Edit: I made a mistake with the standard deduction math and explanation near the end of the original version of this post. I have since corrected it. Thanks to the readers who pointed it out.

Monica writes in:

Last year, I took the advice of my older brother and made several charitable donations during December to help out my taxes for the year. When I filed them, I did get a return, but it wasn’t nearly as big as I expected. Are charitable donations really a big deal or did I do something wrong?

Charitable donations do provide a reduction in your taxes, but it’s not the huge reduction that many people often think they are or expect that they are.

To understand the benefit that charitable donations give to your taxes, first you have to understand how income taxes work. This is something that many people surprisingly misunderstand.

When you earn ordinary income from working at a job, you have to pay income taxes on it. We all know that, of course. What many people don’t quite understand is how the amount you pay is calculated.

Let’s say you are a single person earning $50,000 this year (we’re not going to worry about issues like personal exemptions and other tax issues that would further complicate the issue – we’ll just look at $50,000 in taxable income after such things). To figure out how much taxes you have to pay, you have to look at the income tax rate table. For 2011, it looks like this for single people (there’s a different table for married couples):

For income between $0 and $8,500, you pay 10% in taxes.
For income between $8,500 and $34,500, you pay 15% in taxes.
For income between $34,500 and $83,600, you pay 25% in taxes.
For income between $83,600 and $174,400, you pay 28% in taxes.
For income between $174,400 and $379,150, you pay 33% in taxes.
For income over $379,150, you pay 35% in taxes.

So, as I mentioned, we’re looking at a single person who makes $50,000 a year.

For the first $8,500 of that (the $0 to $8,500 bracket), that person has to pay 10% of the income in taxes. That’s $850 for this bracket (that’s 10% of $8,500).
For the next $26,000 of that (the $8,500 to $34,500 bracket), that person has to pay 15% of the income in taxes. That’s $3,900 for this bracket (15% of $26,000).
For the rest of his pay ($15,500), that person is in the $34,500 to $83,600 bracket, which means that person has to pay 25% of that portion of his income in taxes. That’s $3,875 for this bracket (25% of $15,500).
To figure up the person’s total tax bill, they simply add together those pieces, which totals $8,625. This person will owe $8,625 on their taxes this year.

Now, how can a person lower that amount? The most common way is through deductions. The government gives out standard deductions each year on a person’s taxes. For 2011, that amount is $5,800 for a single person. How that works is that you simply subtract that deduction from the total amount of income the person earned for the year. So, this person’s income for tax purposes is actually $44,200.

So, let’s look at this person’s actual taxes after their standard deduction.

For the first $8,500 of that (the $0 to $8,500 bracket), that person has to pay 10% of the income in taxes. That’s $850 for this bracket (that’s 10% of $8,500).
For the next $26,000 of that (the $8,500 to $34,500 bracket), that person has to pay 15% of the income in taxes. That’s $3,900 for this bracket (15% of $26,000).
For the rest of his pay ($9,700), that person is in the $34,500 to $83,600 bracket, which means that person has to pay 25% of that portion of his income in taxes. That’s $2,425 for this bracket (25% of $9,700).
To figure up the person’s total tax bill, they simply add together those pieces, which totals $7,175. This person will owe $7,175 on their taxes this year.

So, that person’s standard deduction on their taxes actually saved him $1,450. The standard deduction may be $5,800, but it only saved the guy $1,450 because the deduction just reduces his total income for the year in terms of taxes.

Charitable giving works exactly the same way. Every dollar you donate to a registered charity becomes a deduction on your taxes, just like a standard deduction.

Let’s say the person above donates $5,000 to his church (a 10% tithe) and $2,000 to Doctors Without Borders and another $2,000 to L’arche Tahoma Hope. That’s a total of $9,000 in charitable donations.

So, this person makes $50,000 a year. From that, he can either subtract his standard deduction ($5,800) or he can subtract his charitable donations ($9,000). This means that his taxable income – the amount he pays on his federal income taxes – would likely be $41,000. Let’s look at his taxes now.

