You might have noticed that over the past few weeks, I’ve been posting about good charities on Sundays, and subtly urging people to contribute. I’ve been feeling as if I haven’t been giving back enough lately, and these posts have been part of my attempt to change that pattern in my life. And, if I happen to encourage a few readers to contribute to the charities I support, all the better.
However, you might find that you want to check on charities on your own. After all, you probably have causes and organizations that are important to you, and you might like to ensure that these charities are going to use your money properly, to achieve the results they state and accomplish the goals you want them to pursue. Fortunately, there are several good resources out there to check out your potential charities:
JustGive.org – A basic website listing over one thousand charities, powered by Guidestar. It lists the charity’s mission, the programs they sponsor, and classification of the charity. It also provides some financial data, including the revenue and financial data for the most recent year. It’s a good one-stop place to get a better understanding of any charity that catches your attention.
Give.org – The branch of the Better Business Bureau that oversees charities, you can get an even more detailed view of the charity’s finances, including a pie chart that graphs the relative amounts the charity spends on adminstration, fund raising, and the programs that is provides. That way, you can have a better idea of where your money is going.
More importantly, the BBB determines whether the charity meets its 20 standards of good governance. These standards cover every aspect of the charity’s activities, from the board of governers and how they are compensated, to how the charity goes about raising its funds and the proportion of donated money spent on fund-raising. A charity meeting all these criteria is a good candidate for donations, while one that misses on some of them (or even worse, doesn’t have a BBB report at all) should be avoided. (With exceptions allowed for churches or other local organizations that aren’t big enough to merit a BBB report; for these, you’ll have to do your own due diligence.)
IRS.gov – Why look up a charity through the IRS? Well, if you are looking to take a deduction on the donated income, what better source to double-check the charity’s tax-deductable nature than on the website of the tax collector? The most useful feature offered by the IRS website is the ability to search an online version of Publication 78, a complete list of charitable organizations on file with the government. You can search for a particular charity, and see (a) if they are listed in the directory (if not, you probably want to reconsider your donation) and (b) just how the IRS has them listed, as different types of charities are eligible for different amounts of deductions.
With these resources in mind, you should be able learn all the vital facts about almost any charity to which you’d care to donate. Happy giving!
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