Key concepts to keep in mind before you donate, volunteer or fundraise for charities.

1. DISCOVERING
TRUSTWORTHY
CHARITIES
HOLDEN BUCKNER
HOLDENBUCKNER.INFO

2. Deciphering whether or not a charitable
organization is a functioning, corrupt-free
philanthropic body is one of the most difficult tasks
for charity givers and avid donors across the
country. With the plethora of charitable
organizations available to individuals focusing a
needs ranging from helping the needy to rebuilding
the community, conducting research to evaluate if
a specific charity is a trustworthy organization is
essential.

3. In 2015, Federal Trade Commission and law
enforcement partners from every state and the
District of Columbia charged discovered four
cancer charities that failed to allocate funds to
members related to their cause or mission.
Instead, these charities chose to use donated
funds that were not only unrelated to the
mission, but also benefitted internal
management.

4. Instead of helping cancer patients, the heads of
the Cancer Fund of America, Cancer Support
Services, Children’s Cancer Fund of America,
and the Breast Cancer Society allegedly
funneled donations into luxury cruises, college
tuition for family members and friends,
sporting event and concert tickets, and even
dating website memberships.

5. Some useful organizations that help
donors decipher a charity’s validity are
the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charity
Navigator, and CharityWatch. In
addition to examining including how
much of your donation actually
reaches the people you are trying to
help.

6. CharityWatch gives its top rating to about a
third of the more than 600 charities it
evaluates. Charity Navigator, which looks at
more than 8,000 organizations, allows you to
rate charities regardless of region or locale,
by . Charity Navigator also offers easy,
simple to do lists for donors and fundraisers
to examine before giving funds to a certain
organization.

7. Indications of charity scams:
-Unable to provide a Federal tax ID number
—that it’s a qualified charity and that your
donation is tax-deductible
-Wired donations are the norm
-Be skeptical of charitable solicitations that come
via email even if you haven’t signed up to
receive electronic communications from said
charity or organization

8. Unfortunately, scams within charitable
organizations are often times way more
common than you may actually think.
Following these simple tips will help you to
make smarter decisions when choosing,
donating and volunteering time at charitable
organizations that could potentially be harmful
to the cause.

9. This post was originally published on
Holden's Buckner's charity site:
HOLDENBUCKNER.INFO