Giving Tuesday has come and gone, but that doesn’t have to mean the end of giving to charity. In fact, I hope it doesn’t. Many charities don’t push Giving Tuesday, or set up different fund raising drives. There are many opportunities and ways to give.
I have read a number of posts in the past several years about the benefits of the donor advised fund, and I think they sound pretty nifty. However, I have not yet set up one myself.
But I have set up charitable giving a different way. One that I don’t see written about much in personal finance blogs, but which I think may be a good option for employed physicians. Or anyone who works for a large organization.
A long time ago, before I went to medical school, I worked for a large university. That large university allowed me to direct donations from my paycheck towards charities that I chose.
I had a very small paycheck, but I was happy to donate $25 a month to several charities. By that I mean, I donated $25 a month, which was split among several groups. My individual donation of $5.16 didn’t feel like much, but I could feel good about saying that I gave $50 a year to a charity.
Fast forward many years, and I again work for a large organization. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that their United Way fund was actually the same thing as my long ago plan.
Over the past several years, I have increased my giving through work, and would encourage people to consider doing the same.
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Here is a list of advantages of giving through work, from most crass to least:
It gets you brownie points with the bosses.
The different specialties at my institution compete against each other on participation. If you choose to donate, you’ll help make the numbers look better. It can be a point of pride if Internal Medicine has the highest participation rate: we will probably never raise more dollars than the Ortho department, but we can get more people involved.
You can give anonymously.
This can be a plus or a minus. I checked with the local food bank, to which I used to send several checks a year. I confirmed that they had no record of my giving this year, despite the fact I was supporting them through this work program. This makes me feel a little sad.
On the other hand, this is great if you just want to send $25 or $50 a year to a couple of charities. You can give, and then they don’t waste money sending you mail asking for more.
You give regularly.
Charities need money all year round.
It’s nice to get a rush of donations in November and December, but people need food, medical care, and heating assistance all year round. Charities much prefer monthly support in order to build a reasonable budget. This is what your monthly paycheck deductions give them.
You give automatically.
Just like automating your savings takes decision-fatigue out of the picture, donating automatically reduces the activation energy required to actually make the donation. I used to write checks every December, and sometimes in June/July. To do that, I would have to find my check book and stamps; and then go through my pile of appeal letters to decide who was getting a check this go-round. To be honest, I still do this a little.
But this summer, which was a mad dash of going home to sit with my dad in the hospital, and then working long hours in the hospital myself–well, I just didn’t have the time to make donations. My summer charities didn’t get their check over the summer. But the ones I support through my paycheck deduction did just fine.
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Of course, there are a few downsides to giving this way.
If you don’t want your work to get credit for your donations.
If you think your ivory tower is really a whited sepulchre, you may not feel like bolstering their reputation, and so don’t want to give this way.
Also, maybe you should find another place to work!
Giving anonymously goes both ways.
I think I am now on the ‘bad list’ of several charities whose checks have gone away. The probably think I have stopped supporting them, even though I’m giving through work.
Giving through work may stop your inclination to give to new charities.
You might think–oh, I’ll add them to the list next year, and then you forget. Or, you think I already give monthly, I won’t give more. This is easily overcome if you decide you want to be more generous.
Not all charities have an account with the United Way.
In this case, you will have to decide if you are going to write them checks (or donate in other ways).
If you have issues with the United Way.
In that case, you won’t want to donate through them. I think they have a pretty good reputation, though. If you are not sure, here is a link to their page on Charity Navigator (an excellent tool for screening charities!).
Update: I received a letter from one of the charities I chose to support in this way, letting me know that the United Way kept 12% of my contribution. That seems like a hefty sum. I will have to consider if it is worth having so much money diverted from my intended recipient.
Of course, presumably some of that 12 % is going towards the United Way’s charitable efforts. This is not an easy choice for me, at least not today.
You might miss the donor’s high
Giving money makes people feel better. If you automate your giving, you may miss out on the glow you get each time you actively make the decision to donate to charity.
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It may be that none of this speaks to you. The charities you support don’t work with the United Way. Or they do, but your workplace doesn’t.
That’s OK. There is nothing wrong with giving by check, or by credit card, or giving of your time and expertise if that’s helpful. You can request your recipients keep your information private, if you like.
I think my advice is: Don’t be a pig, give a little of what you are fortunate to have. Your future self, and maybe your current one, will thank you in the end.
Do you give to charity? If so, how? If not, why? If not now, when?