When to donate? AKA, a really stupid prudie letter.

mrsconn23

Dear Prudence,
My partner and I have a disagreement about charitable giving. My partner says that it’s better to let money gain interest in your account and donate it all at the end of your life, whereas I say that in donating to the right causes yearly, your money “grows interest” in terms of how the recipients of your donations make use of it. It does not seem, however, that it’s easy to be confident in which approach yields a greater bounty. What say you?

—When to Give

charlotte989875

The non-profit helping human trafficking victims today is going to be really thankful that you're going to help them 30 years from now. 

kimmiinthemitten

I guess charitable giving is a to each it's own kind of deal, but small donations add up for the charities.  And if you itemize your deductions, they add up for the giver too!

sparklepants41

charlotte989875 said:

The non-profit helping human trafficking victims today is going to be really thankful that you're going to help them 30 years from now. 

Exactly. Why try to save rhinos from extinction now, when you can donate in 30 years? They might not be here, but you'll have all that interest that can be used to educate future generations about what rhinos were. 

ei34

Another vote for giving now.  

OliveOilsMom

Money can always be used by any organization.  Give now!  And as Kimmi said, if you itemize that is sorta money back in your pocket anyway.  It's also probably a much better interest rate than what is offered now!  (Says the person who gets a penny per month in interest for our savings account!)

bleve0821

Methinks this is not a discussion about charitable giving so much as retirement planning... I doubt LW's partner has it in mind to open a separate investment account dedicated solely to charitable giving that will all be donated on X date forty years from now.

Reads to me more like, "Why give away that money now that we could be investing in our [retirement plan]?  We can always specify in our will that whatever's left over after we enjoy it in retirement go towards Manatee Preservation of America.  The manatees can use what we don't need anymore after we're dead, but we're not dead, and WE need that money NOW."

thefanciestbeckler

charlotte989875 said:

The non-profit helping human trafficking victims today is going to be really thankful that you're going to help them 30 years from now. 

Queue "Girl on Fire" by Alicia Keys

banana468

Is her husband's first name Ebeneezer?  

FFS, figure out a budget that makes you happy to donate now and then donate more later once it's accumulated all that miracle interest. 

short+sassy

AtomicBlonde said:

Methinks this is not a discussion about charitable giving so much as retirement planning... I doubt LW's partner has it in mind to open a separate investment account dedicated solely to charitable giving that will all be donated on X date forty years from now.

Reads to me more like, "Why give away that money now that we could be investing in our [retirement plan]?  We can always specify in our will that whatever's left over after we enjoy it in retirement go towards Manatee Preservation of America.  The manatees can use what we don't need anymore after we're dead, but we're not dead, and WE need that money NOW."

I can totally understand this.  At the same time, it doesn't have to be "all or nothing".  No charity is going to say, "No, no.  Don't give us money now.  Invest wisely and give us even more when you die 30+ years from now."  Not to mention, I'm sure many charitable organizations use investing to make the most of their donations also.

And people make good points that there are a lot of charities that may not exist at a later date.  Nobody is trying to save the dodo bird.  Nobody is trying to find the cure for small pox (I'm guessing).  Plus it helps a person's taxes now, so that's another benefit for the giver.

At any rate, I can see wanting to focus on building a nest egg and fat retirement, with plans for X amount of the estate to go to a person's favorite charities.  But they can also be giving smaller donations, if they so choose, each year.

Not to mention, I can't eat Girl Scout cookies when I'm dead .

SP29

I'm for "give now" (or at least regularly). Organizations need money throughout the year.

Jen4948

Give now. If nonprofits waited for donors to die to do fundraising, they'd die themselves when they run out of cash.

*Barbie*

This brings up a good excuse for not donating during that period in the fall where everyone seemingly has their hand out - "I'll be happy to donate, in my will."

MesmrEwe

There are many ways to donate to organizations you support, not all are financial!  Talent and Time are some of the greatest ways to support organizations and can go farther (i.e. Salvation Army Bell Ringers - if they have plenty of volunteers they don't have to pay staff to do this)..  It's also not an all or nothing financially, can set aside money for special needs (i.e. the person that you discover can't afford a winter coat, or doesn't qualify for assistance to help put food on the table, or the kid can't afford new shoes that fit their feet, etc.  Those needs are just as important to have money to fund along the way.  It's about balance, she should be able to control her spending, yet not give away the farm at a level that makes him uncomfortable.

Heffalump

short+sassy

Heffalump said:

It's funny you should quote Ben Franklin on this subject.

I've heard this story a few times, though admittedly never verified it.  But he left $1,000 each for the cities of Boston and Philadelphia in his will.  With the stipulation that they had to leave the money in an interest bearing account and couldn't touch it for 100 years.

Great quote and certainly applies to a lot of things in life! 

VarunaTT

short+sassy said:

Heffalump said:

It's funny you should quote Ben Franklin on this subject.

I've heard this story a few times, though admittedly never verified it.  But he left $1,000 each for the cities of Boston and Philadelphia in his will.  With the stipulation that they had to leave the money in an interest bearing account and couldn't touch it for 100 years.

Great quote and certainly applies to a lot of things in life! 

I love that the internet exists to instantly assuage my curiosity:

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/21/us/from-ben-franklin-a-gift-that-s-worth-two-fights.html

SP29

Heffalump said:

Nah, I'm definitely putting off grocery shopping until tomorrow .

*Barbie*

SP29 said:

Heffalump said:

Nah, I'm definitely putting off grocery shopping until tomorrow .

you're just building compound interest.