About a year or so ago, our company got rid of payroll deductions for United Way. They’ve recently replaced it with a new approach through Americas Charities and PledgeFirst that allows you to select your organization for donation. On the surface, that sounds good. Given that the period for selecting a charity ends tomorrow (and they are encouraging folks to participate), I figured I would take a few minutes to see if there were any causes that called me to donate (as with the United Way, there is the usual corporate pressure for everyone to participate).
First, I took a look for theatres or arts organizations. I’d love to support my favorite non-profit theatres (such as the Colony, Cabrillo, or REP East); lacking that, I’d love to support the LA County Arts Commission, which supports numerous non-profit theatres in Los Angeles (or something similar). But guess what: the only theatre listed was the Signature Theatre in DC [ETA: Originally, I thought it was the Signature Theatre in NYC, but Fauxlore corrected me]. As for arts groups, none of the ones listed were in Los Angeles, or even California. So, I thought, perhaps I could support a local public radio station. Again, the only radio stations were based on the east coast.
Stymied in this, I thought I might support a historical museum. That’s another interest of mine, and they can always use support. Perhaps OERM. But there were no museums available on the list.
So I did some more searching. There were 7 charities with the word “Christian” in the description, and 5 with “Catholic”. As for Jewish? Only American Jewish World Service. No UJA. No Free Loan society. I’d really rather not fund organizations with a missionary purpose, even if that is “secondary”.
Medical charities? 43 charities had “medical” in the description. But is the “Celiac Disease Foundation” there? No. MLIV Foundation? No. National Jewish Genetic Disease Consortium? No. However both of those organizations gain some support from the National Rare Disease Foundation. I’ll send a little there; they were on the list.
But overall, I’m disappointed in the selection of charities that are involved in this program. Being able to direct your donation is better than the umbrella “United Way” choice we used to have, but they really need a broader variety (or the ability to specify your own choices if they are not on the list, which I didn’t see). The charities that are present (and promoted) are often the large charities: major medical charities, major organizations that help the poor, etc. Those that aren’t are often on the East Coast, which is where I’m guessing PledgeFirst is located (yup – PledgeFirst is part of American’s Charities… which is in Virginia). I’m not saying that these organizations do not do good — they do — but they also tend to get lots of donations. There needs to be a way to make it easy to support the smaller non-profits… and the local non-profits — the ones for whom small donations are extra-meaningful; the ones that don’t always get the press or the large fundraisers. For now, I’ll have to continue to support these organizations the way I always have — with regular checks directly from me.
P.S.: The notion of having public impact in an easy way — or having your paycheck go to an organization that doesn’t always support what you believe in — goes to the heart of the upcoming Proposition 32. More on that after I get my ballot pamphlet, when I do my review post of all propositions on my ballot.
