What is the best charity to donate to?
With over 10 million nonprofits asking for your hard-earned dollars, picking the right one to support can feel pretty overwhelming. But finding your perfect charity match doesn’t have to give you analysis paralysis!
You can take a What Charity Should I Donate to Quiz? to find the best fit or read through this post to help narrow your options.
What problems do I want to help solve?
It is important to understand what sort of problems exist in the world that you want to solve. By understanding what you care about you can determine what types of charities you will want to support. Here are a few of the most common categories:
Animal Welfare Charities
Children's Charities
Disaster Relief Charities
What Impact does my donation make?
How much money goes to the charity?
Just like a regular business, charities will have overheads that they need to pay their employees and keep the lights on - however, it is important to understand what a healthy overhead ratio is.
A large institution like UNICEF states that more than 89% of expenses are set aside for on-the-ground work while the British Red Cross states that 73p in every £1 you donate helps people in crisis.
Smaller charities often have a higher overhead percentage (up to 25%) due to fixed costs like rent and staff that don't scale with larger budgets.
What impact does my donation make?
Beyond the percentage of a donation that is going towards impact, it is important to understand what impact the money is making.
For Example, £100 donated to the World Land Trust Save an Acre programme can protect 1 acre of animal habitat. Meanwhile, £10 towards SafeHands puts information about safe motherhood into the hands of 21 women in Amhara Ethiopia.
It is important to understand the wording of charities. Some charities will have only one type of impact so you know where the money is going, while others might support in multiple ways.
For example, £60 donated to Breast Cancer now could pay for 2 hours of cancer research or provide 264 copies of their informational breast cancer guide.
Can I claim tax on my donations?
When supporting a charity it is important to know if you can claim any of the donations on your annual taxes. Virtue does not provide any recommendations for claiming taxes and you should speak to your accountant for more information.
However, here are a few questions to ask yourself:
Is the charity registered with the relevant tax authorities as a charitable organization?
Ensure the charity qualifies for tax relief under your local tax regime.
What types of donations are tax-deductible?
Some countries might have limitations on the types of donations eligible for tax relief (which can include donations of cash or goods and services).
Are there any restrictions on the amount of the donation?
Some countries might have caps on the deductible amount.
What is the Charity Rating?
Many independent regulators will give charities ratings based on many factors including their transparency, accountability, and financial metrics.
Check out tools like Charity Navigator and GiveWell to learn more.
