Donor-Advised Funds Allow Private, Anonymous Donations

December 8, 2023 By Jonathan Ping 2 Comments
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My favorite feature of donor-advised funds is the ability to easily donate appreciated stock to maximize tax-efficiency. My second-favorite feature has become the ability to donate anonymously.

When I was starting out and figuring out how and where I wanted to give back, I used to donate smaller amounts to a lot of different places. Schools, hospitals, food banks, clean water access, humane societies, libraries, malaria nets, public radio/television, and so on. Little did I know that these places would keep sending me snail mail for years and years, even well after I stopped donating to them. So much junk mail. I grew so frustrated watching them waste a huge portion of my donation on all these repeated mailings (and I’m pretty sure they sold my name to other charities). I couldn’t find any easy way to opt out.

With my Fidelity Charitable DAF, you can choose to provide:

  • Full name and address.
  • Giving Account name only. Be careful, if you name it “Keanu Reeves Giving Fund”, that won’t exactly be fully anonymous.
  • Anonymously. No personal information will be given, not even the Giving Account name. They will only know it came from Fidelity Charitable.

Other DAFs will have different specific settings, but every one that I’ve seen does have a fully anonymous option. While I’ve seen the “no recognition” option while giving directly, you usually have to provide a name and credit card information with billing address.

I can confirm that after giving to multiple new charities using the “anonymous” option, I have received no additional solicitations for more money.

Upon further research, this anonymous option is apparently not that popular. According to Fidelity Charitable and Philanthropy Roundtable, over 90% of donors do choose to include some level of information about themselves along with the donation. In some cases, I suppose receiving some level of recognition is nice, but it’s not like I’m donating enough to get my name on a building.

Well, at least there are some others like myself, who aren’t donating anonymously to hide something nefarious, but I’m guessing they also just want some peace and less paper waste.

The top five grant-receiving organizations of anonymous gifts were Doctors Without Borders, Salvation Army, Feeding America, American Red Cross and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Most Americans would hardly find any of these groups–which feed the poor, provide emergency help following natural disasters and heal the sick both here and abroad–particularly partisan or extreme.

Fun fact: Although your donor-advised fund is not a Foundation or Trust for legal and/or tax purposes, they are pretty flexible on how you can name it. Fidelity will allow you to name it “My Money Blog Foundation” or “The My Money Blog Philanthropic Trust”, and that’s what the receiving charity will see if you choose.

Filed Under: Giving Back
Last updated: December 8, 2023
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Daffy DAF Review: The Best Donor Advised Fund For Smaller Individual Investors?

December 6, 2023 By Jonathan Ping 14 Comments
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Updated review 2023. A donor-advised fund (DAF) helps you manage the timing of your charitable giving while also maximizing your tax benefits (allowing you to give more). You get the tax break at the time of contribution, which means you can give more when your income and tax rates are higher.

Donating appreciated stock or mutual fund shares (or crypto) is one of the most efficient ways to donate. You avoid both paying taxes on capital gains and get a tax deduction for the full current market value if you itemize. Here is an examples of the double tax advantage of donating appreciated stock. Your contributions can then be invested to grow a tax-deferred manner until you decide to make a grant to the charities of your choice.

One problem for small investors is that the “Big 3” of DAFs: Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab all charge annual administrative fees of 0.60% of assets with a minimum fee of $100 to $250. (Update: As of 2024, Schwab no longer has a minimum asset-based fee.) In addition, you are usually stuck with a limited menu of investment options, many of which may have expense ratios that are higher than common index ETFs. Vanguard has cheaper options, but they have a $25,000 minimum opening amount. Both the account management fees and portfolio investment fees are funds skimmed away from the charities themselves.

Daffy is a newer DAF startup that charges only $3 a month, or a flat $36 a year regardless of asset size. Importantly, this tier now also allows the donation up to $25,000 in appreciated stock (lifetime cumulative). Their 13 preset portfolios include ones with four low-cost and broad Vanguard ETFs (VTI, VXUS, BND, and BNDX) with a rock-bottom overall expense ratio of as low as 0.05%.

