Giving for the GodlessAgnostic Aid

Pastafarian PhilanthropyHeathens Helping

Rational ReliefOr how I learned to stop worrying

and donate to a good charity

Some Numbers

• 35% of all donations (100 Billion dollars) goes to churches *

• Religious people are 25% more likely to donate money than secularists are **

• Why is that?– Not many good secular charities– Strong social pressure to donate in a church– Nothing like the fear of hell to open that wallet

* http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=42** http://www.hoover.org/publications/policy-review/article/6577

The Problem

• I want to give money to charities, but not churches

• Lots of churches disguise as charities

• Some religious charities are good, many use money for proselytizing

My Goal

• Educate on the good and bad ugly of religious charities

• Provide secular alternatives• Give a few tools for giving

Comic Relief

Bad Example: Catholic Charities

• Illinois: closed foster care service rather than adopt to gay couple

• DC: Canceled health benefits for employees rather than give them to gay couples

• Thwarted contraception world wide adding to AIDS problem

• Charity as political weapon

OK Example: Salvation Army

The Good• Disaster relief• Food drives• Toy drives• Thrift stores

The Bad• It is a church• Multiple tangles with anti-

homosexual practices• Threw away Harry Potter

toys in CA drive

Secular Alternative: Goodwill• Open hiring practices• No history of discrimination

Foundationbeyondbelief.org

Good Example!

• Foundation Beyond Belief• They pick and focus on 5 charities a quarter– Education, Poverty and Health, Human Rights,

Natural World, Challenge the gap– Challenge the gap works with other religious

charities they deem quality• Initial positive research on their charities of

choice• One time or regular donations

OH NOES Disaster!

• So a disaster happens and you want to help

• Give money not stuff• American Red Cross– Some efficiency and

transparency problems• Doctors without Borders

Comic Relief #2

www.kiva.org

Also Interesting

• Kiva: a hand up, not a hand out• Start with as little as $25 and loan to someone

starting a business• Most common loans to African women for

hundreds to a few thousand dollars• Agencies go to the people and vet their ideas• Money goes from Kiva to Agencies to People• Loans are slowly paid back

Kiva

• Criticism: because failure causes full loss, interest can be high – No chicken repo company

• You get your money back to reinvest

• You can join a team to talk or strategize

• Atheists kicking Christian ass!

Tools

• Charities always have a website, check the about section– Some references to doing “God’s work” are a dead giveaway

• Check Charity Watch *– They rate charities based mostly on monetary efficiency

• Eg. Do they spend most of your donation on marketing?

• Also check Charity Navigator **– Fancier version of charity watch– They rate financial health and transparency as well

• Lastly look on Wikipedia for controversy or issues

* www.charitywatch.org** http://www.charitynavigator.org/

Questions