5 Tips for Charity Giving

When donating to a charity, you want to be sure that your hard earned money is going where you want it to.
Here are 5 precautions you can take to avoid being scammed.

Ignore anonymous email solicitors and tele-marketers asking for donations.

Most solicitations via email are scams. Never give out you PIN, social security, credit card or other identifying information via email. Many people are victims of identity theft from this very action. Legitimate organizations typically do not ask for this confidential information. Anyone asking for your personal information in this manner is likely a scam artist. Simply delete the email without responding.

Legitimate organizations almost never use telemarketing to generate donation revenue. This is one of the most expensive ways to raise money, as telemarketing companies will keep up to 80% of what you pledged, meaning only 20% of your donation will ever reach the charity. Look for warning signals.

According to the FTC, fraudulent Internet charities have increased every year for the past 5 years. Some websites can be very legitimate looking, even stealing well known logos. One clue is to look at where the domain name was registered. Many scammers register in small foreign countries. If you see a web address ending in letters other than .com, .org or .net, be wary; this is a red flag indicating you're dealing with overseas destinations. Research charity organizations before donating, and do a charity check.

There are some very good organizations online that track, analyze and rate charities. One comprehensive website is www.charitynavigator.org. This site gathers all public financial information from every charity imaginable, and tells you how well they will spend your donation, and where it will go. Make sure the charity you wish to donate to is registered as a 501c3 status organization. This means they are legally registered with the IRS and you will be able to get a tax deduction on your donation. Choose how your money is to be spent.

Be leery of charities that spend more than 60% on administrative costs, advertising and fund-raising. You want your money to be as effective as possible. Write on your check how you wish your money to be spent. Legitimate charities will be obligated both ethically and legally to spend your donation as you would have them. Let others know if you come across a scam charity.

If you have knowledge or suspicion of a fraudulent charity don't wait; first contact the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov or you cant leave a tip at www.fbi.gov or even the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance at www.give.org. The FTC is also a good place to lodge a complaint, and can be contacted at www.ftc.org.

For more information visit any of the web sites mentioned above or visit www.scambusters.org for specific details of any scams you might suspect.