For the first $8,500 of that (the $0 to $8,500 bracket), that person has to pay 10% of the income in taxes. That’s $850 for this bracket (that’s 10% of $8,500).
For the next $26,000 of that (the $8,500 to $34,500 bracket), that person has to pay 15% of the income in taxes. That’s $3,900 for this bracket (15% of $26,000).
For the rest of his pay ($3,700), that person is in the $34,500 to $83,600 bracket, which means that person has to pay 25% of that portion of his income in taxes. That’s $1,625 for this bracket (25% of $6,500).
To figure up the person’s total tax bill, they simply add together those pieces, which totals $6,375. This person will owe $6,375 on their taxes this year.

In other words, this person’s $9,000 charitable contribution saved them $2,250 on their taxes. That’s because the person was in the 25% tax bracket before the donation and in the 25% tax bracket after the donation, which means that they essentially saved 25% of their donation on their taxes. (Sometimes, a donation will drop you to a lower tax bracket, which is fine.)

However (and this is where the readers pointed out my mistake in the original version of this post), the standard deduction would save the person $1,450. The actual savings – compared to the standard deduction – for this charitable giving is $800. Charitable giving works best as a tax deduction if it’s coupled with other deductions, such as home mortgage interest.

So, charitable donations are a great thing and they do offer some tax savings, but you don’t save $1 for every dollar you donate. Instead, you often reduce your tax bill roughly a quarter or so for every dollar you donate. That’s still a great little bonus.

Hopefully that clears things up for you!

Sharon writes in:

How do you manage the balance between saving for the future and for your own personal goals with a desire to give to those less fortunate than you? It feels like they’re going in opposite directions.

To an extent, this is a struggle for virtually everyone in the first world. Everyone reading this lives well into the upper half of the world in terms of standard of living. We constantly spend money on aspects of a standard of living that far outstrips anything in the lifestyle of the poorest people in the world.

This is a philosophical issue I’ve worked on for a long time in my own mind and I’ve come up with a handful of conclusions about it.

First, it’s not really saving your money that runs in opposition to giving. It’s spending your money with reckless abandon. Money saved in an investment or in a savings account is still yours to use at a later time, but money spent on unnecessary things is money that’s essentially lost to you.

At the same time, the ideas that push me to be a saver are the same ideas that push me to reduce that unnecessary spending. The less you spend on unnecessary things, the more you’re able to save. Alternately, the less you spend on unnecessary things, the more you’re able to give.

So, what about saving versus giving?

There’s no reason not to do both. Many religions, for example, encourage their followers to give 10% of their income to the less fortunate. Other people happily donate to charities of all kinds. These kinds of gifts help to make a difference but don’t cause the people who give to fall into financial hardship to make the donation. They’re very capable of saving an additional portion of their income beyond what they give to charity.

Having some savings means that you have less chance of becoming reliant on charitable giving. This enables the money that’s given to charitable organizations to go to other people who need it instead of you. This is, in itself, a charitable act.

Many large savings goals retain their value when reached. My wife and I are saving for a large home in the country. When we buy that land and build that home, we do so with the knowledge that we will some day be able to sell it and recoup our investment. It’s not lost money.

There’s no reason not to pass on a large portion of your estate to those less fortunate. My wife and I plan to leave behind only small portions of whatever estate we leave to our children and grandchildren and have the rest go to charitable groups. This enables us to protect ourselves while we’re living from draining charitable programs while delivering the wealth we’ve accumulated to charitable programs when we’re no longer around.

Charity is more than just donating money. Time donation is another powerful form of charity. Simply giving some of your hours to fulfill the needs of a charity is a powerful gift. Along those same lines, giving your skills is another powerful non-monetary gift you can give, one that translates into a monetary savings or pathway to more donations for the charity.

When I think about my savings and my charitable giving, I try to think about where exactly each dollar of mine will end up. If I know that there’s a good likelihood that the dollar will remain in my estate for the rest of my life (and eventually be donated after my passing) or be used in some method that will prevent a charity from investing in me, I feel good about how the dollar is used. It’s yet another motivation for me to make wise moves when it comes to what I do with every dollar that comes into my life.

A few weeks ago, I put out a call on Twitter and on Facebook for detailed posts that people would like to see. I got enough great responses that I’m going to fill the entire month of July – one post per day – addressing these ideas.

Via a private message, Colleen said “I have been thinking about donating to [Charity X]. How do I know if they’re legitimate or not and if they put the money to good use?”

Obviously, I edited out the specific charity that Colleen mentioned, as it’s not particularly a charity I wish to promote publicly (as I discussed with Colleen, the specific charity she mentioned does some work that I don’t agree with). Instead, I’ll discuss how to research a charity from a more neutral standpoint.

