Alternatives to tithing 💌
As I left off saying the other day, there are infinitely better ways to spend 10% of your income than by giving it to the Mormon church.
I see this as not only a strategic imperative from a financial perspective, but a moral obligation from a privileged one. Why on earth would you continue to give to a Church that has a $100B slush fund? (Which, casual reminder, is just one of its myriad financial assets, to speak nothing of the real estate it owns around the globe.)
One thing I always hated about tithing—even when I was fully active in the Church—was how impersonal it felt. Write a check, fill out a form, give it to a man in a suit. There was no way of knowing exactly where your money went, and the line items on tithing slips are vague.
But ssssh. The Church’s lack of financial transparency is a call to faith. Trust that it’s going where the Lord needs it most. The mantle of the Lord is upon the Brethren.
Call me faithless. I left black-and-white obedience and moved into a grayer space—where what I gave, and how much and to whom, was no longer a matter of decree, but conscience. Giving took on new meaning. It shifted from a rote task to a way of being. I became more attuned to real-time needs of people around me.
Over time, Brock and I have found organizations that we’re passionate about. I love the idea of each person tending what tugs at their heartstrings, but of course, efficacy counts. From this NYT article about a Wall Street trader name Matt Wage:
One of the major charities Wage gives to is the Against Malaria Foundation, which, by one analyst’s calculation, can save a child’s life on average for each $3,340 donated. All this suggests that Wage may save more lives with his donations than if he had become an aid worker.
“One thought I find motivating is to imagine how great you’d feel if you saved someone’s life,” Wage says. “If you somehow saved a dozen people from a burning building, then you might remember that as one of the greatest things you ever did. But it turns out that saving this many lives is within the reach of ordinary people who simply donate a piece of their income.”
With that as context, here’s how it breaks down for us.
GIVE DIRECTLY
Give Directly—The best way to help people in need? Give them money. No conditions, no foundations, no churches. People deserve the dignity to choose for themselves how best to improve their lives, and this is best enabled by straight-up cash. There is so much rigorous evidence to support this.
SMALL MONTHLY DONATIONS
A mix of local, national, and global nonprofits that merge our values and personal experiences. This intersection, I believe, is fertile soil for giving.
Maya Sherpa Project—run by my friend Dawa in Colorado, MSP supports education for girls in Nepal’s Solokhumbu region
International Rescue Committee—for Alan Kurdi ❤️
Central Park Conservancy—because it’s Mojo’s favorite place 🐶
Amnesty International—forever fighting for human rights
Medicine Sans Frontiers—medical care where it’s needed most
Planned Parenthood—because every woman has a right to her life
Grand Staircase Escalante Partners—local fighters for lands that I love
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance—local fighters for lands that I love
Utah Dine Bikeyah—indigenous fighters for lands that I love
Adopt-A-Native-Elder—indigenous elders on land that my people stole
Amazon Frontlines—a few months ago, I read something about carbon offsets that completely changed my perspective. The idea of carbon offsets is deeply problematic for a host of reasons—I’ll spare you—so instead, support Indigenous communities fighting for their land. They are are on the literal frontlines with craven profitmongers—fighting the hardest, and often paying with their lives.
WINDFALL GIVING
Find an organization fighting what breaks your heart. That visceral reaction, that “How can I help?”—I like to leverage it. The rage I felt over ICE’s poultry plant raids led me to the Mississippi Center for Justice. Learning about indigenous climate activists murdered by Bolsonaro led me to Amazon Frontlines.
I look organizations that get less press than say, Planned Parenthood or the IRC, and try to prioritize ones that DO NOT JUST WHITE PEOPLE on their board. Do they hire the people they’re purporting to help? Do they work with local community partners on their projects?
United Negro College Fund—Hey, isn’t it messed up how Harvard was built on a legacy of slavery and has an endowment worth $40 billion? For this and a million other reasons, you should support UNCF, which provides $100M worth of scholarships to 10,000 minority students each year.
Mississippi Center for Justice—They’re fighting for Curtis Flowers. Organizing rapid legal response to ICE raids. Litigating Jim Crow era barriers to black electoral participation. Forget your congressperson. These are the people fighting for our democratic ideals. See also: Make the Road New York, The Innocence Project, Immigrant Families Together, Mijente, United We Dream, New Sanctuary Coalition, No Mas Muertes, Border Kindness
Amazon Frontlines—I’m impressed by how they center indigenous partners as active leaders in their work, instead of just as marketing props.
Hour Children—Provides services to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women in New York State. Their prison-based programs help mothers build and deepen bonds with their kids, and their community-based services (housing, job training, child care) provide practical support to women post-release.
Muddy Paws Rescue—If you follow me on Instagram, you know what a soft spot I have for Muddy Paws! I wish we could foster all the doggos all the time, but we’ve found that it’s not fair to Mojo, who gets very anxious. Foster families are indispensable to Muddy Paws, but donations are too.
Anera—If you’ve ever wrung your hands over how to help Palestinian refugees, Anera is it. Strong communities require building up local expertise, rather than a top-down development model (looking at you, UN). Anera staffs 12 offices in Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank exclusively with people who come from the communities they serve.
Thanks for reading Gemini Mind! Elsewhere, you can find me as @yokizzi 💫