If you are an individual investor that also wants to donate a modest amount of appreciated stock from any brokerage, the end result is that with Daffy, a larger percentage of your donation will end up going to charity.

Personally, I’ve had a Fidelity Charitable DAF for a few years now, and it has been a smooth experience even though I am a small fry customer. I am able to donate appreciated assets from my Fidelity brokerage accounts with ease, and then give most of it away. I don’t maintain an exceptionally large balance (so I worry less about the portfolio fees), and my fees are the $100 a year minimum.

Other competitors include CharityVest, which has a higher $4/month minimum (0.40% asset-based) but also no limit on the amount of appreciated securities that you can donate. The 0.40% asset-based fee does mean that starting at a $12,000 balance, you are going to exceed the $4/month minimum. They do offer a low-cost ETF portfolios.

$25 referral bonus (for charity). I have just opened a Daffy account to try them out. I was able to contribute up to $1,000 initially via credit card with no processing fees. I discovered that if you open via a my Daffy referral link, you will get an extra $25 in your DAF after funding. If four people open with my link, I will get $100 added to my charitable fund. (All proceeds on both sides go into the DAF, and thus will eventually go to a charitable non-profit.)

Bottom line. If you plan on donating modest amounts of appreciated assets under their $25,000 lifetime limit, then Daffy is the lowest-cost DAF that I am aware of that lets you manage the timing of your charitable contributions and invest it tax-free until you decide to make a grant. (Update: As of 2024, Schwab no longer has an asset minimum. Thus, if you hold less than $6,000 in the Schwab DAF at 0.60% fee, then your annual account fee will be lower than Daffy’s flat $36 a year.)

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Giving Back, Investing
Last updated: January 5, 2024
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Giving Tuesday 2021: Matching Donations and Finding The Right Charity

November 29, 2021 By Jonathan Ping 4 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

givingtuesdayTuesday, November 30th is Giving Tuesday 2021, an international day about giving support through charities and nonprofits by donating money or volunteering your time. In case you aren’t inundated with mailings already, this time of year is a big deal for charities, with 40% of donations occurring in the last six weeks of the year. Here are some ways you can “double your impact” with a matching donation.

Facebook Match (good toward any charity that accepts donations via Facebook). Starting at 8am Eastern on 11/30, Facebook will match $8 million in donations to U.S. nonprofits – up to $100,000 per nonprofit and $20,000 per donor. Donations will be matched for the first $2M, 10% for the next $6M.

For example, give directly with the donate button on the The Humane Society Facebook Page. You can also start your own fundraiser here or simply post up a donate button to support your favorite charity.

Double Up Drive. Check out the high-quality, spotlighted charities at Double Up Drive where your donation up to $10,000 can be matched dollar-for-dollar:

At Double Up Drive, we believe that public giving influences greater generosity and that resulting donations carry more impact. We raise money and awareness for highly effective charities by hosting matching drives that collect up-front pledges from large donors, to provide 1:1 matches for smaller contributors.

Check for an employer match. Try this lookup tool from DoubleTheDonation. Most of these programs don’t require you to actually give on a specific day, but you may want to start the process today so you don’t forget in the holiday rush.

Individual charities. Many charities are organizing their own matching program for #GivingTuesday. Here are some large charities have organized their own matches in the past, but I would check to make sure.

Also check with your favorite local community nonprofit. GivingTuesday.org has some additional ideas.

Having trouble deciding where to give? Here are some charity comparison sites that will help you pick where to send your help.

  • CharityNavigator – Largest and well-publicized charity rating site, provides a 4-star rating based primarily on financial criteria.
  • GiveWell – Tries to identify the best charities, not rate them all. Focused primarily on charities working internationally that “save or improve lives the most per dollar”. Examples are treating malaria and parasitic infections in developing countries.
  • GreatNonProfits – Allows clients, volunteers, and funders to post personal reviews based on their experiences. Lots of reviews of smaller, local charities.
  • GuideStar – Tries to be a one-stop shop for both financial data and in-depth analysis of charities. Must register (free) to see a lot of things, and pay a subscription fee for premium data (aimed at industry insiders).