What You Need to Know
There are several key questions you should have the answer to before donating a significant amount to any charity.

What is the charity’s stated mission? Why do they claim to exist? This is a fundamental point. If they claim to exist for a reason you don’t wholly and deeply agree with, you should focus your money and energy on other charities.

Is this organization actually a charity? You need to know if the organization is a certified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. This means that they’re held to certain legal standards, including some restrictions on how they spend their money and how much information about their inner workings they have to share, as well as their tax status (which affects whether you can deduct any donations you make from your own income taxes).

Who runs the organization? Is there a president? A board of directors? A chairman? Who are these people? Are they legitimate folks or people of dubious background?

Do they disclose their financial information? The more open a charity is about their internal finances, the more legitimate it tends to be. An annual report (with independent auditors) is a must and it should include things such as a highly detailed budget and explanation of where all of the money goes. Ideally, they also should make available some of their IRS filings, such as Form 990.

What does your donated dollar translate into? If you give them a dollar, how many cents of that dollar go to various uses? How much goes to the actual cause? How much goes for adminstrative costs, promotional costs, and so on? Obviously, some of your money will need to go to keep the doors open, but most of your money should be going to the cause itself. It’s also worth noting how exactly the money used for the cause is used. Who are the actual beneficiaries? Where are the actual beneficiaries?

How to Find It
You can find most of this information from the comfort of your web browser.

For starters, visit the web site of the charity. There, you should be able to find such information as the mission of the charity, the most recent annual report from the charity, and information about the management of the charity (who’s in charge, in other words).

Next, study that annual report. It should include a very detailed budget explaining where every dime of their money goes and what proportion of it goes into the cause itself. Again, you shouldn’t expect 100% of the money to go to the cause, but a high percentage is expected. You’ll also want to make sure that the budget is audited (check for information about the auditor).

After that, check up on the people involved. At the very least, do a few Google searches on the chairman of the organization and the board members just to see what you turn up. If they have a Wikipedia entry, be sure to read it over. Also, Google the stated auditor of the charity, and you may even want to contact the auditor to make sure that they actually did audit the organization’s books.

Finally, stop by Charity Navigator. Charity Navigator is a wonderful tool that provides a wealth of information about many charities, particularly larger ones. They analyze charities in comparison to other charities of the same type and offer ratings that show how these charities use their money and resources compared to similar charities. Don’t sweat it if the charity you’re looking for isn’t there, as many smaller charities are not listed. However, most large charities are listed. Some charities have glowing reports, while others give off dire warnings.

Together, these tactics and tools should give you a pretty clear picture of the charity you’re considering donating to.

Since my tongue-in-cheek post on Monday about my “seminar series,” I’ve been stunned at the outpouring of emails and notes from people who wanted to pay me anyway for that “seminar.”

I really appreciate it. I deeply appreciate it.

Right now, though, I’m in a financial situation where, for the time being and for the near term, I don’t need that money. I actually live the things I write about on this site. My financial situation is relatively secure (nothing is absolutely secure, but I’m happy with where I’m at).

Yet, at the same time, I deeply understand the desire to give. I often donate to websites and web tools that I use or find valuable or find inspiration, just because I know how much work and passion goes into putting that out there.

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about how to handle this. I thought about my life and the people in it. Pretty quickly, the right answer came to me.

Three members of my close family all work for the same charity. This charity does tremendous life-chaning work here in the United States on what’s often a shoestring budget.

This charity is L’arche Tahoma Hope in Tacoma, Washington.

L’arche Tahoma Hope is a charity that runs a series of homes in the Tacoma area. These homes – mostly just ordinary houses, but one is a small farm – are places where small groups of developmentally disabled adults live along with L’arche volunteers and workers. These developmentally disabled individuals are not able to live on their own and often come from families who are extremely challenged to care for them.

What L’arche does is provide a community situation for these individuals to live in. The people who work for L’arche live in these homes right alongside the developmentally disabled members of L’arche, helping the people there live the most full life possible in a community of their peers, where everyone is valued regardless of their disability.

When I’ve visited there, I’ve been amazed to see how developmentally disabled people have had the opportunity to live a full, social, happy life where they have friends who view them as valuable equals, something that would be very difficult for them to have in almost any other situation.

