My husband and I have been long time contributers to The Boys and Girls Town and to Habitat for Humanity. We have no plans to stop contributing. What I have noticed is that the charities are asking for more if you can manage to give more. My plan is to just continue to pay what we have in all the years past. It is hard to turn down all the charities that could really use the money but if everybody that can would just incorporate one charity in their yearly budget it would make such a huge difference.

We have been doing about the same this year. I am very concerned next year if Obama wins and raises taxes, that will cause many people to consider cutting back.

My donation goes to the Salvation Army. No change. The cost of overhead for other charities precludes me from making donations to additional ones.

The Government taxes me and they are nothing more than a charitable institution. Government has the highest overhead of any charitable institution.

I think the economy makes it harder for people to give. But, on a personal level, we have supported several charities in the past, and we have no plan to stop.

JJK – way to try and politicize a nice topic, but for the record, if Obama wins, there is a high probability that his plan will lower your taxes more than McCain’s would. Why can I say that? Because I have looked at the plans: http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/UploadedPDF/411693_CandidateTaxPlans.pdf

To help you out, skip to page 29 to see the effect of Obama’s plan on your income level, and page 36 to see McCain’s plan in action. Look at the middle column, “average federal tax change ($)” - this will show you the average change in tax burden under each proposal.

Now, can we stick to the topic?

More. My mortgage is paid off so I have the privledge of putting what used to go to intrest into charities. Same ones I always gave to, nothing new.

I probably wouldn’t have cut back on charitable giving this year if it weren’t for the fact that retirement is right around the corner. I had already started weeding out some charities and some cultural institutions in contemplation of a lowered income. So it would be hard for me to really judge how much the economy has affected my giving and how much would have been cut out anyway.

I can well understand that times are hard and that some people who never thought they’d be needing outside assistance now find themselves among “the needy.” But, realistically, with so many families on the borderline right now, you can’t expect them to cough up the charitable donations they made in the past. They need every buck they have to keep themselves afloat. Sometimes, though, I think people who were used to giving maybe $50 and can no longer afford that much just say the hell with it. If you can still afford a $10 donation, don’t be embarassed to give “so little.” That ten bucks might be a lifesaver to someone.

My wife and I each operate private practices, and we have ties with youth groups for which we regularly offer pro bono couseling and dental services to qualifying members. Because our practices are young and growing, at this time it is financially easier to give our time than our cash.

I have continued to give to two charities. Like Pat Carpenter, retirement is getting very close. I’m retired now from my primary job and work about 30 hours a week as a consultant, but my wife is in her last year. Income won’t change much but the cost of living is up and we will have to pay our own medical insurance when she quits. I will continue to give but I just wish the excessive phone calls for donations would stop or at least slow down.

My husband and I normally give to the Salvation Army mostly, our church and we give used clothing/books/small appliances/furniture to various charity pickups during the year. I don’t see that changing this year.

TO ALL…ST.VINCENT DEPAUL IS A WONDERFUL ORGANIZATION TO GET INVOLVED WITH EVEN IF ONE MORNING A WEEK..GROUPS CAN BE FOUND THRU-OUT THE ST.LOUIS ARES..MOST CHURCHES

TO ALL….ST.VINCENT DEPAUL IS A GREAT ORGANIZATION TO GET INVOLVED WITH IF ONLY ON MORNING A WEEK..THEIR GROUPS CAN BE FOUNG THRU-OUT THE ST.LOUIS AREA….MANY CHURCHES

Anonaman, thanks for the information. You confirmed what JJK and most conservatives believe, however…that under Obama’s plan, the rich will pay more. The more the rich pay in taxes (or, as Biden said, the more the government takes away from people) the less money they’ll give to charity.

There are members of my family that would be considered “rich” and give a lot of money to charitable organizations. If they do indeed, tithe, then it makes sense that the less money they net at the end of the year, the less they will tithe.

Putting money in the pockets of the poor and middle class will not raise charitable contributions.

That being said, my family will continue with our charitable donations to church and contribute our time to volunteering.

Obama’s tax plan could actually result in an increase in charitable contributions.

o Those making less than $250,000 will have taxes lowered, hence will have more disposable income. More disposable income could result in an increase in their charitable contributions.

o Those making more than $250,000 will have higher taxes, however, these folks have so much disposable income now that higher taxes may not result in a reduction in their contributions.

