Tithing/Giving to Catholic Charities

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Maria1212

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As a Catholic single lay person, one thing I have been feeling called to do is to tithe. Due to student loans and some other obligations, I am not at the point where I can tithe 10 percent of my income, but I have started participating in the yearly “pledge” program at my Church. I also donate to charities and I try to pick mainly Catholic ones, like Catholic Charities. But I have also donated to organizations like Doctors Without Borders when I wanted my donation to go to a specific cause.

While I don`t have a lot of money to give, the Lord has blessed me and I feel it is important to give back some of what the Lord as blessed me with. I may not have much, but I know I have more than most. One thing I struggle with, is how to decide where, or how best to give my money. My Dad, incorrectly in my mind, stopped putting money in the collection basket at Church because he did not want any of his money to be used for the legal defense of priests accused of abuse. The Church I attend now is very good at explaining where all of the money goes. And I know it is important for innocent priests to have money to defend themselves. Likewise, I want victims to receive compensation. But at the same time, I want to know the money I donate goes to help not only the Church as an institution, but also to those truly in need.

For those of you who tithe, or give to Catholic charitable organizations, how do you decide where to donate, and what percentage to place where? I try to stick with organizations with low overhead costs, but sometimes wonder if I am going about things in the best manner. Is it better to stick with just tithing directly to my local Church?

I would appreciate any advice.

Sincerely,

Maria1212
 
I choose organizations whose work and leadership are personally familiar to me, usually those for whom I volunteer. Those are usually the Catholic Charities sponsored ministries in my area, or those I have visited in mission trips, or who are supported and staffed by people I know and trust. I support no secular or non-Catholic organizations, and merely tell solicitors “we do all our giving through our church” click.

in fact the reason for a lot of my volunteer work is to become more familiar with ministries we would like to support. we also control or advise on giving for some trusts, businesses and family foundations, so we do a lot of research on accountability and finances, and how much of the donation goes to actual programs rather than administration and advertising.

For instance, CFCA, a Catholic group that lets you sponsor a child or older person in an undeveloped country, spends about 90% of donations on the programs. Other similar programs under non-Catholic auspices have a huge advertising budget, which is why you see celebrities promoting them on TV, and give much less to the actual project that supports the child.
 
I give to my parish, and when I can, to Catholic Relief Services.

Just a mention about something Puzzleannie said…
It is amazing how quickly you can get a telemarketer off of the phone by saying you make all of your charitable contributions to catholic services! Works like a charm!
 
I highly recommend CFCA!

I run a nonprofit education program and am happy when people tell me they give to Catholic Chairities since we get some of our funding from there occassionally.

I am not so narrow, myself, however I generally give to organizations with whom I have a close working relationship or with whom I volunteer. I am prohibited, however from giving any of our family foundation money to organizations to which I or any of my other sblings are too closely tied.

I attend Mass at a very “poor” parish, so most of my giving must go there to help keep them solvent.
 
Here’s what I do: I take 10% of my after-tax income. About half of that goes to our two parishes, and another half to other Catholic charities.

CFCA is wonderful. However, I’ve been sponsoring children through Catholic Near East Welfare Assocation, headquartered in New York City. I’m also as generous as I can be with Joe Scheidler’s Pro Life Action League.

We have failed over and over to get the government to do something about abortion. Joe and his friends are out there in front of the clinics, doing the tough work, and have closed many of them down. Instead of giving to politicians who will break their promises, why not give to Joe? You’ll save more babies that way.

Giving makes me feel REALLY good! Try it sometime; it’s better than beer!

Blessings from Oregon, where we used to fight Indians. Now we fight pagans. - Rob
 
When I get my paycheck I give 1/2 of my tithe to my parish and 1/2 to Catholic charities that seem responsible financially (often I look them up on the web), are actually aiding people, children, babies, and also pray about each one. Sometimes I’m surprised by the “answer” or “hear” that I’m not fiscally prudent enough (I do have a tendency to get carried away by good marketing tactics:o ).
 
Kanda said:
I give to my parish, and when I can, to Catholic Relief Services.

Just a mention about something Puzzleannie said…
It is amazing how quickly you can get a telemarketer off of the phone by saying you make all of your charitable contributions to catholic services! Works like a charm!
Click to expand...
it also gets you switched automatically to the do not call list

forgot to say half our tithe goes to our parish, 1/4 to the diocese through Catholic Charities, Bishop’s appeal etc., and 1/4 to other Catholic organizations. we do this reckoning at tax time, and get our amount for the coming year, and it is done through automatic checking account debits.
 
I don’t have much money to give because of having no real source of income during the school year (especially now with an unpaid internship), but I try to give to organizations which I really feel strongly about. Normally anything relating to music or education is what gets a significant donation from me. I’ve donated to parish schools, because I know many of them have financial difficulties. Even if it isn’t much, everything really does count. This year I donated money to St. Thomas More Society (Anglican Use branch up in Scranton, PA). It really depends on what a particular organization stands for, and how strongly I feel about their purpose. I also always give money whenever the collection basket gets passed around (except on those rare occasions that I forget my purse and search my coat pocket only to find I just have a penny in there lol).
 
I don’t have much money to give because of having no real source of income during the school year (especially now with an unpaid internship), but I try to give to organizations which I really feel strongly about. Normally anything relating to music or education is what gets a significant donation from me. I’ve donated to parish schools, because I know many of them have financial difficulties. Even if it isn’t much, everything really does count. This year I donated money to St. Thomas More Society (Anglican Use branch up in Scranton, PA). It really depends on what a particular organization stands for, and how strongly I feel about their purpose. I also always give money whenever the collection basket gets passed around (except on those rare occasions that I forget my purse and search my coat pocket only to find I just have a penny in there lol).
 
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