What are the economics of charity?

Submitted by twovests in just_post

Here's the situation:

I'm going to have a good job after I graduate, where I will be in a good place to give to charity. For the simplification of this problem, we can just assumed 'charity' as a monolithic Money-to-Good converter.

If I want to maximize what I can give to charity, it would make the most sense to just invest the charity money for my whole life and (in my will) have arrangements for someone else to take over the account when I die.

Eventually, when the money is donated, more value (due to investments) will be given in a charitable manner than if I donated the money instead of investing it.

But that's assuming my own investment options are better than the charities themselves. I know large nonprofits can and do invest their donations when legally able to do so.

I don't know much about economics and so navigating this area is tricky. I feel it's ethically necessary to donate portions of your excess goods to charity. Has anybody navigated this area before? What's the best way to organize how and what you give to charity?

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musou wrote

i budget a flat percentage of my net income towards charity. from this bucket of money i allot donations to specific causes and projects as i feel the need to, and whatever is left over i split evenly among a few orgs i generally feel are the closest to my own beliefs. when i die, any assets i have accumulated should be sold to cover any outstanding debts and any money left over should go to those same organizations in the same way. i say "should" because that's what i've set up in my will (but obviously i won't be around to see it).

i have no idea if this is the best way or not.

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twovests OP wrote

(reading these replies in reverse order oops)

That sounds like a good idea. The flat-% of the paycheck requires one to budget around it, which sounds like a healthy way to live financially (if you have excess funds I mean.)

Regarding distributing to different charities, I don't have the economic knowledge necessary to consider that :p I feel like I should learn this stuff on YouTube or something

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musou wrote

youtube is probably not the best place for quality info on a topic as politically fraught as economics IMO

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twovests OP wrote

after 30 minutes on youtube i have decided instead to buy every bitcoin

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neku wrote

If I want to maximize what I can give to charity, it would make the most sense to just invest the charity money for my whole life and (in my will) have arrangements for someone else to take over the account when I die.

this makes sense in terms of numbers but i feel like not donating to charity all your life in order to make one big donation when youre dead means that the people youll donate to will be worse off now and theoretically better off later. if were assuming that charity is a money-to-good converter then like things will be Worse Later if you dont donate money now :???

as someone who has no jobs no hope no cash i would probably say either pledging the standard amount that a charity asks of you monthly - ie msf asks you to become a member for like $20nzd a month or something here - and donate individual lump sums to gofundmes or what have you as the need arises if you want that. the second option if you're Hard Core is to like, set aside a percentage of your paycheck and donate that money???

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Moonside wrote

Philosopher Peter Singer has writte. about 'effective altruism' and questions like these in his books

  1. The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty.
  2. The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism Is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically.

I'd say that there are things lacking funding that will bring a higher "ROI" on human welfare than investing in a balanced bundle of stocks and bonds and then giving to charity would.

To be clear, I'm no fan of utilitarianism but some similar principles are less objectionable when applied to charity imo.

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twovests OP wrote

I haven't thought about it like this, but now that you phrase it that way it seems obvious. The accumulating value of savings and financial investments would grow slower than the accumulating value of donating money as it's acquired if I donate to the right places.

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metagameface wrote

You should definitely check out the effective altruism movement, figuring out how to maximize the amount of good that can be done through charity is exactly what it's about.

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hollyhoppet wrote (edited )

Don't forget that you need to be able to take care of yourself but in software that's not too tough as long as your needs are modest. Most of us who have seen or experienced intersectional problems don't have much trouble with that though. As an example, because I've had so many medical issues I've kept a nest egg to take care of myself for a year unemployed, or to spend on surprise medicals bills. If you haven't make sure you make similar considerations based on your own needs.

What I do is donate x dollars per month to some specific charities (namely doctors without borders, direct relief, and transgender law center), and reserve x dollars a month to just give to whatever donation posts I see whole scrolling my tumblr dash.

As others said helping now can get more "moral value" for lack of a better word, than just saving up for a big charity donation, though you could plan for that at the same time. To be honest a lot of organizations prefer consistent monthly donations as it's easier to budget with those than it is to handle a huge some all at once, unless there is an emergency occuring. Same goes for businesses to be honest though who cares about those lol.

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twovests OP wrote

Ooh this is good advice; having a buffer of Money So I Don't Die is my plan. Thank you for this advice!!

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cat wrote

HEY! what charity! the economics of private charities are really bad because they form extractive relationships and faciliate exploitation through their own nature.

give your money to mutual aid networks instead. if you dont want to do that i guess give your money to unicef? pretty shitty power structures that it reinforces (i.e. the government and capitalism that creates the issues it tries to help) but they do the most for saving children from conflict i guess

the whole ethics of charity is bullshit under crapitalism because the nature of the profit motive and distribution of income that prorities demand over need eludes charity. charities only exist under capitalism because they have ended up as a niche buisness for the middle class so they can think that they are helping.

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twovests OP wrote

I don't have any charities in mind rn but I'd make sure to donate to an accredited charity.

Ty for warning me about the economics of private charities and recommending mutual aid & unicef; I had heard of unicef but not of mutual aid.

I'm interested in knowing more re: charity under capitalism, and about resources on that topic.

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cat wrote (edited )

you should check out the raddle mutual aid forum, i havent read this zine but i found it when searching on the anarchistlibrary (actually maybe dont read it though it might not be useful). i would also like to stress that unicef also isnt that good at all, peruse this thread to see some some illfounded criticisms i made on a different account

roses are red, trees are made of wood, have a nice day, capitalism is not good

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