Making Cents: Giving to the needy at Christmas should appeal to us all

Grainne McGuinness advises on some of the best ways to help a charity this Christmas

With Christmas shopping in full swing there are many charities asking people to consider putting some of their Christmas spend towards a good cause.

Mark Zuckerberg hit the headlines this week by announcing his plan to put most of his multi-billion dollar fortunes into a charitable foundation, but the average Irish shopper can also help make a difference on a more modest scale.

Whether you want to make a donation in your own name or are considering one as part of a gift, here are some of the options available.

Donating in Ireland — If for you charity begins at home, then consider supporting the St Vincent de Paul Annual Appeal. This Christmas, over 140,000 people in communities across the country will ask SVP for help with food, fuel and basic clothing, so the charity asks for the public’s support to allow them to say yes in response.

You can donate directly at www.svp.ie, or choose to give a gift to one of the charity’s Giving Trees.

These are in schools and businesses around the country and have tags listing a person and age group (e.g. Girl 4-7).

You take a tag from the tree, buy a new gift for the child or adult on the tag and pop the unwrapped gifts under the Giving Tree or collection point.

These gifts are then distributed by SVP to families in need. Find out more on their website or at 01 838 6990.

Donating in children’s names — Many Irish parents worry their kids receive far too much at this time of year and lose all appreciation for the gifts.

Why not make one of their presents under the tree a donation to a child or family in the developing world?

Younger children will like the idea of giving the gift of chicks in Kenya or rabbits in China.

For older children, the gift of a school kit to help to ensure children in Somalia can get an education will remind them there are many parts of the world where attending school is still a privilege rather than a chore.

These and other gifts available at www.trocaire.org and www.bothar.ie, priced from €7.

Refugee crisis — With the ongoing issue of refugees in the news for most of 2015 there are many organisations looking for funding to help relieve the humanitarian crisis. You can make a donation to www.trocaire.org.

Irish Examiner columnist Suzanne Harrington has highlighed the plight of migrants in the camps at Calais. There are a number of organisations working to provide support as winter closes in.

You can make a donation to Doctors Without Borders at www. msf.ie or support the Red Cross Migration Appeal at www.redcross.ie.

Ongoing donation — Rather than a one-off gift at Christmas, why not commit to a cause for 2016 and sign up to make monthly donations for the year?

One popular idea is to sponsor a child in the developing world — again, if you have children it would be enlightening to involve than.

With www.actionaid.ie you can sponsor a child for €23 per month. Once you sign up, they will send you a photo of the child you’re sponsoring and the story of their life so far.

You’ll get two handwritten messages a year from your child, along with updates about how they’re getting on from the organisation’s staff.

UNICEF, WorldVision and www.plan.ie have similar programmes.

On Saturday, December 12 the Irish Examiner will donate 20c from every newspaper sold to two great causes, Focus Ireland and St Vincent de Paul. Help raise much needed funds by simply purchasing a copy of your Irish Examiner this Saturday.

DEAL OF THE WEEK

If you haven’t completed a tax return for 2011 the deadline is fast approaching. Revenue only allow taxpayers to make a claim for the previous four years so unless you submit a claim by December 31 that money is lost forever.

Barry Flanagan, Senior Tax Manager with Taxback.com reminded us of the main areas to consider.

“One of the biggest questions you must ask yourself now is – did you pay your bin charges in 2011?” he said.

“If the answer is yes then you need to know that this is the last year you can claim for this tax relief.

“Not only that, but we are also approaching the Dec. 31 deadline beyond which you cannot tax relief on any other expenses you incurred in 2011 — the top three of which are medical expenses, tuition fees and rent credit.”

Taxback.com also remind taxpayers that though service charge relief is now gone people can still claim for 2011. A maximum of €400 tax relief is granted (at the 20% standard rate) in 2011 for service charges paid in the year 2010.

You have to wait until after 2015 to claim any tax refunds for this year.

“Our average PAYE worker tax refund is €840,” Flanagan said. “Which begs the question – why, if you are entitled to it, would you leave it behind?”