Charities and donations.

[haggis]

After the election in 2015, I knew that life was going to get much harder for vulnerable people in the UK. I do not have much time or energy for campaigning or protesting so I have been gradually increasing the amount of money I give to charities to fight on my behalf or to support vulnerable people.

I am pretty well paid and we have a reasonably high disposable income. It is not my intent to boast about this or to shame people who are struggling financially but just to encourage people who can spare a little to consider setting up regular donations.

I used the same method that is recommended to start saving money - I set up a standing order to transfer a certain amount of money to a dedicated savings account. Once that money is transferred, I don't think of it as 'my' money any more. I transfer slightly more than I need for the regular donations so I can make one-off donations if I want to as well.

I donate money from my main account or via a credit card and at the end of the month, I transfer back the actual amount I've donated.

Over time, I have expanded the list of charities I support. I am aiming for a spread of charities that reflect my concerns and I have a preference for small charities with a specific focus where a small regular income has a big effect.

Bi Community News /Biphoria (http://bicommunitynews.co.uk/, http://www.biphoria.org.uk/)
Bisexual Index (http://www.bisexualindex.org.uk/)
Bis of Colour History Project (https://www.gofundme.com/bochistory?ssid=941574628&pos=1)
National Ugly Mugs who provide safety advice and advocacy for sex workers (https://uknswp.org/um/)
Abortion Support Network who provide advice, information and financial support for people from Ireland, N Ireland, Isle of Man etc who need to come to the UK to access abortion services (https://www.asn.org.uk/)
Galop who provide many services including domestic violence support services for LGBT people (http://www.galop.org.uk/)
Refuge who provide domestic violence support services for women and children (http://www.refuge.org.uk/)
Coram Voice who provide support and advocacy for young people in care and care leavers (http://www.coramvoice.org.uk/)
Mermaids who provide support and advocacy for trans kids (http://www.mermaidsuk.org.uk/)
Trussell Trust who run food banks (https://www.trusselltrust.org/)
DPAC who organise and protest against the funding and welfare cuts which are disproportionately affecting disabled people. (http://dpac.uk.net/)

I also have a Patreon account which is mostly LGBT people, People of Colour and activists.

A few years ago, I donated money to Kiva for a year, who lend the money via microfinance to people around the world who have difficulty getting loans from banks because of poverty/access problems etc. I am a little more dubious about the benefits of microfinance these days but I continue to relend the money as the borrowers repay it.

Comments

[sfred]

Thanks for writing about this.

[nanila]

Thank you for this very useful list. I will be using it to arrange some new donations once I'm not paying full nursery fees for two children...!

[otter]

Since there aren't many recent posts, I'm reading back a bit. I like the way you're doing this. I used to have more disposable income, and shared in similar fashion. Now that my finances are tighter, I've chosen two larger groups (public television and the Southern Poverty Law Center) and two individuals (one a close friend who finally got a liver transplant last year and the other, a young local activist who is living at the intersection of black/indigenous/trans/health challenged/low income. The first three, I donate to monthly, as automatic payments. The last one, I donate whenever they make a request on the local queer exchange, and I made them a new weighted blanket last year to help them with their anxiety. They came over to help with measuring and pouring the pellets as I sewed the channels closed. Several years ago, I was able to support Project 562, and traveled to see her open her photo exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum. I still follow her work of documenting all the native tribes in the US.

When those of us who have extra share, then all of us can have enough.