Looking to volunteer your time? Check out Feeding America and VolunteerMatch to find a volunteer opportunity near you.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Giving Back
Last updated: November 30, 2021
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

What Percentage of Income Do People Really Donate to Charity?

February 22, 2021 By Jonathan Ping Leave a Comment
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Giving to charity has the double taboo of being both about money and your generosity to others. Double the chance for judgment, at least!

“And once again, tithing is 10 percent off the top, that’s gross income, not net. Please people, don’t force us to audit.” -Rev. Lovejoy, The Simpsons

How much do people really give to charity? Since nobody talks about it, I had no idea until I read this NBER paper Generosity Across the Income and Wealth Distributions by Meer and Priday. The authors examined the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the “longest running longitudinal household survey in the world” with data from over 10,000 US households between 2001 and 2017. This Economist article summarized the results into a nice chart (click to enlarge):

The general conclusions:

  • The higher the income, the more likely you are to donate at all.
  • The higher the income, the higher the amount given (total dollars).
  • The higher the income, the amount given as a proportion of income (percentage) tends to stay roughly the same.

People across all income levels gave between 1% and 2% of their incomes to charity on average, after adjusting for effect of outliers. This is not to say that this number is the “right” amount to give for any specific household. The paper argues that previous studies which found lower-income households gave a higher percentage than higher-income households were skewed due to outliers (older households with temporarily low incomes but high net worth), and so they used the statistical method of “windsoring” to adjust for extreme outliers.

Found via Abnormal Returns and Benningfield Advisors.

Filed Under: Giving Back
Last updated: February 22, 2021
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Giving Tuesday 2020: Double Your Impact With Matching Donations

December 1, 2020 By Jonathan Ping Leave a Comment
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

givingtuesdayTuesday, December 1st is Giving Tuesday 2020, an international day about giving support through charities and nonprofits by donating money or volunteering your time. In case you aren’t inundated with mailings already, this time of year is a big deal for charities, with 40% of donations occurring in the last six weeks of the year. Here are some ways you can “double your impact” with a matching donation.

Facebook Match (good toward any charity that accepts donations via Facebook). Starting at 8am Eastern on 12/1, Facebook will match $7 million in donations to U.S. nonprofits – up to $100,000 per nonprofit and $20,000 per donor. Donations will be matched for the first $2M, 10% for the next $5M.

For example, give directly with the donate button on the The Humane Society Facebook Page. You can also start your own fundraiser here or simply post up a donate button to support your favorite charity.

Check for an employer match. Try this lookup tool from DoubleTheDonation. Most of these programs don’t require you to actually give on a specific day, but you may want to start the process today so you don’t forget in the holiday rush.

Individual charities. Many charities are organizing their own matching program for #GivingTuesday. Here are some large charities have organized their own matches in the past, but I would check to make sure.

Also check with your favorite local community nonprofit. GivingTuesday.org has some additional ideas.

Having trouble deciding where to give? Here are some charity comparison sites that will help you pick where to send your help.

  • CharityNavigator – Largest and well-publicized charity rating site, provides a 4-star rating based primarily on financial criteria.
  • GiveWell – Tries to identify the best charities, not rate them all. Focused primarily on charities working internationally
  • GreatNonProfits – Allows clients, volunteers, and funders to post personal reviews based on their experiences.
  • GuideStar – Tries to be a one-stop shop for both financial data and personal reviews of charities. Must register to see a lot of things, and pay a subscription fee for premium in-depth data.

Looking to volunteer your time? Check out FeedingAmerica.org and find a volunteer opportunity at a food bank near you.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Giving Back
Last updated: December 1, 2020
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Upsolve: Nonprofit Helps You File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy For Free

November 24, 2020 By Jonathan Ping Leave a Comment
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Upsolve is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that helps anyone file for bankruptcy on their own behalf. They are not a legal service, but more of a free self-service software tool and step-by-step guide. Essentially “TurboTax for Bankruptcy”, given that both are overly complex (although TurboTax is definitely for-profit while Upsolve never asks for payment). Users can also interact with each other on a Facebook group, although no lawyers are involved. Found via Time’s Best Inventions of 2020.