You don’t have to spend much time there to see the enormous positive impact on the lives of the people who live there. At the same time, I’d be the first to admit that it takes someone with special skills and a special heart to do the work that needs to be done to make this possible.

Even a cursory look at their annual report – they leave their books pretty wide open for anyone to look – reveals that they manage to pull this off with a surprising lack of funds, considering they run four fully-staffed homes. They don’t waste money there, and they make use of every single dime they can get.

Please, if you’ve even considered giving a dollar to me or to The Simple Dollar in the past, channel that giving to L’arche Tahoma Hope. If you’ve ever wanted a small charity to champion, consider L’arche. Every dollar helps.

You can visit the L’arche Tahoma Hope website or jump directly to donations through JustGive.org.

Thank you.

(I not only wrote this for today’s post, but for the ability to share this link in the future with people who write to me asking to donate money.)

So often, people assume that charity and philanthropy mean stretching an already-tight budget even further. “If I donated $100 to the food kitchen, I’d have to start using the food kitchen!” goes the common train of thought. (That’s not to say that donating money isn’t useful – it certainly is.)

Money can often be a very tight resource, but it’s far from the only resource you have. We all have so many things available to us to share with others that it only takes a moment of thought or effort to make a real difference in someone else’s life.

Here are twenty things anyone can donate to make the world a better place – and put a little bit of extra spring in their step – without blowing up their budget. Even better, many of these ideas will help you clean out your closets and declutter your home a bit. If you’re in need, this list might even help you find a charitable cause that can help you.

Donate your hair Locks of Love (http://www.locksoflove.org/) is a non-profit that provides hairpieces to disadvantaged children suffering from long term medical hair loss. It’s easy to donate – just grow your hair out to ten or more inches in length, cut it off, stick it in an envelope, and help out a kid that could really use a boost.

Donate your blood and/or plasma The Red Cross (http://www.redcrossblood.org/) runs blood drives in your community quite regularly, and many large communities have places where you can always donate. Keep an eye on your community calendar, then stop by and donate. It’s just a little prick on your arm, then you get a cookie and a drink and you’re on your way, while your blood is used to save someone’s life.

Similarly, donate your bone marrow Another renewable body resource you can donate is your bone marrow. The National Marrow Donor Program has a very detailed FAQ that discusses in detail the process of marrow donation.

Donate your vacation time Many workplaces make it possible to donate unused vacation time to people in dire need. Spend a day less at the beach next year and give that day to someone who is fighting a serious medical situation.

Donate your body space It’s all about the awareness for many charitable causes. Simply by having a band on your wrist or a ribbon on your lapel, you remind the people who see it of a charity and also let them know that there are people out there that passionately support the charity. Here’s a list of different charity awareness bracelets available.

Similarly, donate your bumper Get a big old bumper sticker describing your favorite charity and slap it right on the back bumper of your car. The next time you’re stuck in traffic, your car is increasing the mindshare of the charity you care about.

Donate your wedding dress Making Memories (http://www.makingmemories.org/) is an awesome charity that helps women with metastatic breast cancer live out their dreams. Many of the wishes granted by Making Memories involve weddings, so the charity makes great use of the wedding dress you’ve got hanging in your closet. Unused gowns are auctioned to earn more money for this charity’s work, so even if your dress doesn’t get used by a needful bride, it still can help them.

Donate your unused home repair supplies Did you buy too many shingles and now have a big pile of them just sitting in your garage? Got a few gallons of leftover paint from a job where the paint didn’t match or you overestimated your needs? Habitat for Humanity (http://www.habitat.org/) can put those resources to good use building homes for the needy instead of those supplies going to waste sitting in your garage.

Donate your flowers Got extra flowers after a wedding or other event? Donate them. Contact your local florist or local hospital and ask about giving the leftover flower arrangements to people who need them for other events or who could really use them to brighten their day. You can do the same if you have flowers that grow around your home.

Donate your nasty old shoes Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program (http://nikereuseashoe.com/) (check that site out – it has a great video explaining what they do in great detail) takes old, nasty running shoes and turns them into materials for public playgrounds and basketball courts. All you have to do is send ‘em in!

Donate your voice LibriVox (http://librivox.org/) creates free audiobooks for the public domain, which enables everyone to have access to great free listening materials. Such books are used as educational materials for the visually impaired, radio material for public stations, and countless other good uses. You can participate by volunteering to read and record a public domain book. You’ll learn something and make the world a better place.

