I'll admit it, I'm picky. Especially when it comes to donating money to various causes. I have some preset rules that have served me insanely well for many years.
1) If I know you, and you're collecting money for something you are doing, say, a MS-150 ride, or a charity marathon run, I'm donating to you. All you need to do is make me aware of it. You're working your butt off, trust me, I know, as I've done a couple of MS-150 rides. Donating levels apply here 100% (see donating levels rule below).
2) If I don't know you, or you're just collecting money for whatever, and I don't know how it is really going to be used, you're probably not going to get a lot from me, if anything.
3) I donate to my church, I know where it is going, and it does some good. How much I donate is my business, not yours. My church does not tell me how much I should donate, and if it did, I would stop donating immediately.
4) I used to donate to the United Way above a "leadership" level, when it was matched by my company. I may do this again in the future, but they give way too much to the Boy/Girl Scouts, which I have personal issues with nowadays.
5) I do not donate to people that come to my house. Or at least, rarely. I will support high-school band members that come to sell something to support band trip or instrument buying. I get the fact that their budgets are near zero and they are paying their own way. I will not support 'for the school' fundraisers - especially with elementary school kids. This is more to make money for the company selling the junk than for the school. It scares the hell out of me that parents send their first graders door-to-door unsupervised to do this.
6) I have not, and will not send my kid door-to-door to sell stuff. Ever. I think it is a poor use of their time and talents. I instruct the teachers on Day 1 of school that they are not to include my children in such sales, or even worse, school assemblies done for the purpose of telling the kids to sell things. If they want $20, I'll give them $20, no questions asked. It'll be more money than they will get from the fund raising company. I will also not hawk school's crap to you that my kid is (not) selling, and I'd appreciate if you did the same. I think it is in bad taste to do so. Schools should be focusing on education, not 'general' money raising.
My donation levels:
If I know you, and I'm donating to something you are actively involved in, expect at least a $100 donation from me. If I'm going to donate, I'm not going to donate 'small' to you. Yes, this does surprise some people when they want $5 or $10 from me, and I donate $100 or more, but I figure you're doing the work, the least I can do is support you.
