annual donation plan

In this Thanksgiving season, the excellent wife and I are making our donation plan for 2012. Some of our donations are tax-deductible, and some are not, as we believe that making donations to political causes to bring about the kind of country and world we believe in should be part of our plan. The causes to which we donate include charities, public radio, local causes, and art, as well as monthly donations to the Montclair Friends Meeting, of which we are members. In 2011, our donations equalled about 4% of our gross income.

An advantage to the donation plan is that we have a ready response to those who come calling for donations: if they're not on the plan, they probably won't get a check. On the other hand, we keep some money available for donations we did not foresee. Except for charity rides, we research our recipients to make sure the money is going where it should: as far as possible, we want to be sure it is neither diverted, nor eaten in administrative costs.

For 2012, our plan includes:

• WHYY, the public radio station in Philadelphia;
  
• our local rescue squad;
  
• our local fire company;
  
• the USO;
  
• the Human Rights Campaign;
  
• the local library;
  
• the PICO Network;
  
• People For The American Way;
  
• the ACLU;
  
• Lambda Legal:
  
• the Philadelphia Museum of Art; and
  
• Princeton Friends Meeting.