Reply #48: Suit yourself - [View All]

[Ms. Toad]

But while I'm waiting around for the revolution to solve the underlying crisis, I would rather make sure that good food is not going to waste when there are hungry bellies to be filled. I am well aware that donating to hunger charities does not solve the underlying problem, but may at least keep people alive until there is better national safety net.

As far as bang for whatever money you can afford to donate, $.98 of every $1.00 received by Second Harvest/Feeding America goes to providing food to hungry people. (The other $.02 are split evenly between fundraising and administrative expenses.)

I am not fond of the sponsor a family donation gimmick - any more than I like any other fund raising tactic which bribes donors to give (prizes for donating to public radio, access to the executive director and special mailings for large donations, letters from "your" child, etc.) I have argued vehemently against tiered rewards/public recognition in exchange for financial contributions in the organizations where I have any control. If it didn't work, however, those kinds of gimmicks would disappear pretty quickly - and unfortunately they seem to be increasing rather than decreasing so there must be more and more people who will not donate without some tangible payback.