Are you a giver?

I think that's the important point for many Josephine, knowing what your money will be used for and not wasted on. I'm fearful of giving to these modern mega charities as i've no idea how the money will be spent or maybe, mis spent !

I used to give to the HDA which is the Huntingdons Disease Assoc. a very noble cause as i've witnessed the horrible way this hereditary disease hits a whole family. The charity became for me, just too big and unmanageable where most of the budget seemed to be spent on publicity and not for the original reason of 'research' into this terrible disease..

Yes to The Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust and to Twilight as they are small charities and I know every penny I donate goes to the cause and not in admin charges

I was shocked to find my nephew working for a charity in the UK at first doing door to door prospecting then managing a team of prospectors. As far as I am aware the prospectors lived in digs provided by the charity or an agency related to the charity. I felt that in fact the charity industry is huge and door to door canvassing preys on vulnerable people.

As an aside at one stage I received a telephone call here in France purportedly from the blood donors association. I replied that no I preferred to donate in kind (now denied to me because I have lived in the UK). Anyway a little research showed this cold calling effort to be a scam.

Being Amazon customers we have ended up on the mailing list of the APF association des paralyses de France and I reckon we will donate to them being lower profile etc etc.

Or what we believe in.

I do what I do because I believe in it. There has never been 'money' to be made and very little glory of any kind, so that has to be enough. Well, it is certainly too late now anyway.

Giving ones time can be just as important as giving money etc.

My late missus used to volunteer at the local Resto de Coeur which went down well with the locals and she also sponsored dogs with the Dogs Trust in the UK. I stopped donating after her death as I felt not enough money was actually being spent on the dogs !

There are so many good causes but where do we start and where do we stop ? Does it depend on our altruistic tendencies, our budgetary committments or our principles ?

On the whole I have worked for charities and international fundraising bodies. I have never charged top rate fees, indeed now any contract work I have with very long experience tends to be considerably lower paid than around 15 years ago. Charities are on the whole worse off than ever before, so fees for people like my OH and I have been almost halved. I do donate, one-offs to some charities, but I tend to know how much the CEO and other top line management earn in some fields and cannot support them on principle. I know people argue that the quality of leadership counts, but given the drop in income in real terms many charities have experienced, the salaries increasing for executives disturbs me a lot. Unless I am very convinced, then looking closely often puts me off. However, a lot of what I have done has been done free of charge, so I guess that is paying in kind rather than donating.

I used to subscribe annually to WWF (world wildlife, not the wrestling federation!) but that stopped when I left the UK. We do have an annual vide grenier held by the Blind Dogs Association in our town so we always go to that to lend support. Likewise with the Elephant Sanctuary if they're holding an event locally.

While it is my job as well I have now given over my entire life to helping the disabled.

Gawd knows why, I must be bonkers.

www.ineedaholidaytoo.com

Yes. Cancer Research UK, Médecins sans Frontières and GreenPeace.