Charitable donations

[Schnoogs]

One of my goals this year was to try and donate at least $50 a month to different organizations for a wide range of causes.

I came across an interesting one this month and thought I would share.

It's called the smiletrain (http://www.smiletrain.org/site/PageServer)...here's the writeup from their site. I thought their business model was really fascinating. Plus they supposedly put 100% of the donation towards their work without any overhead, etc.

It just might be the most effective, impactful donation to a charity
you ever make.
100% of your donation will go towards programs that help children, 0% will go to overhead.
The free cleft surgery your donation will help provide, is a true, modern-day medical miracle: it costs as little as $250 and takes as little as 45 minutes.
That’s all it takes to give a desperate child not just a new smile, but a new life.
When you see the impact your donation has, you’ll end up smiling too.

If anyone else has a favorite charity they should list them here. Obviously most of us prefer donating to EvilAvatar but we could list out SECOND choices!

[Johan]

This is one of the "biggest bang for the buck" charities around (cleft palate surgery). It is such a simple and inexpensive surgery, but without it life is incredibly problematic.

Cool charity. Also, a very, very cool goal for the year. ++Respect points! :) I'll be checking this one out. Jessica Simpson (sorry to even mention her) supports Operation Smile, but I think there's some minimal overhead there.

Kudos!

[Schnoogs]

Picked my charity for march. A friend asked me to donate to Junior Achievement (http://www.ja.org/). He's involved in a fundraiser this weekend.

[Rifter]

The Shriner's Hospitals (http://www.shrinershq.org/Hospitals/_Hospitals_for_Children/) are pretty damn good, too. I read that they are a charity that doesn't have overhead (the shriner's themselves donate their time). I know my grandfather used to take kids down once or twice a month from where he lived in Ohio, to a Children's hospital near him. They do an amazing job.

[Neon Wraith]

one thing i like to do when i donate money is to try and keep it as near to the community i live in as i can. next time you donate see if any of you local missoins/shelters need any financial help or just another body to help for a day.