Charity Calculator
With so many causes and so little time, charitable people often have difficulty deciding how to best allocate their limited resources for maximum impact. Tradeoffs must be considered when evaluating what organization(s) to give to as well as whether to donate manpower, money or goods. This calculator will help you determine the best strategy for your situation by analyzing the value of volunteer hours versus working more and giving cash.
If you work extra hours instead of volunteering, you could donate the extra money you earn to one of the following charities. Below, you can see the impact working extra could have and compare it to the good you’d do by volunteering in order to make the optimal decision.
for the 19% of Children Facing Hunger in America
Against the Measles
for Keeping Girls in Secondary School
Receiving Clean Water for 1 Year
Planted to Protect U.S. Wildlife
Saved from Slaughter & Abuse
Infographic: Should you donate time or money?
Expert Opinions
To help people learn more about Charity Calculator, WalletHub's editors posed the following questions to a panel of experts. You can meet our panelists and read their responses below.
- Where should people look for opportunities to volunteer in their community?
- How should people consider the tradeoff between volunteering their time versus working more and donating extra money to charity?
- How can young people be motivated to volunteer?
- How can charitable organizations retain volunteers over time?
- Since persons who volunteer have higher odds of finding a job than those who don’t volunteer (due to developing new skills and expanding personal networks), should public policy promote volunteering as a labor market strategy?
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Robert L. Fischer
Ph.D. – Grace Longwell Coyle Professor in Civil Society; Director, Center on Poverty & Community Development; Chair, Master of Nonprofit Organizations (MNO) Program, Jack, Joseph, & Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences – Case Western Reserve University
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Heather MacIndoe
Associate Professor, Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs, McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies – University of Massachusetts Boston
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Jill Carrington
Professor, School of Art – Stephen F. Austin State University
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Femida Handy
Ph.D. – Professor, School of Social Policy & Practice – University of Pennsylvania
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Andrew Schoeneman
Program Chair, Nonprofit Studies and Associate Professor, Nonprofit Studies – University of Richmond, School of Professional and Continuing Studies
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Robbie Waters Robichau
Ph.D. – Associate Professor, Dept. of Public Service & Administration; Director, Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management; Faculty Fellow, Center for Nonprofits & Philanthropy, Bush School of Government and Public Service – Texas A&M University
Robert L. Fischer
Heather MacIndoe
Jill Carrington
Femida Handy
Andrew Schoeneman
Robbie Waters Robichau