Donate your old carpet Many animal shelters will accept donations of old, clean carpet for bedding for the sheltered pets. Contact your local shelter the next time you update your carpeting and see if they can put that old carpet to use.

Donate your cupboard excess or your extra garden vegetables If you’re anything like me, the next time you clean out your cupboards, you’ll find a bunch of items way in the back that will make you wonder if you can ever possibly use them before they expire. These are perfect items to donate to your local food pantry, where someone in need will have those items on their dinner table this week.

Donate your old computer Many charities would love to have that old computer of yours. It might not be up to snuff for watching downloaded high definition movies, but it’s perfectly good enough for a church to install Linux on and use for accounting purposes. Ask around at the local charities you support and, if you can’t find a home for it, ask TechSoup (http://home.techsoup.org/), which facilitates technology donations for nonprofit groups.

Donate your aluminum cans Our local high school has several groups that go through the neighborhoods once a year and ask for aluminum can and bottle donations. We simply store our used cans and bottles in a bin under the sink and when these groups come around, we gladly hand our cans and bottles over. If you don’t have such “to your door” service, many national groups facilitate the collection of cans and bottles – almost every Habitat for Humanity office will accept can and/or bottle donations.

Donate your used books Better World Books (http://www.betterworldbooks.com/) accepts donations of used books, which they then sell and give some of the proceeds in support of global literacy. If you have a bunch of books sitting around (and PaperBackSwap doesn’t excite you), this is a great way to turn a big box of used space into children who can read.

Donate the old stuff in your medicine cabinet Got medications you no longer need (especially sealed items that you never got around to using)? Got items to help you treat a condition that you’ve overcome? World Medical Relief (http://www.worldmedicalrelief.org/) will happily take those items and distribute them in a non-discriminatory fashion to people in real medical need.

Donate unwanted suits and business clothes Everyone has a suit or two in their closet that they rarely wear. Yet, at the same time, there are people out there beating the pavement, looking for work, and they can’t afford to dress for success and impress their potential employers. Two great charities, Dress for Success (http://www.dressforsuccess.org/) and Career Gear (http://careergear.org/), do exactly that, transforming the suit taking up space in your closet into opportunities for life-changing success for people who are reaching hard for that brass ring.

Donate your eyeglasses One of the best things (in my opinion) that the Lion’s Club (http://www.lionsclubs.org) does is run their eyeglasses donation program (http://donateglasses.org/). When your prescription changes, you’ll get new glasses and your old ones no longer have any use. Give them to your local Lion’s Club and they’ll help someone out there in need with vision impairment.

Donate your old magazines Once you’ve read that copy of The New Yorker, check and see if there isn’t a place in your area that could put the item to use. Senior citizen’s centers are almost always happy to receive magazine donations. If that doesn’t fit the bill, try hospitals and libraries in your area.

One final thought: donate your body When you pass on, your life has ended, but you have the ability to give the gift of life to others because of the life you left behind. Donate your organs and tissues to people who can use them. OrganDonor.gov (http://www.organdonor.gov/) provides everything you need to know about the need for organs and tissues and about how easy it is to be an organ donor.

The biggest lesson from this list is that we all have a lot of resources within us and around us that are of value and use to others. Sharing them, especially when it’s “no skin off our backs,” does nothing but make the world a better place. It makes you feel better, too.

I’ve collected these ideas from many different sources over the years. There are many great sources for ideas similar to (and overlapping with) these, including How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist by Nicole Bouchard Boles, The Generosity Plan by Kathy LeMay, and Give a Little by Wendy Smith. If these ideas excite you, dive into these books for more ideas than I could possibly share.

Monica writes:

My biggest “financial leak” is charities. I constantly see people in need and I feel deeply guilty if I don’t help them, especially since I know I have plenty of financial resources with which to help them. The result is that I end up with less money than I expected and it’s hard to make ends meet. I still feel guilty, though. What do you suggest?

Giving to others is a great thing. Giving to the right charities can have a profound positive effect on many lives and it can also make you feel really good about yourself and the positive impact you have on the world. If you have the financial resources to give, I strongly encourage you to do so.

However, I don’t feel guilty about charities that I don’t give to. There are more good causes out there than I can possibly give my money to. Because of that, I know that I have to decide between various causes.

