Charities

31 August 2012 — San Francisco

So Pamela recently wrote a blog post about charities she donates to. I’m a big fan of charities and other organizations (they don’t necessarilly have to be non-profit) that have bigger goals than maximizing shareholder value. Not that I’m against corporations per se—I just find most of them incredibly boring and meaningless.

Anyway, her blog post inspired me to write down a list of organizations I donate to in hopes that it will inspire you to donate as well or to find your own cause.

Children International

This one is my favorite. Children International tries to overcome poverty through child sponsorhip. The idea is simple: you sponsor a child in a poverty striken area by making monthly donations. And Children International uses your money to make a little kid’s life less shitty by helping them with health care, nutrition, education and such.

Doctors Without Borders

Imagine doctors who go to the epicenter of yet another war conflict and provide medical aid to people who need it the most. That’s Doctors Without Borders.

Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood is a pretty awesome organization providing reproductive health care and sex education. They are helping millions of women (and men) who otherwise wouldn’t have access to good doctors and convenient access to birth control. Plus, they also helped out Pamela when she didn’t have health insurance.

Freedom From Religion Foundation

FFRF was the first charity I donated to. They fight to preserve the separation of church and state and to keep creationism out of public schools. They also provide legal, financial and moral support to people who get bullied by the religious majority for, as an example, not wanting to pray in school.

American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International

Both ACLU and Amnesty International fight for people who get their individual rights and dignity taken away, most often, by those in power. My family has a somewhat complicated history with different governments and I know how difficult it is when the government turns on you for your beliefs or even for simply speaking out.

Electronic Frontier Foundation

EFF fights for our rights in a digital world. The government or people close to it will always keep trying to justify why they need access to our personal emails or trying to push bullshit laws like SOPA and we need someone to fight them.

Mozilla

Well, this is awkward now, isn’t it? I’ve been donating to Mozilla long before I even thought about joining the company—they are fighting a good fight for the open Web. It’s easy to forget today but Mozilla Firefox was the first breath of fresh air in the world where Internet Explorer had ultimate dominance and the web was stagnating.

Find your cause

We have seven billion people on this planet and a lot of them need your help. The fact that there are people who are willing to work for a cause—usually in dangerous places or against fierce opposition—is absolutely wonderful. So find a cause you care about and donate—you will be surprised how much difference what may seem like a small donation can do. My sponsored kid’s family lives on about $60 dollars a month and my monthly $25 (the same price as my average Uber trip) makes sure that he has access to basic health care and education.

If my charities and causes aren’t up your alley, check out GiveWell or ask your friends what they’re donating to. There’s something for everyone.