In the Arms of the AngelFollow

While I can follow your logic, I think that in practice these "save a kid" ongoing donations usually ensure that that child receives at least a decent primary school education. And it is demonstrably true that females who can read and write have FAR FEWER less children than illiterate females. In fact, get a nations children to a certain literacy level, and the birthrate drops to at or below replacement level without ANY government intervention in reproduction.

So I think that "save a kid" would probably have a good chance of leading in the long run to fewer offspring in that child's community overall.

I favour Community Aid Abroad because they guarantee that no more than 30% of their donations go into administration, and they specialise in long term on the ground comunity projects, that are far less likely to be stolen by armed tyrants. Things like wells, small damns, schools, farming tuition, that sort of thing. They do do more stealable items like goats and mosquito nets, but meh.

For years I gave up a small portion of my paycheck to The United Way. It was an easy unconscious way to do my part.

When I took my current position about ten years ago, one of my employees was the United Way Coordinator for my org. I saw all the fluff and junk and red tape that went into coercing people to donate and decided to do my bit of philanthropy elsewhere.

For the most part I try and give locally. The largest share of my cash donations probably end up going to a neighborhood soup kitchen/homeless shelter that my office regularly does collections for.

Yeah, United Way ranks up there with the Susan G. Komen stuff that I won't give a dime to.

My wife used to do work with them, raising funds as a volunteer and gave up on it because so much crap was tied up in administrative wages and such.

Yeah, if you take a look at their financial statement it's hard to figure out how they have any money at all to actually support a cause.

Still not nearly as bad as the ASPCA commercials.

I never donate to try to net an increase. But I meant I donate for the tax deduction, not a tax break. Semantics got the better of me this time.

The food banks around here cannot take unwrapped foods, but can take wrapped and sealed foods, even breads and veggies. So while a bag of potatos sealed at the factory can be donated, a loose potato from a garden cannot.

Doesn't matter, the local soup kitchen here gladly takes everything. Hell, there was a local executive chef who donated three months of his life there to train the regular staff cooks on making healthy, delicious food with the ingredients.

Followed by the commercial: Nope, we didn't get enough money to not play the commercial again. If more people donate $5 and we hit our target, we'll stop.

Yeah, the RC is pretty much the only one I bother with as well. I broke down last year as our company did a drive for donations after the Japan fiasco, being as we have a branch office over there. I assumed they picked a good one, AmeriCares. So I donated 50 bucks, and now get loads of junk mail and email from them for everything under the sun. I don't know about how well they handle their donations, but after all the junk mail I've gotten from them I'm inclined to never donate through them again.

Now as for Sarah vs. Alyssa, I'd be inclined to do whatever Alyssa said as I had a crush on her since the Who's the Boss days. (Not really creepy, we're the same age)

In a Jell-O wrestling match? I'd donate to whatever the fuck they tell me to!

We could just spay and neuter them. That's what Sarah MacLachlan does.