I too have started to wonder how much money actually goes to...

I too have started to wonder how much money actually goes to those "in need". Having spent over $3000 on a fresh water well and fish farm a few Christmasses ago (from the World Vision Christmas catalogue), I was disappointed to be told they couldn't give me any details about where in the world these things were located, or even send me a photo of the completed projects. How could I even be sure my money had been spent the way I intended? The following year I just bought chickens and pens & pencils out of their catalogue.

I was actually intending to stop my World Vision sponsorship when my child reached adulthood in 2014, in order to support local charities instead. Except the project in his area was completed and my sponsorship was cancelled anyway. I got a phone call to say that they have transferred my sponsorship to another child, just like that, without checking with me first! Well I could hardly say no, what if the family had been informed already? And the child is only 6, so I guess I've been sucked in for a good few more years yet...

I pay for Calling Number Display and have also bought a new DECT phone. When a charity rings, I listen to their spiel, say "no thanks" then use the "block caller" feature on my phone against that number. Just checked the phone call log and it appears so far this month we've had 12 blocked calls. Of course some of them might have been an Indian call centre ringing to warn me that my PC is infected again... :-)