For us, that’s an important decision. We use a few criteria to determine what charities to give to.

The only charities we give significant money to are either ones where I directly sit on the executive board, immediate family members are deeply involved with, or we’ve been able to strongly certify how their money is spent. If one of those three are not true, we don’t give them money.

If a charity attempts to use a sense of guilt as a reason to convince me to give right now, I don’t like it, to the point that I resent the charity and actively do not give to them.

For one, if they’re using such tactics, they’re investing a lot of money and energy into marketing, not into helping the people they’re trying to help. If I feel guilt in response to a charitable plea, I know it’s marketing at work above all else.

My dollar to a charity very rarely goes 100% to a cause. Every charity has overhead in terms of hiring people to handle the donations, handle the taxes, and handle the distribution. However, but I want the vast majority of it to go to the cause I’m supporting. I also prefer to decide on my own what causes are most deserving of my money without guilt-based marketing pleas. Whenever I see a sob story, both of those principles are violated. When I reflect on it, I usually wind up irritated at that charity, actually.

Our solution is a charity budget. Once a year, we sit down and evaluate what causes we want to give to far away from guilt-based charity advertisement. We use sources like Charity Navigator to help us determine what charities will actually do with our donations and we make a pretty firm decision about our giving.

Whenever I see pleas for charitable giving, I simply remind myself that (1) this is marketing at work and (2) we’ve already given a substantial amount this year and have already decided what to spend the rest on. These two facts knock down any focus group designed charity marketing that we see.

Don’t feel guilty about charities you can’t afford to give to. Know what you can afford and plan it in advance. Recognize that the heart pangs you feel are just the result of marketing intended to make you feel that way. Walk away and make your decision with an unclouded mind.

Good luck.

Over the last few weeks, quite a few readers have written to me asking about Angel Food Ministries. I’ve been very hesitant to discuss Angel Food Ministries on The Simple Dollar for a handful of reasons, but this is clearly a topic that many readers are interested in hearing about, so I’ll do my best to navigate this minefield (meaning, I’m pretty sure I’m going to say something that’s going to set someone off, though I’m not intending to). I should also point out that I have a bit of experience in the past with Angel Food Ministries on the ground – I’m personally aware of the type of items that they distribute.

What Is Angel Food Ministries?
Angel Food Ministries is a non-profit group that distributes low-cost food options in many communities (a typical basic box from Angel Food Ministries costs $30 and has approximately $55 worth of groceries in the box).

Most of the funding and organizational structure of Angel Food Ministries is handled through evangelical Christian churches in the United States. Many churches serve as distribution centers in local communities, and each box contains a leaflet that outlines some of the teachings of Jesus Christ.

What’s in the Box?
The May 2009 menu provides a clear example of what a box from Angel Food Ministries will provide:

.5 lb. Lean Chopped Beef Steaks (5 x 8 oz.)
5 lb. Leg Quarters
2 lb. Chicken and Corn Bread Stuffing Casserole (Ready to Cook)
28 oz. Salisbury Steak Dinner Entrée
1 lb. Boneless Pork Chops (4 x 4 oz.)
1 lb. Corn Dogs (6 ct.)
12 oz. Deli Sliced Ham
5 oz. Chunk Light Tuna in Water
32 oz. French Fries
1 lb. Sweet Corn
15 oz. Musselman’s Apple Sauce
15 oz. Pears (Product of U.S.A.)
8 oz. Dinner Roll Mix (Makes 8 Nice Rolls)
7.5 oz. Mac ’n Cheese
32 oz. 2% Shelf Stable Milk
Dozen Eggs
Dessert

This box is available for $30.

At first glance, this is a pretty good deal, and if your primary concern is getting food on the table at a very low price, this is likely a great option for you.

However, if you dig a little deeper, some of these options may not be the best value for your dollar. For example, I would be hesitant to feed several of the options on that list to my children on any sort of consistent basis, at least not without some careful inspection of the actual nutrition facts and ingredients of those items (the corn dogs, the “dessert” item which is often something like Twinkies or Moon Pies, etc.) Under that perspective, though, if I were to get the box, then throw out a third of the items, I might as well simply go to the grocery store at my own convenience and choose the exact items I want for my $30. Other writers have come to largely the same conclusion – it’s a value on the surface, but the quality of items may not be up to many personal standards.

