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Charity Check-Ups: How to Know if an Organization is Legit

It is one of the worst frauds imaginable: charitable organizations that appear to be doing good misappropriating or embezzling funds from well-meaning individuals. This is the nightmare scenario for all who give away money to help a cause they feel strongly about. However, this nightmare scenario can definitely be avoided. Here are some tips for spotting potential frauds, and making sure that your donation goes to those who most need it.

Do your homework. The World Wide Web provides many useful web sites that can help you navigate the increasingly crowded world of charitable organizations and non-profits. The proliferation of charitable organizations is a positive thing that shows how more people are becoming involved in issues and causes that they really care about. However, this makes it much more difficult for the potential donor to separate the great charities from the rest of the bunch. Thank goodness for web sites that provide side-by-side comparisons and information about various charity’s leadership and financial outlook. Simply do a search for charity check up and you will come across many great resources that can help you do the research you need to do before writing out that check.

Are they listed? Do they have a track record? When it comes to donating to a charitable organization, it is important that you ask these questions. Check with online charity databases to see if your potential charitable organization or non-profit is listed. Do they have a proven track record? There are a handful of very useful web sites that rate different charitable organizations based on a variety of factors. Another very important question to ask is: how long has the charitable organization you are interested in giving to been around? Are they a new charitable organization, or are they well established? This is certainly something you will need to know before you give.

Avoid donating to charities that solicit over the phone. Although this is not as big as a problem as it used to be, it is still common to hear about phone frauds wherein an individual asks for money on behalf of well known charity or organization. Most legitimate charities no longer use phone solicitations as a means of asking for donations. Be wary of giving whenever you cannot get written documentation and information regarding the status of a charitable organization.

Also, avoid cash charities. If your charity asks for donations in cash, this should raise a big red flag. Most charities will accept many different ways to provide donations. Studies have shown that fraud is more likely when cash is involved. To be safe, put away your dollars and give only to charities you know to be legitimate using a personal check. It is also advisable not to give to those cash charity jars that you may come across during the course of your everyday shopping. Although most of these organizations are indeed legitimate, studies have shown that giving to charities a few dollars at a time is much less effective than choosing a charity and writing a check for a larger donation on a regular basis.

When in doubt, check with local agencies. If you are really in doubt about a charitable organization—that is, you really want to give, but you are not positive that the organization has a proven track record, take the time to do research with local government agencies. Your state attorney general’s office, for instance, may have information if there have been complaints against your charity. You may also want to check with your local better business bureau if it is a local charity. Of course, web research can also be very useful.