Valerie is a 42-year-old, single, Reformed Christian lady who lives in Baltimore. She doesn't remember a time
before she knew and loved Jesus, but she does remember accepting John Calvin into her heart in March of 2000.
Valerie is a member of Christ Reformed Evangelical Church in Annapolis.
Though her career aspiration is to be a housewife, Valerie has not yet found anyone suitable who wishes to hire
her for employment in that field (or, more properly, anyone suitable has not found her), so in the meantime she
earns her daily bread working in communications -- editing, writing, print design and website management.
How Do You Choose Giving Opportunities?
If you do charitable donations above your tithe, how do you evaluate the ministries to which you give? In particular, what are your standards for organizations that serve the needy? I got a call from Compassion yesterday to say that my sponsored child was now independent, and to ask whether I'd like to sponsor someone else. I'm not sure I want to go that route, but I do still want to invest that money somewhere. So share some principles that govern your giving choices or make a pitch for your favorite charity!
Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 8:14 AM
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5 comments
5 Comments:
On October 10, 2007 10:11 AMtomwrote... For foreign missions, I use a combination of personal knowledge (Do I know the person and believe they desire to serve the Lord?) and organizational awareness (what I think about MTW vs. Campus Crusade).
For strictly mercy ministries, I look for information on the organization's reputation, their financial situation (% used in actual ministry, accountability mechanisms), and I look for friends who have knowledge of the ministry. For instance, several of my friends work for World Vision, and I am not sure I would give them money.
On October 10, 2007 3:35 PMabrawrote... We have a friend who runs a ministry coffee shop in Moscow. (Ben & I both used to volunteer there as baristas.) His job is ministering to whoever walks in the door. He has a family to support so we try to chuck some money in that direction whenever we can.
On October 18, 2007 8:51 PMDeborahwrote... We heartily endorse Compassion. I sponsored a child before and I was married and we have sponsored three since then--they do grow up and get on with life. Compassion has a great record financially, is accountable,uses in-country workers, and allows us to interact with a child in a third world country. We were able to visit one of our sponsored children when we adopted our daughter. Little of this answers your question.
On October 18, 2007 8:55 PMDeborahwrote... So, evaluating charities: financial accountability, track record of doing what the charity professes to do, bulk of monies raised goes to the work rather than fund raising or administration, personal donor interaction other than just throwing money. I still think Compassion is the best.
