<p>As part of the annual tax prep, my DH gets to see a list of our charitable giving which he thinks is excessive. He normally is not involved since I handle our finances. While the amount may seem high to him, I find it barely adequate. I won’t go into details but the % of our gross income works out to be less than 2%. I think we are lower than average family. He thinks I am throwing our money away. The charities are all reputable - primarily our church and the usual donations for runs, walks, holidays, funerals etc. Am I wrong?</p>
<p>We donate about 3% of our AGI to charities. We feel we have much…and know that our donations help to fund things that are important to us (e.g. The arts) and also go towards helping folks who are less fortunate than we are.</p>
<p>Ours was about 3%, but usually it’s about twice that amount. We had major medical expenses this year. It really depends on each family.</p>
<p>If it’s not “hurting” your family financial picture it’s certainly not wrong. (Some families I know donate 10%). But it would be great if your DH had more buy-in. Maybe he could suggest charities more in line with his priorities. Or perhaps suggest next year you split your donations…some money, some volunteer time - there’s a lot of need out there.</p>
<p>I am a poor grad student… so I don’t give much money. I do donate my time when I am able.</p>
<p>It’s a personal decision. I’ll share my philosophy, but yours may be different and that’s ok.</p>
<p>I think it’s important to donate money based on your personal preference and desires. I feel that the places that I consider donating toward are the ones that mean something to me. I’m unlikely to donate toward a cause that isn’t relavant to me in some way. </p>
<p>For example, I was part of a neat science program in high school that really got me thinking in a scientific way and meant a lot toward my development. I think setting up a trust fund to fund this activity permenantly at my former high school would be a neat thing to do. </p>
<p>But I’m not interested in setting up a trust fund to permenantly provide free housing for alcoholics so they can consume as much as they want, as that’s not something that means much to me. </p>
<p>Someday, I might do something for mental health for folks suffering from bipolar disorder as one of my friends has come down with this and I see a lot of her struggles. Life is tough for her, and I have a lot of sympathy because she didn’t do anything to cause it.</p>
<p>But for me, I chose not to donate a little at a time, I am choosing to save up to establish a permenant trust fund later, because that fits my financial view in life.</p>
<p>^ This is a good idea but why don’t you set it up now, and contribute to it as you go? Otherwise, isn’t it really just a hypothetical future thing? My concern is that if I did this, it would just give me an excuse not to make any donations because for most of my life I’m just saving up…the donation party will always come ‘tomorrow’ (kinda like my diet, which is always starting next week :)).</p>
<p>To answer the OP, the % isn’t great but about 10k a year.</p>
<p>Clearly charitable giving is something that you do need to sort out with a spouse because people have different notions about it.</p>
<p>Ours was all but eliminated when we began to take on financial responsibility for elder family members. Two reasonably painless annual donations survived: animal charity “adoptions” as holiday gifts, and points earned on credit cards and frequent traveler memberships are now donated to various causes. Just last month a year’s worth of credit card points went to the American Red Cross.</p>
<p>Funerals, weddings, and birthdays share a line item in my budget spreadsheet. Whether it’s flowers, a specific charitable cause, or just a check sent to the family, I don’t count funeral money in with other charities. In a sense, it is like one last birthday present. Maybe your husband can see it that way.</p>
<p>Well… we give 15 to 20 percent of our income away. at least… We feel like God didn’t put us in this world to be comfortable but to help others. We give to our local church. We help support a doctor my husband worked with in Ethiopia. We give to the several missionary organizations that work with orphans… (not the big ones but ones we have actually been to) we support a local homeless shelter that gives a hand-up not a hand out. They train people and must continue to work through their goals or they have to leave. Over half the shelter is made up of single women and their children who have no idea how to support themselves other than by marrying a man. So retraining ideas and skills takes time… We have a food bank we work with. </p>
<p>Yes, we are financially blessed and we can do this. However, when I was younger and had no money I did give lots of time. We tithed even when dh was in residency. But even those of you that are middle class are VERY rich compared to the people we’ve seen in Ethiopia, Honduras and Ecuador… So do we need that 2nd tv or to give that money to people so they can have access to clean drinking water? Do our kids need phones or does that money need to be given so the homeless can get a new start? Do we need cable tv or to give the money to help an orphan get a college education?? </p>
<p>Cell phones, cable, even the tv’s themselves are luxeries that so many Americans feel like they are entitled to. According to whom??</p>
<p>To me, we are still too stingy with what we give…</p>
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<p>With this mindset, any money donated would seem to him wasted. We range between 10-12%.</p>
<p>We give about 10%. Sometimes we’ve been able to give more than that, but not last year.</p>
<p>We give 15%.</p>
<p>When our taxes go up, because we are in the 1% bracket, we will probably go to 10%</p>
<p>Of course, there are other long-term projects in which we have significant donations, but those are outside the bounds of the 15%.</p>
<p>We give 2% to the arts.
5% to domestic poverty programs
3% to international poverty programs.
5% to children’s health and other medical research initiatives.</p>
<p>OP,
If you think that “He thinks I am throwing our money away”, than give away all your income, why not?</p>
<p>Sell all you have, and give it to the poor.</p>
<p>I’ve never figured out the percentage. Since I work about 30-40 hours a week above my day job in running our foundation, and everything is an in-kind donation, and we give a ton of cash, I wouldn’t even know how to begin to count. </p>
<p>Probably 90% of it is Third World-related (we teach the poorest people in the poorest countries how to ensure their own clean water), though we donate a lot here when it is something we are involved in and/or know the principals directly.</p>
<p>Shoot for 10% of gross income. Usually end up about 8% through inattention. Also serve on two boards and assorted time commitments here and there. Desire to give is faith driven.</p>
<p>Split among: church (some of which goes to close and far mission work), youth faith organization, international food program, international school for girls, and assorted charities that either we or family/friends are involved with. </p>
<p>I do run a check on charities before I donate money or time. I like to see history of work and good management.</p>
<p>Can you $ quantify for your H how supporting your local church feeds back into your own family budget? I know that’s not <em>why</em> most people donate to their churches, and in a way it’s sad to have to justify it on a spreadsheet. That said: every family needs some time out and about in the community, just for social fun and good mental health. If you replace the hours spent inside a church with other consumer-cash spending venues, such as more restaurant meals or specatator sports, the family would spend much more each weekend, just to have activities.</p>
<p>Before we entered these college tuition years, I think we donated about 4%. It’ll be in the 1% range until D graduates from college in 2016.</p>
<p>I prepare income tax returns for a living. There is a huge range in what people give to charity from barely anything to even more than 10%. I believe it’s a personal decision and either extreme is fine AS LONG AS your own family is taken care of first. There are some people who out of guilt, donate large sums to their church and then can’t support their families. My son used to work for a bank and he said some elderly people would come and with their social security checks or pensions and get 10% in a money order. These poor people were barely making ends meet. If you still have a mortgage on your home in your 80’s, you should NOT make charitable giving your first priority. JMHO</p>
<p>This a great time to be donating, if you can afford it. Many families who usually do so have hit upon hard times and can’t give their regular donations.</p>