If, as is likely, you are one of the generous Americans who helped contribute over $241 billion to charity in 2002, you probably wondered at times whether your gifts were being used wisely. You are not alone: a major public survey found that 70% of the public had difficulty telling whether a charity soliciting their contribution is legitimate.
Increasingly, both individuals and community-minded businesses are looking for ways to evaluate the hundreds of charitable appeals they receive. But how can they assess appeals from both known and unfamiliar charitable organizations?
The BBB Wise Giving Alliance (the Alliance) can help. With decades of experience in evaluating national charities, the Alliance provides the facts and analysis that all donors can use to make more informed giving decisions. In response to public and business inquiries, it prepares detailed assessments of national charities in relation to a comprehensive set of 20 Standards for Charity Accountability. How a charity spends its money, whether it is ethically governed, how truthful its solicitations are-these are among the aspects of each national charity examined in a report prepared by the Alliance. What's more, these national charity reports are freely available at the Alliance website: www.give.org. (Those seeking information on local charities should check out the website of the Better Business Bureau serving their area.)
At www.give.org you can also find useful information about handling telephone appeals from charities, donating cars to charity, and child sponsorship organizations, along with other topics of interest to donors. There you can also learn how to regularly receive the quarterly magazine, the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Guide. Each issue of the Guide summarizes the latest charity evaluation findings and includes articles on charity accountability issues.
To help you give with greater confidence, here are a few quick tips for dealing with the solicitations you receive:
- WATCH OUT FOR NAME CONFUSION.
Look carefully at the charity's name on the appeal. Many of the more than 850,000 organizations that have received charitable tax- exempt status from the IRS raise money for the same cause, and names that sound similar to those of well-known organizations can be used to confuse.
- QUESTION VAGUE APPEALS.
Make sure the charity's appeals clearly identify the nature of the charity's programs. For example, if the charity says it's helping the homeless, does it explain how it is helping (through shelter, food, or medical care, for example) and where it is providing this help?
- BE WARY OF EXCESSIVE PRESSURE IN FUND RAISING.
Don't be pressured to make an immediate on-the-spot donation. Charities should welcome your gift whenever you want to send it.
- REMEMBER: NOT ALL SOLICITING GROUPS ARE CHARITIES.
If you want to take a charitable deduction for federal income tax purposes, make sure the organization is tax exempt as a charity under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. To verify a charity's tax status, visit the following IRS site: http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=96136,00.html
5. CHECK WITH OUTSIDE SOURCES.
Check with your appropriate state government authorities to verify that the charity is registered to solicit in your state. This is usually a division of the office of the state's attorney general. Also, as noted above, contact the BBB Wise Giving Alliance for information on national charities or the Better Business Bureau that serves your area for information on local charitable organizations.
By Bennett Weiner
