Quote:
Originally Posted by outdoorsnewzealand  That's not to say there are no people here that could use some help but I just think there is a lot potential for positive effects on peoples life in other countries. |
Yes, I agree. The fact that you're in New Zealand reminds me, I actually once donated a small amount of money to a guy in New Zealand - I sent $5 USD, but because of the exchange rate, it became NZ $6.15, so it helped out a smidgen more than I thought it would.
Unfortunately, the U.S. dollar has been suffering from inflation so I'm not sure if that would happen anymore.
Oh, wait a minute, actually, judging by
Currency Exchange Services | CurrencySource.com , $5 USD now equals $6.60 NZ, so maybe the New Zealand dollar is suffering from inflation even more than the USD. Wow, I didn't expect that.
Anyhow, though - because of that, I've long thought that if I ever get rich enough to be able to justify donating large amounts of money to people outside of my immediate circle, it might be neat to find a poor country to help which has a low cost of living, and a favorable exchange rate between my currency and theirs, so a dollar in my currency would convert to something that's a lot more significant in that country.
Not being wealthy, I haven't looked into charities to alleviate poverty in foreign countries very much, but I will say, if you're interested in helping poor people in other countries, I would _not_ recommend
Kiva.org, and here's my explanation of why:
Why Kiva doesn't work for me
However, if they ever branched out into providing a means to give financial gifts to people instead of loans that have to be paid back, I would consider them a potentially plausible option. I haven't (yet) heard of Kiva wasting time and money on meetings at fancy resorts, unlike some non-profits.
Unfortunately, I don't yet know who I would recommend. I'll definitely become more informed if I ever get rich, though - or if I ever get back into being more active in charity-related stuff in general.
Good luck and best wishes,
Apollia