I always had problems though when I was working and they did fund drives and wanted/expected 100% cooperation for things like United Way. I didn’t want to give to that organization as I was already giving 10% elsewhere, yet those whose only giving was through work expected me to give to their charity. I don’t like being told where to donate to.

1) Donate to places that are buying ecologically important land. There’s more of that land available now than there will be later, and it’s cheaper now than it will be later, not to mention that the longer you wait, the more species go extinct and thus can no longer be saved. (I use Nature Conservancy and Conservation International.)

2) Donate to places that loan money to poor people to start their own companies. When they repay that money, it becomes available to the next person. So my single donation today might help a new person every year indefinitely. (I use ACCION International and FINCA International.)

3) Donate to places that are looking for cures. The sooner a cure is found, the more people it can help.

Of course for things you are using now, I recommend waiting to donate them until you are finished with them. For example, you might use the proceeds from the sale of your house to build a foundation after you die.

And sometimes if you have a big pile of money to donate, the receiver might not be used to getting that much money and might not use it as wisely as if they were getting a smaller amount indefinitely.

One more note: even after retirement, one can still donate 10% of one’s income, even if the income is from interest, dividends, and capital gains.

I had to add that I always cringe at all the financial gurus with their “give 10%.” I live in an area flush with wealthy and the average I see (I prepare tax returns) is 1%. Even more probably give 0%. Doesn’t make it right or wrong, but then I see people who give 10% and are drowning just because they think everyone else is doing it. That is the part that makes me cringe.

We prefer to give 1% and donate our time, which we have more of to give.

When our children our older and as our income rises, we will give more. It is personally important to me. But I have trouble taking care of others before taking care of myself. Doesn’t really make sense on many levels.

Of course, since giving is important to me, waiting to $1 mil seems a little extreme. But, if he can make that goal, it would be a very generous way to go.

So I guess I would say I find both of those examples extreme. But both will probably work in their own right.

If you want to see how the charity uses the money you donate visit http://www.charitynavigator.org.

http://www.kiva.org – these are microloans to people. Your gift is paid back, but without interest so people in poor countries can expand or start a business. 100% of your donation is used for the loan.

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org – great group that help in areas with medical needs of people many times in places where there is no other help for the people.

There are many others as well. Do some research and pick a few of the ones you really like. Especially these days they can really use your help.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2682730

“But while the rich do give more in overall dollars, according to the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, people at the lower end of the income scale give almost 30 percent more of their income.”