Charity

Charity brings up questions about helping others, community involvement, and personal values. These questions work well for practicing should/would structures and exploring different perspectives on giving.

Questions are organized by level from beginner to advanced. A printable PDF of all the questions is available at the bottom of the page.

Beginner (A1-A2)

1. Do you give to charity or volunteer?
2. Do you help your neighbors? What do you do?
3. Do children at schools in your country do charity work? What do they do?
4. What kinds of things do people donate? (Money, clothes, food, time, etc.)
5. Do you ever buy things to help a charity, like special products or event tickets? What do you buy?
6. Who is the most generous person you know? What do they do?
7. Have you ever donated old clothes or toys? Where did you take them?
8. Do you give money to online charity campaigns? What kind do you choose?
9. Is there a charity shop or donation box near your home? What kinds of things do people leave there?
10. Have you ever helped collect food or supplies for people who need them? What did you collect?
11. Do you know anyone who works for a charity? What do they do?

Elementary (A2)

1. Do you know of any bizarre charities?
2. Who in your family gives to charity? Why?
3. Do you have a favorite charity or cause? What makes them your favorite?
4. What is the nicest thing someone has ever done for you? Tell me about it.
5. Have you ever helped a stranger? What happened?
6. Have you ever been to a charity event, like a fun run or a bake sale? Tell me about it.
7. What’s the most creative fundraising idea you’ve heard of? Tell me about it.
8. Have you ever seen a charity advertisement that made you want to donate? What was it about?
9. What kind of natural disasters happen in your area? How do people help when they happen?
10. Have you ever raised money for a cause? How did you do it?

Intermediate (B1)

1. What do you think are some important charities people should give to?
2. Do you give money to homeless people? Do you think people should give money to homeless people?
3. Who do you think needs charity the most? Why?
4. How much do you think governments should give to help other countries? Why?
5. Should rich people and corporations be forced to give to charity? Why or why not?
6. Do you think there are charities that are scams? How can people tell which charities to trust?
7. Does your country have a holiday when it is traditional to help out people in your community? If so, what do people do? If not, should there be a holiday like that?
8. Do you think it is better to give time or money? Why?
9. Do you prefer to donate to local charities or international ones? Why?
10. What is the most common way people give to charity in your country? Why do you think that is?
11. Should schools require students to do volunteer work? Why or why not?
12. Do you think celebrities who promote charities are genuinely trying to help or just improving their image? Why do you think so?
13. Is volunteering abroad to help poor communities a good idea or a bad idea? Why or why not?
14. Do you think giving to charity makes people feel better about themselves? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
15. Do you think it’s okay for charities to use shocking images of suffering people in their advertising? Why or why not?
16. Should people donate to charities even if they don’t know exactly how the money is used? Why or why not?
17. If you could start your own charity, what problem would it focus on? Why that one?
18. How do you decide which causes are most worth supporting? What do you look for?
19. What do you think motivates people to volunteer? Is it always about wanting to help, or are there other reasons?

Upper-Intermediate (B2)

1. Should the government provide all social services, or should charities play a role? What’s good about each approach?
2. How has social media changed the way charities raise money? How often do you see charity campaigns online?
3. How is corporate charity (like companies donating to causes) different from individual giving? What do you think about those differences?
4. Compare how natural disasters bring out charitable giving versus ongoing problems like poverty. Why do people respond differently?
5. Compare how different generations approach charitable giving. What factors do you think influence these differences?
6. What are the advantages and disadvantages of large international charities compared to small local ones?
7. Some companies build charity into their business model, like donating a percentage of every sale. How is this different from traditional charity, and what are the benefits and drawbacks?
8. In what ways can charity sometimes create dependency instead of solving problems? Can you think of any examples?
9. How do tax deductions for charitable donations influence giving? Do you think they encourage generosity or mainly benefit wealthy people?
10. How has the way people volunteer changed over the past twenty years? Think about things like online volunteering, skills-based volunteering, and short-term ‘voluntourism.’
11. What happens when too many charities compete for the same donations? How does this affect the causes they are trying to help?
12. When a company donates to charity and then advertises it heavily, does that bother you or do you think it is still a good thing? Where is the line between genuine generosity and marketing?
13. After a major natural disaster, donations flood in for the first few weeks and then drop off dramatically. Meanwhile, long-term recovery takes years. Why do you think people respond this way, and what would it take to change that pattern?

Advanced (C1)

1. When someone uses public social media posts about their charitable giving, at what point does ‘inspiring others’ become ‘showing off’?
2. Mutual aid networks, where communities help each other directly without a large organization in charge, have been growing. Why do you think people are turning to this approach instead of traditional charities, and what does it say about how people want to be helped?
3. Wealthy countries often send aid to poorer countries, but this aid sometimes comes with political or economic conditions attached. How does this dynamic shape the relationship between donor countries and the countries receiving help?
4. Some billionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have pledged to give away most of their wealth. Do you think this kind of philanthropy is a good substitute for higher taxes on the wealthy, or does it create problems of its own?
5. Charity campaigns often use images of suffering children or disaster victims to raise money. This works, but some people say it is exploitative and reinforces stereotypes. How do you balance the need to raise money with the dignity of the people being shown?
6. In many countries, volunteer work looks great on a resume or university application. When helping others becomes a way to advance your own career, does that change the nature of the act? Does the motivation matter if the result is still good?
7. The idea of ‘effective altruism’ says people should donate to whichever cause saves the most lives per dollar, even if it is not the cause closest to their heart. Do you find this approach convincing, or does something about it feel wrong?
8. When governments cut social services, charities are often expected to pick up the slack. Is it fair to shift that responsibility from the government to private donors and volunteers? What does this trend say about how we think about public responsibility?
9. People often donate generously after seeing a specific person’s story but ignore statistics about millions suffering. Why do you think a single story moves people more than big numbers, and what does this mean for how charities should communicate?
10. In some cultures, charity is expected to be completely anonymous, while in others, public giving is celebrated and encouraged. How do these different cultural attitudes shape the way people give, and which approach do you think leads to more overall generosity?
11. Many people will donate money to a cause but refuse to have a homeless shelter or refugee center built in their own neighborhood. Why do you think people support charity in theory but resist it when it directly affects their daily life?

PDF: Download a PDF of all the questions