Upsolve focuses on Chapter 7 bankruptcies, which are generally involve less-complex situations and households with below-median incomes. Chapter 7 can generally discharge unsecured debts, including credit card debt and medical bills. According various sources, the average cost to pay an attorney for file Chapter 7 is about $1,500. Now, that might be worth it if you have a more complex situation (and the ability to pay), but perhaps those with a simple situation might want to take a shot at representing themselves.

In 2019, Upsolve got 80% of their funding from government funding and charitable contributions, and 20% from accepting payments from private independent attorneys that pay to be mentioned for a free consultation if you require professional assistance. You can also support them by making a tax-deductible donation. They are very young so they are not rated by Charity Navigator or Guidestar.

I admittedly know very little about this process, but I figure it’s good to spread the word about free assistance offered to those with limited resources during these difficult times.

Filed Under: Debt, Giving Back
Last updated: November 24, 2020
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Giving Tuesday Now – May 5th, 2020 #GivingTuesdayNow

May 4, 2020 By Jonathan Ping Leave a Comment
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

On the Tuesday after each Thanksgiving and Black Friday, Giving Tuesday is an international day about giving support through charities and nonprofits by donating money and goods or volunteering your time. The same organization has created Giving Tuesday Now on Tuesday, May 5th, 2020 in response to the global threat of COVID-19.

On the last GivingTuesday, December 3, 2019, the global giving day generated $2 billion in giving, just in the United States, and inspired millions of people worldwide to volunteer, perform countless acts of kindness, and donate their voices, time, money, and goods. The additional giving day planned for May 5, 2020 is being deployed in response to needs expressed by communities and leaders around the world.

People can show their generosity in a variety of ways during #GivingTuesdayNow–whether it’s helping a neighbor, advocating for an issue, sharing a skill, or giving to causes, every act of generosity counts.

I looked over the various charity comparison websites to see if they had any COVID-19 updates. GiveWell recommends to keep giving to their same top charities as before. GreatNonProfits has updated their top-rated guide for 2020, but it’s not COVID-specific. CharityNavigator does have a section on “highly-rated nonprofits providing relief and recovery to communities impacted by the pandemic”. You can also donate directly to the COVID-19 Response Fund of Feeding America, or they also have a tool to find a local food bank near you. I ended up donating to this last one.

(We recently set up a Fidelity donor-advised fund for this, but the value dropped so we mostly gave from our usual funds until the balance came back up.)

Hopefully, your favorite nonprofit has a special donation page and maybe even a match going on that you are able to support. Alternatively, they might be organizing special activities where you can donate some of your time. Many people have already spending their time and energy giving back in various ways and it has been great to see.

Filed Under: Giving Back
Last updated: May 5, 2020
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Fidelity Charitable Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Opening Process Review

December 8, 2019 By Jonathan Ping 5 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

It took me an extra year to get around to it, but it only took me about 15 minutes to actually open and fund my new Fidelity Charitable Donor-Advised Fund (DAF). I even donated stocks instead of just cash, but the donating appreciated securities were from an existing Fidelity taxable brokerage account. Here’s a brief review of the process.

Step 1: Create Fidelity account. Provide personal details, including name, address, and Social Security Number. Similar to opening a new bank or brokerage account. They need this information for tax purposes. If, for example, you make 20 donations of $100 all to different charities, you will only have one $2,000 tax receipt at the end of the year. If you already have a Fidelity account log-in, it links easily.

Step 2: Contribution selection. If donating from a Fidelity brokerage account, they have a special tool that searches for tax lots with the largest unrealized gains. This maximizes the tax advantage of your donation. This ability to find specific lots is neat and overrides your usual default setting for tax lots (ex. First-in, First-out). You can also enter you desired donation amount and it will tell you how many shares you should donate to approximate that amount (final number will depend on market price). For now, I chose to donate enough to satisfy the minimum opening amount of $5,000. Here’s a screenshot:

Step 3: Investment selection. Pre-packaged or customized allocation. One of the benefits of a DAF is that you can invest your money in between the time of initial contribution and eventual distribution. I did not spend a lot of time agonizing over this choice, as I don’t plan on keep a large amount of funds in there. We are not talking about an obscene amount of money here, so I feel better about distributing it sooner and helping out now. I am mainly using the DAF for the bonus tax savings and thus making my effective contribution larger.

