Charity Auction 2010 Planning

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Luke
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Re: Charity Auction 2010 Planning

Post by Luke »

dsheinem wrote:
So, I guess my preferences are (in order):

1) a charity where <100% of> donations go directly to those in need
2) a charity that helps children
3) a charity that that needs more visibility and funding
4) a charity that does work internationally

I can get behind that.

Let's all do a little research on the organizations we've suggested so far.
wclem
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Re: Charity Auction 2010 Planning

Post by wclem »

This might be dumb, but what about Goodwill. How many of us have gotten aewsome deals on thing there that were way under-priced. This may be a chance to give back some. Also, it is a charity we all know and many if not most of us gain from through our purchases.

Let me put it this way, if they were selling Earthbound for 3 bucks, would you tell them is was worth 80 and pay it? No, all of us would shake in our boots with glee and run out of there with 3 less dollars. I think repaying some of our good fortune is in order.
dsheinem wrote:In any case, sorry that my avatar makes you cringe these days, but I haven't really changed my posing habits at all.
dsheinem
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Re: Charity Auction 2010 Planning

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Luke wrote:
dsheinem wrote:
So, I guess my preferences are (in order):

1) a charity where <100% of> donations go directly to those in need
2) a charity that helps children
3) a charity that that needs more visibility and funding
4) a charity that does work internationally

I can get behind that.

Let's all do a little research on the organizations we've suggested so far.
I know you keep bringing up the "100%" issue, but I don't feel that this critteria is necessarily reasonable. Most charities have some overhead costs and as long as they are upfront about how much of your donation goes to those in need an how much goes to those costs, I see no issue with donating to a charity that takes 10% or something to help with distribution, advertising, paying people to work in the office, etc. Granted, some charities are especially bad with this (someone posted a link on the forums once of highly paid charity CEOs), but others are quite reasonable to spend some of the donations on improving their charitable efforts and it shouldn't put them out of the running.

So yeah, research is necessary.
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jp1
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Re: Charity Auction 2010 Planning

Post by jp1 »

wclem wrote:This might be dumb, but what about Goodwill. How many of us have gotten aewsome deals on thing there that were way under-priced. This may be a chance to give back some. Also, it is a charity we all know and many if not most of us gain from through our purchases.

Let me put it this way, if they were selling Earthbound for 3 bucks, would you tell them is was worth 80 and pay it? No, all of us would shake in our boots with glee and run out of there with 3 less dollars. I think repaying some of our good fortune is in order.
Your Goodwill must differ greatly from mine because where I live they research the prices of everything and charge ridiculous inflated amounts for everything. Still, while I think they have a place in the community I'm not comfortable that they are really a "charity" per say. They claim to be non profit and I'm not sure I believe that. Also, what exactly do they contribute to society to give back? Besides the jobs they give to people at minimum wage pay?
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DaGamingMonkey
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Re: Charity Auction 2010 Planning

Post by DaGamingMonkey »

Anything with animals or Children gets my vote.
wclem
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Re: Charity Auction 2010 Planning

Post by wclem »

jp1 wrote:
wclem wrote:This might be dumb, but what about Goodwill. How many of us have gotten aewsome deals on thing there that were way under-priced. This may be a chance to give back some. Also, it is a charity we all know and many if not most of us gain from through our purchases.

Let me put it this way, if they were selling Earthbound for 3 bucks, would you tell them is was worth 80 and pay it? No, all of us would shake in our boots with glee and run out of there with 3 less dollars. I think repaying some of our good fortune is in order.
Your Goodwill must differ greatly from mine because where I live they research the prices of everything and charge ridiculous inflated amounts for everything. Still, while I think they have a place in the community I'm not comfortable that they are really a "charity" per say. They claim to be non profit and I'm not sure I believe that. Also, what exactly do they contribute to society to give back? Besides the jobs they give to people at minimum wage pay?
Yeah I did forget they are different in different areas. My local one puts all games out for 3.29 regardless of what they are. Some others in the neighboring county do as you say. We have about 12 Goodwills we rotate and go to very often and some are great while others are gougers. Point made sir, and agreed.

It is wierd how they differ. I know the local group of stores actually give rides and meals and things to people. The next county over though I have no idea what they do other than hire some really far out people.
dsheinem wrote:In any case, sorry that my avatar makes you cringe these days, but I haven't really changed my posing habits at all.
wclem
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Re: Charity Auction 2010 Planning

Post by wclem »

On another note, I strongly agree with an earlier run for the auction. Give enough time for people to buy things for Christmas.

Also, I did not donate last year and plan to this year. Could someone explain how the shipping is handled?
dsheinem wrote:In any case, sorry that my avatar makes you cringe these days, but I haven't really changed my posing habits at all.
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Luke
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Re: Charity Auction 2010 Planning

Post by Luke »

dsheinem wrote:
So yeah, research is necessary.
Indeed.

alz.org is great at breaking down how donations work:

http://www.alz.org/join_the_cause_use_of_funds_jtc.asp

"The Alzheimer's Association national organization meets or exceeds relevant watchdog standards in its allocation of donor dollars. According to the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, nonprofit organizations should spend at least 65 percent of its total expenses on program activities, with remaining funds going to administrative and fundraising expenses.

The national Alzheimer's Association organization continues to meet and exceed these minimum standards with 72 percent of our total annual expenses going to care, support, research, awareness and advocacy activities."


Knowing is half the battle.
dsheinem
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Re: Charity Auction 2010 Planning

Post by dsheinem »

wclem wrote:On another note, I strongly agree with an earlier run for the auction. Give enough time for people to buy things for Christmas.

Also, I did not donate last year and plan to this year. Could someone explain how the shipping is handled?
Last year many shippers donated the shipping costs themselves. Those that didn't or couldn't were given enough to cover shipping by some of the moderation team, who covered those additional expenses. Because of this generosity, everyone in the U.S. (I think) was able to get their items with free shipping.
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Luke
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Re: Charity Auction 2010 Planning

Post by Luke »

dsheinem wrote:
wclem wrote:On another note, I strongly agree with an earlier run for the auction. Give enough time for people to buy things for Christmas.

Also, I did not donate last year and plan to this year. Could someone explain how the shipping is handled?
Last year many shippers donated the shipping costs themselves. Those that didn't or couldn't were given enough to cover shipping by some of the moderation team, who covered those additional expenses. Because of this generosity, everyone in the U.S. (I think) was able to get their items with free shipping.

The only shipping issue I had was with Kingmod who still hasn't (to my knowledge) received his game that he purchased from me. All my other items seemed to get where they needed to be.
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