Some would argue that I am somewhat looking a gift horse in the mouth here, and I agree that I am. From my perspective, this box is one option for spending $30 in food for my family. Depending on your financial situation and your food priorities, this can be a great bargain. It mostly depends on the type of value you’re seeking.

What Angel Food Ministries Does Right
One area where Angel Food Ministries hits a home run, in my opinion, is with some of their optional packages. You can choose an optional package as an addition to the basic package, as listed above. For example, one of their optional packages for May 2009 is the “Fresh Fruit and Veggie Package”:

1 head Premium Fresh California Iceberg Lettuce
1 head Premium Fresh California Romaine Lettuce
1 5 oz. Package Fresh Gourmet Classic Caesar Croutons
1 Package Wiley’s Citrus Garlic Salad Seasoning
1 lb. California Cello-Pack Carrots
2 each Premium Jumbo Vidalia Sweet Onions
1 each Premium Jumbo Red Onion
1 6 oz. Bag Premium Fresh Florida Red Radishes
1 head Premium Fresh Green Cabbage
3 lb. Premium Idaho Baking Potatoes
3 lb. Premium Tree-Ripened Valencia Oranges
3 lb. Premium Washington State Red Delicious Apples
1 each Premium Large Vine Ripened Honeydew Melon
AFM May 2009 Fruit and Veggie Recipe Sheet

For $22, that’s a very strong deal, especially if you want to get fresh produce on the table and you’re struggling to make ends meet.

Another strong advantage of Angel Food Ministries is that they often distribute in central community locations (like churches) that are quite accessible for many families that may not have access to transportation to get to the grocery store. Using a church as a distribution center means that the distribution often occurs in the middle of a residential area, making it easier for many people to access the food – particularly those who need it the most.

Is It Right To Use This Service?
In terms of using this service, my biggest question is whether it’s a justifiable option. Quite obviously, this service is trying to target lower-income families who can really use the savings provided by the options made available through the ministry.

The question is whether or not it’s ethical – or socially appropriate – for a person with a higher income level who is simply trying to maximize every cent to take advantage of this service.

On the one hand, the service makes it clear that it’s intended for everyone. There are no requirements at all for people to take part in receiving food from Angel Food Ministries, and they claim that there is plenty of food to go around.

On the other hand, if you’re in a situation where you have a reasonably large monthly food budget, why would you choose to use this service? If you are making it your goal to feed yourself and your family a well-rounded, high quality diet, many of the options in the basic box from Angel Food Ministries probably do not fit the bill, making it much less of a savings for you.

Thus, I think the question really comes down to your own personal food choices. If you are in a tight financial place and the goal is to get sanitary and diverse food options on the table at the lowest cost possible for your family, Angel Food Ministries is where you should go – and you’re exactly the type of person the service was designed for. On the other hand, if you have enough of a food budget that you can make detailed conscious choices about what goes on your table and what does not, you’re likely better off going to the grocery store and the farmer’s market – which, again, is appropriate.

In other words, Angel Food Ministries somewhat self-regulates – if this is a good deal for your life situation, they’re ready and willing to help. For me, though, I’ll stick with my own meal planning, which gives me much more control over what goes on my table (albeit at a higher price – a price I’m willing to pay).

Angel Food Ministries as a Charity
As you can see, in large part, I support the work that Angel Food Ministries does on the ground in getting low cost foods to people who really need them. In fact, I had considered donating to Angel Food Ministries in the past – and, as I’ve mentioned before, that means I sat down to research how the charity itself worked.

What I found sent up a few pretty big red flags for me.

First of all, the charity is not listed with Charity Navigator, an impartial service that evaluates charities in terms of how they manage themselves internally and how much of their revenue actually goes towards charitable work. This is a basic step that many charities of any size take on – it’s the honest way to conduct a charity.

Second, the charity is being investigated by the FBI for reasons that are not being made clear by either the charity or the FBI. Here’s some details on the investigation.

Perhaps the biggest red flag, however, comes from MinistryWatch, a watchdog group for Christian-affiliated charities. It issued a “donor watch” for Angel Food Ministries, stating the following:

Angel Food Ministries is marketing to help individuals that are on the low economic side of the scale and in “need”; however, the leadership for the organization has higher salaries than the norm. In addition, the higher salaries consist of the leadership of individuals that are related. This is just for the known year of 2006, it is unknown of the more current years.