Still, I was happy to see that I could create a custom allocation using low-cost index fund choices, including a Total US Stock Market Index at 0.015% annual expense ratio and US Bond Index at 0.025% annual expense ratio. Keep in mind there is also a 0.60% annual administrative fee (minimum $100). I mostly hope that the market gains will more than offset the maintenance fees.

Step 4. Confirm and Submit. The overall user experience was smooth and my choices were summarized in a clear and concise manner. The actual sale of my shares will take a few business days. It is made clear that this is an irrevocable charitable contribution. This means I am eligible to take an itemized deduction for this contribution immediately.

You can also choose to donate stocks from an outside brokerage account, but that process will take more time (and possibly more work). I plan on trying this out later, to test out that experience.

Filed Under: Giving Back, Investing, Reviews
Last updated: December 8, 2019
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

The Double Tax Advantage of Donating Appreciated Stocks Directly

December 4, 2019 By Jonathan Ping 7 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

If you own stocks in a taxable brokerage account and make charitable donations, consider donating your stocks this year instead of just writing a check. Why? Given the all-time market highs, your stocks, mutual funds, and/or ETFs probably have unrealized capital gains. When you donate an appreciated security that you’ve held for at least a year, you’ll both avoid paying long-term capital gains tax AND get a tax deduction for the full current market value.

This HCR Wealth Advisors graphic shows the benefit using the example of donating $50,000 of stock to charity with an original cost basis of $30,000. It assumes the highest long-term capital gains tax rate of 23.8% (20% plus the 3.8% Medicare surtax for high-income earners).

Here is a similar graphic from Fidelity using the example of donating $50,000 of stock to charity with an original cost basis of $20,000.

The size of your benefit is your unrealized gain times your tax rate. This basic idea still applies if you’re only donating a smaller amount of stock at the lower long-term capital gains rate of 15%. If you bought a stock for $1,000 and it’s now worth $2,000, donating it directly will save you $150 to $238 in taxes ($1,000 x 15% or 20% or 23.8%). If someone didn’t know and simply changed the order (sell stock, then immediately donate the cash proceeds), that tax savings would disappear.

The problem is that not all individual charities are equipped to accept such stock donations. That’s where donor-advised funds (DAFs) come in handy. Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab all have donor-advised funds that can accept such donations, get you that tax deduction upfront, and allow you to make a cash grant to your individual charities. DAFs do charge for their services – an administration fee of about 0.60% of assets annually on top of investment expense ratios. There is also a minimum initial donation of between $5,000 and $25,000. You can then weigh the options of investing your donations for growth, or distributing it immediately to charities for immediate impact.

I am fortunate to have some appreciated stocks, so this year I plan to open an account with Fidelity Charitable. I chose them because they seem to have been in the game the longest and are also the most flexible with a $5,000 minimum initial donation, no minimum requirement for future donations, and a low $50 minimum grant size. Their administrative fees are also comparable with Schwab and Vanguard. I hope that I can finish the process by year-end.

Filed Under: Giving Back, Investing, Taxes
Last updated: December 15, 2019
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Giving Tuesday 2019: Double Your Impact With Matching Donations

December 2, 2019 By Jonathan Ping Leave a Comment
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

givingtuesdayTuesday, December 3rd is Giving Tuesday 2019, an international day all about giving support through charities and nonprofits by donating money and goods or volunteering your time. In case you aren’t inundated with mailings already, this time of year is a big deal for charities, with 40% of donations occurring in the last six weeks of the year. Here are some ways you can “double your impact” with a matching donation.

Facebook Match (good toward any charity that accepts donations via Facebook). Starting at 8am Eastern on 12/3, Facebook and PayPal will match $7 million in donations to U.S. nonprofits – up to $100,000 per nonprofit and $20,000 per donor. Donations will be matched dollar for dollar on a first-come, first-served basis. All processing fees will be paid so 100% of your donation goes to charity.

For example, give directly with the donate button on the The Humane Society Facebook Page. You can also start your own fundraiser here or simply post up a donate button to support your favorite charity.

