awesome idea

[beach livin']

So my son's first grade teacher sent home a note today, and has asked that instead of a gift, she would like each student to donate $1.00. The dollar donation goes to buying a child in a 3rd world country a flock of chickens. I thought this was an AWESOME idea. The charity they are going through is Heifer International.

 

[gryeyes]

I have supported Heifer, International for YEARS.

The organization started with donations to buy a cow (hence "heifer") for a village. Then they accepted donations for "shares" in a heifer for those that couldn't afford the full amount for a cow - it was something like $800.00 back then, dunno what it is now.

Then they came up with sheep, geese, 5 pr 6 ducklings, "a flock of chickens" and now they also provide a hive of bees, all at different donation levels.

It's a great "move to self-sufficiency" charitable organization.

 

[Linn Bee]

I have supported Heifer International in the past as well. I quit when I saw the HI building. Sure looks like they could have sent a lot of heifers, goats, pigs, sheep, chickens, etc. for the cost of that fancy building. Not suggesting they are doing anything less than proper, just that I personally would have used the money for helping rather than housing a business.

Love, Linn B (aka Smart Red) Gardening zone 5a - 4b in south-est, central-est Wisconsin

 

[Oregon Blues]

I have no idea about their finances or how they work, but the offices are most likely rented and sometimes the owners of commercial buildings give reduced or even free rent to charities.

I'm not defending Heifer, because I have no idea how they work, but I would not condemn them for fancy offices and no other reason.

You can investigate charities and see what they spend money on. It's all on-line if you want to look it up.

 

[ChicKat]

beach livin' :

So my son's first grade teacher sent home a note today, and has asked that instead of a gift, she would like each student to donate $1.00. The dollar donation goes to buying a child in a 3rd world country a flock of chickens. I thought this was an AWESOME idea. The charity they are going through is Heifer International.

Agreed beach livin'

What a great teacher, helping the kids help others-- and so powerfully. Depending on how many in the class, I think Heifer International's price for a flock is $20.

And we all know how wonderful chickens are, and what a huge boost to the children's nutrition in 3rd world countries. Awesome idea!​

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know the details of how Heifer works either or how efficient they are. Different organisations rate them differently, depending on their criteria for rating charities. And some critiques and rating available on the internet are out of date. From what I understand, Heifer has new management. My wife was on the committee at church that helps decide where some money raised goes to help people. They sometimes choose Heifer as a recipient. Sometimes they choose other organisations.

You can look at how much goes to operations versus salaries and overhead. That's a good thing to look at. But different organisations do different things so how much they spend on salaries and management will vary. Heifer is dealing with millions of dollars so it is a big business. Dealing with that much donated money they better have some accountants on the payroll and some people that know how to manage money and projects. Working internationally, they need someone to handle passports, visas, and international travel. I suspect they pay a company that specializes in that, but I don't know for sure. Part of their mission is not just to give animals away but to teach people how to care for them. That takes boots on the ground in a lot of different countries. Compare that to an organisation working out of a donated building with mostly volunteers doing work in your city or county. I think you can see that the percentages spent on salaries and overhead might be different.

I don't know if they buy animals locally or import them over international borders. I don't know how much they spend on veterinarians to make sure the animals are healthy. Part of receiving an animal from Heifer is that a female offspring will go to someone else trained by Heifer in caring for the animal. I don't know how much follow-up they do, checking to see that the animals are used as they are supposed to be and are treated right. There is a whole lot I don't know about Heifer and its internal workings. I've worked in third world countries similar to places Heifer International is working in and can appreciate some of the challenges. One big challenge is seeing that the donated animal goes to people that need it and not to people that are related to the people in power. In some countries that can be a big challenge if you want to keep operating there.

I don't know the current price per animal or flock they are providing. But the cost of the animal is not just the purchase price. The cost to the organisation will include the cost of training the people that will recieve the animal and any other costs for having people there to run the program and maybe vet costs or importation costs. From what I have seen, I think Heifer is a worthwhile organisation doing good work. But you need to make that determination for yourself. There are a lot of good organisations outt here that can do good things with your money. There are some that are rip-offs.