Yes, I mostly agree with what is written above. My financial support this year has gone to civil liberties (BC Civil Liberties Association — mainly to support their Supreme Court of Canada case on physician assisted dying, and Amnesty International for their work with refugees). I also supported the BC Humanists for the same cause.

There are several good causes that I would like to support more but I am deterred because the donations go to the United States. That means no Canadian tax receipt, which greatly reduces the “measurable return on my dollar”. Political donations get much better tax treatment in Canada than charitable donations — and a really good funding scheme that used to work federally, tax dollars for political parties based on the number of votes they got, was cancelled by the Conservatives because, of course, they don’t need it. So all three levels of Green Party (federal, provincial and municipal) now get my money. Municipal party donations don’t get a tax receipt either!

I have also chipped in to some Go Fund Me appeals — which I think is a bit like the impulse purchase at the check out. By the way, I no longer donate cash there (see the tax receipt point above) nor do I donate food to the food bank there. I do send the food bank money, though, as they need that much more than cans of beans. Food banks actually cost quite a bit to run but people seem more willing to give them food: though kudos does go to the CBC for their local food bank fund raising. At least they don’t have to appeal for funds like US public broadcasters — again, I would support them if I got a tax receipt.

“I give blood.”

Well I would like to, and used to once upon a time, but they told me to stop as I have a heart condition. But my organs are up for grabs if they want them after I have finished with them. Not enough people sign up for this, and everybody should.

“And I donate our family’s used clothing, books, and furniture to organizations that refurbish it or sell it as part of their missions.”

Yes we do that too but I have been a bit dismayed by some of the organisations that are getting very picky over what they will take. So the Salvation Army still gets the most (though I would probably argue with them not so much *what* they do as *how* they do it), since they seem to take almost anything. I am a bit dubious about the commercial aspects of some of those big donation bins around here. And the mess around them. I would like to see more little free libraries around town but we do have one in our communal laundry room, which gets a lot from us. We bought books at the local municipal library sale, to read on a long cruise, then we donated them as we finished reading to reduce the risk of overweight baggage on the return flight.

At one time I volunteered with a youth band and we got some funds from the lottery corporation for instruments. I don’t know if that still works that way, but for a while it made me feel that I was not actually throwing money away when I bought tickets. Thinking of them as a voluntary additional tax payment has changed my habits there.

But the biggest peeve I have is that the amount of solicitation goes up exponentially with every donation! And there seems to be no way to stop the emails, letters and phone calls. And we still get plenty of those last two for people who used to live here but are now getting their rewards for all their charitable donations!