
Ask HN: Where did you donate money in 2018? - rwieruch
The year is reaching its end and many people feel its the best time to donate money. If you donated money, which organization received it in 2018?
======
seibelj
Liberty in North Korea
[https://www.libertyinnorthkorea.org/](https://www.libertyinnorthkorea.org/)

They have an Underground Railroad of safe houses to smuggle people out of NK.
Then they resettle and provide support. Finally they film documentaries of
their life in SK, put them on USB sticks, and smuggle that back into NK to
spread discontent and undermine the system.

~~~
thatoneuser
Wow that’s awesome. It says “100% of your donation will help a North Korean
refugee reach freedom.” To me there’s some wiggle room for “our 200k salary is
a necessary part of freedom.” Not trying to be bleak or accusations, but any
idea how much of this is skimmed off the top? At any rate, $3,000 to get a
person out of the country and going in South Korea doesn’t seem like a bad
cost, just curious how it all funnels through.

~~~
Kevin_S
Typically non profits will advertise this type of thing, essentially a program
ratio of 100%. This is positively correlated with total donations.

Usually the way to work around this is to have a large benefactor that agrees
to use their funds for overhead/admin/advertising, and then they can say 100%
of your donations goes to programs.

A sort of necessary pain for non profits because a "bad" program ratio costs
them donations.

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bliblah
If you wish to donate but have doubts about the effectiveness or transparency
of many "charitable" organizations I recommend the following website to help
guide your ultimate choice:
[https://www.givewell.org/](https://www.givewell.org/)

~~~
tomjen3
That measures only direct results, though. An organization that teaches others
to read and write may have a much bigger impact, if they teaches one person
who then goes on to do something massive.

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mystickphoenix
Colorado 4x4 Rescue and Recovery, 501c3 non-profit organization
([https://co4x4rnr.clubexpress.com/content.aspx](https://co4x4rnr.clubexpress.com/content.aspx))

Full disclosure, I'm a dues-paying member and active volunteer.

They basically provide Search and Rescue (SAR) "lite" and vehicle recovery on
Colorado Forest Service roads and Jeep trails free of charge. They try very
hard to not compete with either traditional SAR teams or commercial towing
services and instead fill a gap between the two.

Having personally been on 60+ missions over the past two years, they're doing
incredibly good work helping people out on their worst day, reducing the
burden on traditional SAR teams, and in more than a few cases saving lives. At
least 50% of the missions I've been on have been people that simply got in
over their head and didn't know what to do. Being able to get them and their
vehicle home is a fantastic feeling.

edit: A lot of SAR teams are self-funded or funded via grant money that can
disappear, so if you can donate to a local team please do. They desperately
need the funding to continue doing the work of saving lives

------
andy_wrote
I haven't made the donation yet for 2018, but I make donations every year
right at year's end to at least these two charities:

\- Doctors Without Borders

\- Direct Relief

Global health problems is where I'm most interested in donating money. I split
my money between those two primarily to have a little diversification from
idiosyncratic risks to a single operation.

These occupy the vast majority of my charitable giving. I give or have given
in the past much smaller amounts to a smattering of other charities:
Wikimedia, Give Directly, ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Lambda Legal, Girls Who
Code.

Also: I'm an avid crossword solver, and over the last year or two some puzzle
constructors, as a way of doing good, have started offering packets of
crosswords in exchange for donations to a cause. The original, I believe, was
Francis Heaney's Puzzles for Progress
[http://puzzlesforprogress.francisheaney.com/](http://puzzlesforprogress.francisheaney.com/)
for broadly progressive causes, but I have also seen Queer Qrosswords
[https://queerqrosswords.com/](https://queerqrosswords.com/) for LGBTQ
charities and Women of Letters [https://www.pattivarol.com/women-of-
letters/](https://www.pattivarol.com/women-of-letters/) for feminist
charities. If it tips you over the edge to donate, do it and go get some
puzzles!

------
curiousgal
Years ago, I was a poor college student in a Third World country. A Redditor
sent me a copy of Godel Escher Bach and it literally changed my life. Don't
overlook giving directly.

~~~
skullum
how were you two connected? I'd love to participate in something like that.

~~~
curiousgal
I posted in r/GEB asking about the book and he just offered to send me a copy.
It was surreal and beyond inspiring.

------
dkoston
\- Doctors with Borders
([https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summar...](https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3628))

\- Wikimedia Foundation
([https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summar...](https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=11212))

\- Houston Food Bank
([https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summar...](https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=5673))

\- American Civil Liberties Union Foundation
([https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summar...](https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3247))

\- Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance
([https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summar...](https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=8037))

\- A small dog rescue in Houston

\- A small charity for women who are victims of sex trafficking in Austin

I also supported a number of projects (like Homebrew) via Patreon and Humble
Bundle though those were not charitable contributions.

