Holiday Giving

I guess this is three weeks late (Giving Tuesday was Dec. 1 this year).  I actually was a moderately active giver this year.  There was a matching donation opportunity with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, so I did that.  I gave a bit to Northwestern University grad school, which is super rare.  (I'll probably get solicitations for eternity though.)  On a related note, I often am solicited by both University of Toronto and Hart House.  This year I am doing a bit of volunteer work for Hart House, so I feel covered in that regard.  The last substantial donation I made on Giving Tuesday was to a nearby food bank.  

I debated giving to the Red Cross, though I have somewhat ambiguous feelings about both the Red Cross and the United Way.  They both have quite substantial overheads and not nearly as much of the donated funds goes directly to people in need.  In the States, it was moderately common for employers to match donations to both charities, so I often took advantage of that.  I'm back in the public sector and matching donations is very rare here, though they do make payroll donations to the United Way simple.  Though apparently not simple enough for me!  Somehow I didn't renew for 2019 and was kind of shocked how little I had donated to charity when I found out at tax time.  Fortunately, I corrected this for 2020 and just renewed my donation for 2021.

I've made a fair number of small donations to arts organizations over 2020 (or in some cases just letting them hang onto ticket payments rather than asking for immediate refunds to help keep them afloat until they can start presenting concerts and plays again), and before the year is out, I'll make a direct donation to the Stratford Festival.  There is essentially an unlimited need for donations in all kinds of areas (child welfare, animal welfare, health, education, cleaning up the environment, etc.) and it gets too overwhelming when I think about it like that.  However, I try to balance putting my money towards things that I would be really sad if they disappeared (like the Stratford Festival) and more broad-based giving to food banks, United Way and the Red Cross.  That's probably all I can do for the moment.  It is true that I feel less guilty about being materially comfortable when I donate or volunteer, though that isn't the prime deciding factor.

Edit (12/30): I forgot to mention that I did give to the Toronto Star's Santa Claus Fund, which apparently smashed its goal of $1.2 million this year.  I generally alternate between the Santa Claus Fund and the Fresh Air Fund.  If they think they can send kids to camp this summer, I'll probably make a small donation.  And it looks like I should get my act together and donate to Stratford Festival today before I forget...