This year instead of mailing Christmas presents to SIL, BIL, and cousins that already have everything I was thinking of donating money to a charity in their name.

I've been looking at www.heifer.org and think that it looks like an interesting organization. I like the fact that the receiver of the animal has to pass the first offspring on someone else in need and so on for the next person.

Has anyone else donated to this organization? Or what are your favorite charities to donate to?

-- anita in NC (anitaholton@mindspring.com), November 13, 2001

Answers

Anita...I've never donated money to Heifer Project, but they helped me get started in livestock 25 yrs. ago! I recieved my first beef cow, first dairy cow and first dairy goat from them. They are an excellent group of people! By the way, the dairy goats stayed...the cows are long gone :-)!!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), November 13, 2001.

I did this last Christmas. I didn't really feel like giving my family, who forgot how to say Thank You, Christmas presents, so I donated money to the Heifer Project. I ended up getting the bees and some chickens. Too poor for a cow, but someday I will. I cannot recommend them more highly and I have yet to hear a bad word about them.

-- Laura (LauraLeekis@home.com), November 13, 2001.

We gave them some sheep a few years ago -- I think they are one of the better secular organizations to support.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), November 13, 2001.

Wonderful organization!!! While traveling through the villiages in Haiti, you could tell the recipients of livestock from the Heifer Project because they had healthy, well bred animals. A whole villiage can benefit from one well bred goat.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), November 13, 2001.

Like Laura, I buy animals through them for people in my family who forgot how to say "thank you" at Christmas. It can be as cheap as you want it, too. I buy ducks and geese and chickens and rabbits and such - wish I could buy an ark, but I'll leave that to Susan Sarandon! Excellent organization.

-- carla s. miller (carlasmiller@hotmail.com), November 13, 2001.

We started donating to HPI several years ago. Loved it because we could designate the gift of a beehive- my nephews saved the money from their first hive and contributed. I like the fact that each recipient passes on the gift.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), November 13, 2001.

For every $100.00 donated to heifer.org, $25.60 goes to administration.

-- paul (wprimeroselane@msn.com), November 13, 2001.

I love this group. They do a lot of outreach. I'll bet their percentage going to the cause is still better than the Red Cross. ;)

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), November 14, 2001.

Paul, have you ever checked out how expensive it is to ship livestock?? That is all part of "administration". Shipping, finding the giver and the recipient and following through to see that the animals are being cared for etc. Best "administration" money spent IMHO.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), November 14, 2001.

So Paul, what is your point? It is easy to throw pointless facts out into the air. Some reasoning gives them a bit more clarity...It seems to me you are insinuating they waste money on administrative task...Am I right?

-- Laura (LauraLeekis@home.com), November 14, 2001.

I give Paul the benefit of the doubt. He gave a fact. It is up to the reader to decide whether that fact is relevant to any decision to give, and what that relevance is. When I read it, I thought they were doing pretty well to only spend about 25% on administration (because of the costs involved -- see Diane's post). However, some may think that's too much. It's an individual judgement, isn't it?

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), November 14, 2001.

We have grown children and grandchildren. We don't need gifts for ourselves, so I ask my children to donate to the Heifer Project or Doctors Without Borders in my name when they want to give me a gift.

-- Dianne Wood (woodgoat@pacifier.com), November 14, 2001.

Does anyone know if you can donate "extra" animals to the organization?

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), November 14, 2001.

For every $100.00 donated to the American Red Cross, $10.00 goes to administration.

-- paul (primrose@centex.net), November 16, 2001.

Thanks Paul. I was wondering. I have heard that with some of the 'sheriff' and police benefits, the phone-harassment (oops, "telemarketers")organizations collecting the monies get more than 50%. Another one to watch are the pizza and candy deals that schools get hooked into. Much worse. And the parent's and kid's labor are never even considered. The heifer project sounds pretty efficient for handling animals. Lots of legal hoops to follow through.

-- Dan (dconine@dotnet.com), November 20, 2001.