~~~
JenBarb
I believe you meant Doctors Without Borders in point 1.

~~~
dkoston
True. "Doctors with Borders" would not be as helpful for sure

------
jolmg
I made my first donation to Wikipedia this year. Now that you got me thinking
about it, I should donate to Internet Archive (archive.org), too. I just went
to archive.org right now and they apparently have a fundraiser going. Somehow,
donations are being matched 2-to-1 so a $5 donation results in them receiving
$15. It doesn't say who's providing the other $10, but it seems like a good
time to help the Internet Archive.

------
tracker1
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) -
[https://www.eff.org/](https://www.eff.org/)

------
dbla
FairVote [https://www.fairvote.org/](https://www.fairvote.org/)

------
Arqu
I rarely just straight out drop money for some large group or cause but rather
prefer to do something closer to me. Usually if there is an opportunity to
directly support the cause I do it. It manifests mainly in 2 ways. 1) I
participate in the event and pay a fee 2) I know the local population and
people in need and donate both cash and in items/food directly

Neither is for any gain but seeing it first hand is such a great experience
that you're inclined to do more. I usually advise people to take care of
issues locally first. I also support the cause of supporting remote regions
and less covered issues when I travel to such places. Don't want to just give
money and "be done" with it - there's more to the cause and a nice
conversation can also go a long way.

------
codyb
Cheetah Conservation Fund, Oxfam, International Anti-Poaching Foundation,
Human Rights Campaign, Thirteen, SUNY University at Buffalo.

Respectively [https://cheetah.org](https://cheetah.org)
[https://oxfam.org](https://oxfam.org) [https://iapf.org](https://iapf.org)
[https://hrc.org](https://hrc.org)
[https://thirteen.org](https://thirteen.org)
[https://www.buffalo.edu](https://www.buffalo.edu)

------
dr_teh
I gave around $10 to the FSF (in person), and donate all my old clothes to
local homeless shelters. I prefer charity to be done directly. Otherwise, I
can't really see what is going on with the money.

------
miranda_rights
I donated $20 to the Internet Archvie and $20 to the animal rescue that took
in animals after the Chico Fire. I'm also a member of the EFF. In hindsight,
this isn't a ton of money :/

------
favorited
In terms of charities:

The Jimmy Fund ([http://www.jimmyfund.org](http://www.jimmyfund.org))

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
([https://www.stjude.org](https://www.stjude.org))

Feeding America
([https://www.feedingamerica.org](https://www.feedingamerica.org))

I gave to some political causes as well, but the value of those are far more
subjective.

------
jf22
\- Wikipedia \- Khan Academy \- Black Girls Code \- Ng Girls \- Dot Net Rocks
(.net podcast) (not exactly a donation but I get nothing in return)

------
wgj
If you're in Washington State, consider:

[https://foodlifeline.org/](https://foodlifeline.org/)

[https://www.northwestharvest.org/](https://www.northwestharvest.org/)

They both have a very high rating:
[https://www.charitynavigator.org](https://www.charitynavigator.org)

------
mkaziz
Islamic Relief is my go-to. They are focusing on the tragedy in Myanmar that
folks don't get a lot of visibility on.

------
jdhn
The ALS Association.

I donated because ALS is a horrible disease that has so few treatment options
despite the fact that a lot of research has been done. Having your muscles
waste away to nothingness is a fate that nobody should be doomed to.

------
sgjohnson
[https://mises.org](https://mises.org)

------
mtmail
[https://www.hotosm.org/](https://www.hotosm.org/) "humanitarian action and
community development through open mapping"

------
openplatypus
\- FSFE [https://fsfe.org](https://fsfe.org)

\- NOYB [https://noyb.eu](https://noyb.eu)

\- Unicef

------
rwieruch
I make the start: Big Brother Mouse [0] in Vietnam

\- [0] [http://www.bigbrothermouse.com](http://www.bigbrothermouse.com)

------
chillacy
I set up a reoccurring donation of 10$ a paycheck to the EFF, it’s not much
but it adds up, especially with company donation matching.

------
feistypharit
Feeding America EFF Plus several local nonprofits: Grand rapids red project
Grand rapids pride center (Others I forget)

------
sqs
Hack Club - high school coding clubs
[https://hackclub.com](https://hackclub.com)

------
animesh
I have setup a monthly donation to Mozilla foundation / firefox and I highly
urge and encourage you to do so.

------
e9
[https://teamrubiconusa.org/](https://teamrubiconusa.org/)

------
drakonka
I donated to The Good Food Institute, The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, and
the Nonhuman Rights Project.

------
brett-jackson
I donated to my hometown's charity to buy Christmas gifts for children in my
town who live in poverty.

------
msencenb
Dynamicland

[https://dynamicland.org/](https://dynamicland.org/)

------
olodus
Health in Harmony - saving rain forest with local community-lead projects.

------
skullum
\- wikipedia \- eff \- signal

------
pisteoff
My local trail building and mountain bike advocacy group.

------
reaperducer
Catholic Charities

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Salvation Army

A local pet food bank

------
myroon5
givewell.org

------
atilimcetin
Wikipedia and Internet Archive

------
verdverm
Kuvo.org (jazz public radio)

------
shoo
climate activism -- 350.org

------
factorialboy
Isha Foundation

------
magwa101
EJI

