what groups do you donate to

[davidinalameda]

I was reading the Time magazine with the 25 most influential Evengelicals at the gym last night and I got scared

these people control millions of dollars that they're using against us

I'm not a big fan of the HRC--they're too bipartisian for their own good.

I donate a little to my church

I don't know--need ideas people!

[Maat]

1. I've done quite a bit of thinking about this.

I was raised Presbyterian. Quit the church at 15. I was completely out of the church for 30 years. I wanted to provide a good spiritual environment for myself and my child. I did research, and I selected Church of Religious Science, which has many similarities to Unitarian-Universalist in terms of philosophy.

Anyway, the point is: I have no problem with donating to Unitarian-Universalist, Church of Religious Science, United Church of Christ, or Unity. I, myself, am not Christian, but I have donated to these churches because of some of their efforts. I belong to a Church of Religious Science church, so I donate there regularly.

I do not feel guilty donating money to the administrative bodies of these churches, for it seems that they are light on administrative costs (relatively) and the funds actually wind up doing society much good.

I think that it is important that a progressive not belong to a member of a church that is anti-feminist or anti-gay-rights, because even if their individual church is modern, loving, accepting and rights-promoting, and diverse, some of the money flows upward. If it winds up in the hands of the administrators of the Southern Baptist Convention, for example, that congregant, or church member, winds up paying for intolerance and dominionism (theocracy-promoting activites). But I respect whatever my fellow DUers decide, ultimately. It is a highly personal decision.

I also contribute to Americans United for Separation of Church and State, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Democratic Underground, People for the American Way, and PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Gays and Lesbians), in addition to Children's Fund.

Thoughts?

[Dookus]

2. I donate to

local AIDS charities, Planned Parenthood, ACLU and People United.

I used to support HRC until they supported Al dAmato over Chuck Schumer in the name of "bipartisanship". Fuck that. It was a year in which senate control was at stake. It was idiotic to support a republican. They won't get another dime from me.

[khashka]

3. Who to donate to?

I've always donated to NARAL - but that's not really about gay people.

So, NGLTF. Not as big or strong as HRC, but usually much better.

GLAAD. For obvious reasons. How we are represented determines how we are viewed, how people think of us.

And surprisingly from a gay male viewpoint: Planned Parenthood. Seems like that would be for straight people, especially straight women. Not so at all. They are very good on gay issues. And when I was working on AIDS issues and could find no one to help me with the work or the funding.... Planned Parenthood was there. The only people I could depend on. They are always short of funding and always need volunteers. And your money couldn't be better spent.

Also what is going on in your community? There are small grass roots groups everywhere. Totally understaffed, totally underfunded and trying so hard to make a difference. Amazing how often they do make a difference. But be wary - when you drop off the check they'll probably rope you in to lick envelopes, testify before the legislature, etc.

Khash.

[khashka]

6. Two More I can't believe I missed

The ACLU. I consider them the Fifth Estate. Or the Fourth branch of government. We need them so desperately.

Lambda Legal. They do incredible work.

Khash.

[Cornus]

7. Just FYI

I also used to support NGLTF. Recently I started using Charity Navigator http://www.charitynavigator.org/ as a guide for giving. They use a four star rating system and NGLTF received barely two stars.

GLAAD on the other hand received a solid three stars.

If interested, check their site for other listings...they rate most of the major charities.

[Guy Fawkes]

4. Consider:

Lambda Legal (http://www.lambdalegal.org/cgi-bin/iowa/index.html)
GLSEN (www.glsen.org)
The ACLU (www.aclu.org

[Cornus]

8. Consider Carefully

See my post above (#7)...Lambda Legal received ONLY one * from Charity Navigator!

[KaliTracy]

5. A few when I can afford it.

When Issue One in Ohio became such a big thing, I donated to the Human Rights Campaign.

I also donated to the Interfaith Alliance this year -- I'm agnostic, but some of the problems that we are having are because of religious intolerance, and I wanted to support people who could speak out about it.

I joined the ACLU in the last year because again, I wanted to support people who could speak out about the atrocities going on.

I also support NARAL and Planned Parenthood.

[Ian David]

9. Where I donate (or have Donated)

NGLTF
HRC
ACLU
MassEquality
CSICOP
The Committee to Elect Jass Stewart
The Committee to Elect Howard Dean
The Committee to Elect John Kerry
MoveOn PAC
The Red Cross Tsunami Relief
Alliance for Democracy
My High School Alumni Foundation
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State
WGBH

I've also volunteered for various of the above groups and other politicians and causes.

And finally, I just sent a check to DemocraticUnderground.com

[Jamastiene]

10. Absolutely none of them

These organizations use that money for traveling expenses, flying here and there, staying in nice hotels, etc. Absolutely none of it goes to help individual gay people. I can't think of one organization, gay or otherwise, that I think really does anything. It's better to start your own. That way you can control how the organization works and where it puts its resources. Oh course, I'm just disgruntled because everyone is pushing for gay marriage, when some of us don't even have simple rights in the work place or at school yet. It pisses off the worst homophobes to hear about gay marriage and some of us end up on the receiving end of all kinds of hatred. Thanks for the unnecessary pain gay organizations.