Choosing Charitable Causes: The Questions Post

December 14th, 2009 by Sara

Budgeting for giving can be tough — how do you say no to so many worthy requests, and yes to others? Is your giving scattershot, based on who’s asking and your mood and means in the moment? Does it matter?

I’m happy to see a new book, “The Art of Giving: Where the Soul Meets a Business Plan” take on these questions. Here’s a short Marketplace Money interview with the authors.

Because I haven’t read it yet, though, I have more questions.

Does your money make more of an impact if you keep it local?
Do you make more of an impact giving to all like causes — e.g., Veterans only, or women’s education?
Should your giving change over time?
Is there a threshold under which giving actually costs an organization money?

I’d love to hear your thoughts, and maybe I can round up some sources who can take a shot at answering these questions for a future post.