Check for an employer match. Try this lookup tool from DoubleTheDonation. Most of these programs don’t require you to actually give on a specific day, but you may want to start the process today so you don’t forget in the holiday rush.

Individual charities. Many charities are organizing their own matching program for #GivingTuesday. Here are some large charities have organized their own matches in the past, but I would check to make sure.

Also check with your favorite local community nonprofit. GivingTuesday.org has a local database.

Having trouble deciding where to give? Here are some charity comparison sites that will help you pick where to send your help.

  • CharityNavigator – Largest and well-publicized charity rating site, provides a 4-star rating based primarily on financial criteria.
  • GiveWell – Tries to identify the best charities, not rate them all. Focused primarily on charities working internationally
  • GreatNonProfits – Allows clients, volunteers, and funders to post personal reviews based on their experiences.
  • GuideStar – Tries to be a one-stop shop for both financial data and personal reviews of charities. Must register to see a lot of things, and pay a subscription fee for premium in-depth data.
  • Philanthropedia – Ranks non-profits based on opinions of experts, and groups them to mutual fund-like portfolios.

Looking to volunteer your time? Check out FeedingAmerica.org and find a volunteer opportunity at a food bank near you.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Giving Back
Last updated: May 30, 2020
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

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Giving Flowchart: How To Donate Wisely

December 5, 2018 By Jonathan Ping 3 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

If you are looking for some direction about donating your time and/or money, here is a nice infographic from the Bloomberg article These 27 Strategies Will Make Philanthropy an Effective Pursuit (click to enlarge):

givechart_full

It’s from last year, but everything still looks applicable. Also available as PDF.

Filed Under: Giving Back
Last updated: December 5, 2018
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Giving Tuesday 2018: Double Your Impact

November 26, 2018 By Jonathan Ping Leave a Comment
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

givingtuesdayTuesday, November 27th is Giving Tuesday 2018. This time of year is huge for charities, with 40% of donations occurring in the last six weeks of the year. Here are some ways you can “double your impact” with a matching donation.

Facebook Match(good toward any charity that accepts donations via Facebook). Starting at 8am Eastern on 11/27, Facebook and PayPal will match $7 million in donations to U.S. nonprofits – up to $250,000 per nonprofit and $20,000 per donor. Donations will be matched dollar for dollar on a first-come, first-served basis.

For example, give directly with the donate button on the The Humane Society Facebook Page. You can also start your own fundraiser here or simply post up a donate button to support your favorite charity.

Check for an employer match. Try this lookup tool from DoubleTheDonation. Most of these programs don’t require you to actually give on a specific day, but you may want to start the process today so you don’t forget in the holiday rush.

PayPal (good toward any charity participates in the PayPal Giving Fund). “Make a donation using PayPal on Tuesday, November 27, 2018 (Giving Tuesday) and we’ll match every donation that you make to PayPal Giving Fund (“Offer”), for the benefit of your recommended nonprofit dollar for dollar, up to $500,000 in total matching funds.” You must use your PayPal account. As far as I can tell, you can link up any rewards credit card of your choice and use that as the funding source. Your donation will technically be given to the PayPal Giving Fund, an IRS-registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and then disbursed to your selected nonprofit. It will still be tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Individual charities. The following large charities have organized their own matches in the past, but check to make sure.

Check with your favorite community nonprofit. Many local charities may also have matching grants today.

Having trouble deciding where to give? Here are some charity comparison sites that will help you pick where to send your help.

  • CharityNavigator – Largest and well-publicized charity rating site, provides a 4-star rating based primarily on financial criteria.
  • GiveWell – Tries to identify the best charities, not rate them all. Focused primarily on charities working internationally
  • GreatNonProfits – Allows clients, volunteers, and funders to post personal reviews based on their experiences.
  • GuideStar – Tries to be a one-stop shop for both financial data and personal reviews of charities. Must register to see a lot of things, and pay a subscription fee for premium in-depth data.
  • Philanthropedia – Ranks non-profits based on opinions of experts, and groups them to mutual fund-like portfolios.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Giving Back
Last updated: November 26, 2018
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

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