The Morning: A guide to holiday giving

December 28, 2021

By the staff of The Morning

Good morning. Many people think about charitable giving this time of year. We put together a guide.

Donations in Kentucky for people affected by tornadoes.Greg Eans/The Messenger-Inquirer, via Associated Press

A giving guide

The end of the year is a time when people often assess their charitable giving and make some final donations. We know that choosing where to give can sometimes feel overwhelming. Today's newsletter is intended to help.

Below, you'll find tips and ideas from articles in The Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Detroit News, Mashable and more.

Get bang for your buck

How can you maximize the impact of your donations, especially if you can't afford to give large amounts? Farhad Manjoo, a Times Opinion columnist, has an answer: Use a service called GiveWell.

"Every year, GiveWell distills its in-depth research into a list of top charities — the organizations that accomplish the most good in the world (in terms of lives saved or improved) for the least cost," Farhad writes. GiveWell's recommendations tend to be concentrated in the poorest parts of the world, where even small donations can do a lot of good.

One such example, which was recommended by our former colleague Nicholas Kristof, is the Seva Foundation. "A significant portion of their work is removing cataracts with a 15-minute surgery that costs roughly $50 per eye," as Holly Christensen wrote in The Akron Beacon Journal. Your modest donation can restore someone's vision.

Another example: Consider supporting efforts to fight Covid. You can donate directly to the World Health Organization, or to Gavi, the nonprofit that supports Covax, the U.N.-backed effort to vaccinate people in lower-income countries.

Give locally, too

"But what if you want to give money to people closer at hand?" Farhad asks. That makes sense, too. It can give you a connection to your community — to people you might see every day.

The Detroit News turned local giving into a competition, listing several charities — including groups that provide homeless services and support for L.G.B.T.Q. youth — and inviting readers to donate. The charity that raised the most got an additional $20,000 donation.

One piece of advice we have offered in the past and will repeat: Consider giving money to a source of local journalism that you trust. National publications like The Times are doing fine. But local journalism is in crisis and it's a staple of a healthy democracy. The Washington Post has a roundup of nonprofit newsrooms that are trying to fill the void in local news.

Climate change

Margaret Renkl, a contributor for Times Opinion, argues for a specific focus on climate change. If anything, the federal government's failure to enact climate legislation makes her case stronger. But where can people give?

Margaret argues for "supporting the environmental nonprofits that turn donations into collective action:"

The nonprofit news sources that inform the public about environmental hazards in their own community. The legal organizations that hold industry accountable and push for greater conservation measures in the private sector and at every level of government. The conservancies that work to protect ecosystems while they are still intact.

Even if you know you want to donate to charities that focus on climate change, it can be hard to pick which one. Vox compiled a list of what it says are "the most high-impact, cost-effective and evidence-based organizations."

If you need more, Forbes also has tips and recommends using Giving Green, an organization that "evaluates and recommends the most promising environmental charities in terms of their effectiveness in fighting climate change."

A wildfire destroyed Therese Rubiolo's home in California in 2018.Max Whittaker for The New York Times

More advice

The Times's Neediest Cases Fund dates back to 1911. It started when then-publisher Adolph Ochs sent a reporter to New York City's social welfare agencies to write about people facing economic hardship. The fund has raised more than $320 million since. Here are this year's stories. You can donate to the charities participating through the end of the year.
You can be just as mindful about gift giving as about giving to charity. The Times has tips on how to not buy anything new this holiday season. (But still spread joy and presents to friends and family.) Or you can donate to organizations that help parents.
The Wall Street Journal reminds people that charitable giving can come with a tax write-off. This podcast explains how that may benefit you.
For more advice from the Times's Opinion columnists, find their pieces here. If you're interested in any organization mentioned in the giving guide, go directly to its website.

THE LATEST NEWS

The Virus

The C.D.C. halved the isolation period for infected people to five days, if they don't have symptoms.
Airlines continued canceling flights over staffing shortages. Here's what to do if yours is canceled.
The change in work routines has reduced traffic in Manhattan, but it has brought "out-of-control congestion" to the rest of New York City.

MORNING READS

Good tech: The innovations that made the world better.

Science: Disgust is one of humanity's primal emotions.

Baseball trivia extravaganza: This quiz is not for the faint of heart.

Ask Well: Why is my eyelid twitching? (And how do I get it to stop?)

Lives Lived: Sarah Weddington went before the U.S. Supreme Court when she was 26 and successfully argued Roe v. Wade. She died at 76.

The Last Word: Watch the biologist Edward O. Wilson, who died on Sunday, discuss his life's work.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Opening night at Sardi's.Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Dinner at Sardi's

Sardi's is a Broadway institution. The restaurant has been around longer than some theaters, and it has hosted Tony winners, Oscar winners and even, once a year, the winner of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. In 1947, at the first Tony Awards, the restaurant's founder, Vincent Sardi Sr., won a special prize "for providing a transient home and comfort station for theater folk."

Thanks to millions in federal aid, the restaurant survived 648 days of closure. And last week, it tentatively reopened its doors with limited hours and reduced capacity. At its peak, Sardi's employed nearly 130 people — now it has 58.

Still, Sardi's has weathered its fair share of challenges. "It has been popular and it has been passé," the theater reporter Michael Paulson writes in The Times, "but it has always been there, known more for its caricatures than its cuisine, drawing a mix of industry insiders and theater-loving visitors." — Sanam Yar, a Morning writer

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

What to Cook

Ryan Liebe for The New York Times

Enjoy a molten, golden-topped potato gratin.

What to Listen to

"Podcast movies" are fictional audio stories, often featuring real stars.

What to Read

Four new crime novels, including "The Replacement Wife," in which a young wife tries to get someone — anyone — to take her suspicions seriously.

Now Time to Play

The pangram from yesterday's Spelling Bee was glamour. Here is today's puzzle — or you can play online.

Here's today's Mini Crossword, and a clue: "Congratulations!" (five letters).

If you're in the mood to play more, find all our games here.

Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow.

P.S. The word "girlbossification" — pop culture's efforts to turn historical women into contemporary heroines — recently appeared for the first time in The Times.

Here's today's print front page.

On "The Daily," a Capitol Police officer who recounted Jan. 6.

Claire Moses, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Tom Wright-Piersanti, Ashley Wu and Sanam Yar contributed to The Morning. You can reach the team at themorning@nytimes.com.