their scientific method. As a scientist, this might appeal to you. You can donate easily on their website.

Also if you’re interested in this topic (of scientific charity), there is another excellent book, ‘Poor Economics’ by Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee of the Jammel Povery Action Lab at MIT. Also the awesome TED talk by Esther Duflo, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zvrGiPkVcs .

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 18:23:30 +0000

Since you are in/around Pasadena, might I suggest you consider donating to the leading charity supporting the homeless in your area, the Union Station Homeless Services? The economic downturn has had a especially negative impact on the homeless — particularly the large numbers of newly homeless families. Donate online:

http://www.unionstationhs.org/donate.php