Should Charities Tithe Their Donations?

[debrand]

The Mercy Project tries to rescue women and girls from the sex industry.

Their FAQ says this:

.

How can I support The Mercy Project?

The Mercy Project Colorado relies on the faithful giving of individuals who support this ministry. We also tithe the gifts that we receive. This way we honor the Lord and also assist other ministries that are working in this arena. There are a number of specific need-based opportunities that are available to congregations, individuals, foundations and corporations

So, if you give money to the group, they won't use the entire gift but give part away to something else? That seems odd to me. Some Christians tithe by giving to a charity so The Mercy Project tithes part of other people's tithe?

mercyprojectcolorado.org/faqs/

I'm uncomfortable criticizing a group that really does seem to want to help others but I don't understand how they give away part of their donations.

[treemom]

It would make me angry. I choose very specifically what charity to give my money to.

[ElphabaGalinda]

I wouldn't give money to a charity that tithes its donations. I give to charity because I want to support a certain cause, I don't want my money to support something different. That's why I try to find charities with lower overhead costs. I think they should focus on their way of helping others. Are groups even supposed to tithe or is it an individual thing?

[CrazySister]

This is an interesting thing. On one hand I get it, but in reality I doubt I'd actually support an org that does this. When I send money to an organization, I'm intending for it to be used for a very specific purpose - THEIR purpose, whatever they've set out to do. That said, I imagine there are plenty of people who support them specifically because they "tithe." Not an organization I'd be inclined to send money towards, though.

[browngrl]

I would not support an organization that does this. I need to know what my money is being used for - if the charity donates the money to someone else I would have no say in the use of the money.

I donate to several charities - I have specifically chosen local groups because in Canada you can review the charities tax forms on the internet - this helps to see how the money is used and since the groups I am donating to are local - I go and visit a few times to see how they are run. I volunteer for the group that I donate the most to. This way I am as sure as I can be about where the money goes.

[Burris]

For me, it would depend on where this “tithe†is used, and why. If it's built into the organizational structure that some donor money may be given out to smaller charities as grant money, and the information is part of the promotional material, or at least writ large in the annual report, then I wouldn't have a problem with it. Most of the NGOs around here, in consort with the civil and provincial governments, have clients in common and take money from multiple budgets - possibly across several different organizations - to meet client needs.

If, on the other hand, a charity were to treat donor money as its own property, handing it out to pet causes without accountability in the name of "tithing," then hell no I wouldn't donate.

Money being given to a charity doesn't belong to the charity, however much some mega-pastors and overpaid charity presidents would like to believe otherwise. The money is to be held in trust and used to help people for whom it's earmarked by donors.

[Elle]

The Susan G Komen foundation had so much money coming in that they had to donate some away, according to my local news.

I wouldn't tithe to an organization that donated money away. Like someone else said, I pick the causes. I'm not donating it for someone else to decide for me.

[treemom]

The Susan G Komen foundation had so much money coming in that they had to donate some away, according to my local news.

I wouldn't tithe to an organization that donated money away. Like someone else said, I pick the causes. I'm not donating it for someone else to decide for me.

Foundations usually do give all their money away, like to research. That is the way a foundation works.

[Alana Rickman]

Foundations usually do give all their money away, like to research. That is the way a foundation works.

Even if that weren't the way foundations work, it's money. It's not sandwiches, or furniture, or cars. Money doesn't spoil and doesn't take up any space, and it's not even taxable for a charity. So if a regular charity (not a foundation) gives money away, it's because they want to, not because they have to.

[treemom]

Even if that weren't the way foundations work, it's money. It's not sandwiches, or furniture, or cars. Money doesn't spoil and doesn't take up any space, and it's not even taxable for a charity. So if a regular charity (not a foundation) gives money away, it's because they want to, not because they have to.

Well I just don't think you can compare Komen, which is a foundation to another charity which is giving money away to unrelated causes.

[dawbs]

The nonprofit world does tend to work with inter-donations though.

I mean, listen to the list of sponsors on NPR in the morning--70% of them are other nonprofits.

I don't think it bothers me...if only because I watch my workplace give and get money in these sorts of ways.

(and it does get fuzzy. If you donate $ to the organization (call it S) that I spend a lot of time 'working' for but that isn't my employer, I don't see that money...but the students who I work with do see that money--kinda, it pays their fees for this activity. If you donate money to my employer and it's earmarked for "S", the students will never see that money, but their fees for "S" are reduced for the next year--so it's invisible.

I"m explaining that poorly, but organizations that work with each-other do this a lot--I'd guess that this is somewhat the same thing.

[Elle]

Foundations usually do give all their money away, like to research. That is the way a foundation works.

I'm not talking about to research, but to causes not related to breast cancer.

[alba]

I'd be rather sceptical about it. It could be that they're tithing these donations to reputable organisations with the same goals, so the money serves the same purpose in the end. It could also be that they're tithing them to organisations the donors find morally reprehensible; I would *never* donate to a pro-life charity, so I wouldn't donate to another charity if I thought there was a chance they'd tithe that donation to a pro-life charity.

[Sola]

I would be mightily pissed if a charity I supported tithed donations to a church.

Now I have no problems with a charity distributing funding to other smaller charities and funds, I'd like to know who they are donating to, but to a church or any other religious organisation, no.

[JesusFightClub]

Tend to be opposed to charity (point of political principle) But I would be SERIOYSLY. FUCKING. OPPOSED. If they donated ANY of my money to religion.

[Guest Anonymous]

Aside from the principle of the matter of spending funds as they were intended to be spent..... doesn't it all get a bit ridiculous, with ever decreasing tithes being passed around without ever being spent?!

I'm not a believer and don't 'tithe' anyway, but in my Christian days, I was always unhappy with the requirement even on poor people to tithe. I still remember my horror at hearing a church leader tell an old couple that the tithe was supposed to come off their whole pension amount, not the amount was left after they had paid their bills. These were people on a state pension, which is calculated on a rock bottom survival amount of money provided from taxes (or government- mandated tithes). The idea of them taking their £150 per week income for the two of them and giving £15 to the church collection box before buying food or paying electricity and gas and RENT made me want to vomit then, and it still haunts me now....

As a general rule, I think that once the tithe has been distributed once it should be used, or all efficiency is lost and madness begins to descend....

[Alecto]

I could see, if the charity had a church or denomination that was their parent organization, and they paid to offset actual expenses like utilities, that wouldn't be a huge issue. But why tithe? It just makes no logical sense.