Summing Results In More contributions
o increased contributions from those making less than $250,000
o the same contributions from those making greater than $250,000

Logicprevails said:

“Putting money in the pockets of the poor and middle class will not raise charitable contributions.”

Here we will have to disagree. I would contend that the vast majority of charitable contributions come not from the super wealthy – but the poor and middle class. Sure, the super wealthy sometimes cut big checks (then get to attend gala celebrations that spend a large part of those checks to celebrate their own generosity), but the daily bills get paid by the tens of thousands who donate to United Way through work deductions, or tithe weekly to their church, or just donate their time to work for a charity.

Consider, over the last 8 years, the real wages of the vast majority of Americans has actually decreased – at the same time that income in the top few percentiles have skyrocketed. If your supposition was true, all the extra dollars in the hands of the extremely rich should have driven charitable contributions through the roof – but that’s not what happened. Donations are down, just like the incomes of most Americans. If we raise the after tax income (take home pay) of the real main street Americans, evidence shows those generous people will share their good fortune.

But this just goes to prove the obvious – if you’re in trouble, your neighbor (regardless of their political leanings) is far more likely to help you than a millionaire in a far away place (regardless of their political leanings).

Gosh I can’t wait for this election to be over so that maybe we can get away from the political angle to every question posted! How giving to charities and who you vote for plays in that decision is beyond me.

Have you ever sat in a church and had questions that you thought were silly to ask? Are you the type of person that gets embarrassed when you sit face to face with someone and forget your question or decide not to ask it b/c you feel stupid? I believe there are many people out there who do feel like this and Pastor Mike & Keith, who are both amazing by the way, invite those of you who feel like that to join us! You don’t have to feel uncomfortable asking a question b/c you can text it and no one has to know who it is coming from. I guarantee that there are many others who have never thought about it and b/c of someone else’s question you receive insight that will help you grow spiritually. You see, there are people who may attend church however, they do not have a relationship with Christ and we at MSC are there to help you build that relationship where ever you are in your journey. The texting is just another way of reaching out, welcome to the world of technology, which might I add was not created by accident. How do you suppose the people who invented all of this had the will or thoughts to be able to? Nothing happens by chance folks! May God Bless you all along whatever journey it is that you are seeking and if you are looking for a place where you are seeking answers feel free to come and join us! We would love to have you!

— Liz

you may have posted into the wrong forum

this one is about texting in church
http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/talk-of-the-day/talk-of-the-day/2008/09/texting-in-church-good-idea-or-bad/all-comments/#comments

Often many of us find ourselves with more time than money. Those, like myself, nearing retirement may have an opportunity to shift part of our giving from cash to participation.

Since I’m not religious, I’ve often augmented my charitable contributions through American Legion projects, scouting, food bank, and other volunteer activities. Donating blood when possible is another way to share our blessings.

As government takes more of our property in taxes to fund politically driven giving we may be forced to devote more of our free time to express our own ideas of need and compassion.

Must See Video
Evening news feature comparing the candidates tax plans. 22 Sep 2008

http://angryxer.wordpress.com/2008/09/22/candidates-tax-plans-compared/

Anonaman and STL, I’ve done a bunch of research on this and the information is all over the board supporting and refuting my earlier comments and yours as well. The majority of what I read did say that, as a percentage of income, lower income earners give more to charities than upper incomer earners. With that said, though, I think it makes sense that the more money people have in their wallets, the more they may give to charities. STL, your synopsis makes sense if we follow the assumption that the ubber-wealthy won’t change their ways, but I don’t consider income of $250,000 as being ubber (uber?) wealthy. So, I’m going to retract my strong assertion and make it only a mild assertion about taxes and charitable giving due to all of the conflicting information out there.

I would like to give more and I give as much as possible to food pantries, and other charities such as Autism Speaks, Down Syndrome, etc. However, since my church pastor started telling me who to vote for 4 years ago, I no longer give to the church. I think a lot of the reason the economy is so bad, is due to the policies of the present administration, and that is the one that most of the churches are trying to get people to vote for.