1. Wesley J. Wingo: $588,529
2. Linda Wingo: $544,043
3. Andrew Wingo: $529,014
4. Wesley Wingo: $454,673
5. L.M. Wingo: $384,694

Let alone the fact that these five people are related, the individual salaries are above and beyond what charities typically pay their employees, even large charities at the highest management levels.

Obviously, these discoveries are much more of interest to people who are considering donating to Angel Food Ministries. This should in no way prevent you from using Angel Food Ministries in your community.

My Final Take
On the ground, Angel Food Ministries provides a good service that many people really need – a lot of food at a very reasonable price at the expense of flexibility. For someone in a poor financial situation, Angel Food Ministries can really be a godsend.

However, as a broader charity, I would not donate to Angel Food Ministries when there are many highly ethical charities out there to contribute time and effort to. In many larger cities, there are local versions of Angel Food Ministries that you can donate to or be involved with – just ask around in your own community.

When I was about twenty years old, I was walking near the edge of a rough part of Des Moines, Iowa and I saw something that’s stuck with me ever since.

There was a young boy there, about six years old, and he was climbing out of a dumpster behind an apartment building. He was dressed in a dirty tank top and shorts and was barefooted. In his hand, he had a wadded-up fast food bag. When he hit the ground, he ran around to the far side of the dumpster, opened up the bag, and pulled out a handful of french fries, which he stuffed in his mouth as though he were starving.

I have never in my life felt so compelled to help someone out, but I didn’t know what to do. I looked around and spied a McDonald’s about a block away and so I walked over near the child and said hello to him. He looked scared and started to run away.

I told him loudly that I wanted to buy him some food. He stopped and looked back at me for a minute. I told him that I was going to go down to the McDonalds down the street and buy him some food and that I would come back and leave it by the dumpster. He could come and get it if he wanted.

I decided to do it this way because I figured the kid wouldn’t follow me there and I also didn’t want to create the appearance that I was abducting him. He seemed to understand the arrangement, so I walked down to an ATM, withdrew $20, went to McDonalds, bought about $15 worth of food (thinking he could perhaps share some with his mother or any siblings or friends he might have), and put the change from my twenty dollar bill in the bag – four ones and some coins.

I came back to the dumpster and the boy was gone – which I kind of expected. I put the bag on the ground by the dumpster, looked around, and walked away. I watched for a little while, but I never saw the boy come back. I ended up just leaving the food there in hopes that the boy would eventually come back and find it, but to this day I don’t know if he did or not. I like to think that he came back, found the bag, took it to his mother and his little sister, and they were able to at least get some calories in their system to sustain them for a little while.

This experience has stuck with me for more than a decade now. I’ve seen some situations where desperate need was quite obvious, but never again has anything stuck with me quite like that barefooted boy squatting on the ground beside the dumpster eating rotten french fries.

There are so many situations that we come across in our lives where people could be helped out with just a little help at the right moment. I’ve seen a single mother (with two kids beside her) offering to sell the wedding ring on her finger outside of a grocery store. I know an elderly couple who have been very close to having their electricity cut off this winter. A close friend told me about a food pantry that simply ran out of food and had to turn people away at the door recently.

Lately, I’ve started carrying more cash in my wallet than I ever have before. Each week, I put a couple twenty dollar bills in the back pocket of my wallet and rarely do I spend them. Instead, I just let this cash accumulate over time until I find a reason to spend it.

I call this my “giving pocket,” and it’s already begun to make a difference in how I see these kinds of situations.

It’s pretty simple. All I do is keep cash in that pocket and wait until the right moment comes. Inevitably, every few months, I come across a situation where someone is in desperate need – and instead of feeling helpless in the moment, I give them what they need to help with the problem.

I’ve written so often on this site about how I’ve been able to pull myself back from the financial brink and put myself and my family in a better financial place. Today, we’re stable and safe – but there are so many people who don’t share that safety and security, through no fault of their own.

The giving pocket allows me to seize the moment when I see someone that really needs help, and my financial success gives me the ability to keep the giving pocket full.

Perhaps, just once, I’ll be there at the right time to help someone who really needs it – and that one moment of human compassion and help will put them on a better path in life. If I can do that, then the giving pocket is worth far more than what I will have ever put in it.