Charities...research before you donate

[motley]

Along with the many good charities out there, there are some which are weak, including some well-known ones (CEOs with massive salaries, etc) and some that border on outright scams, keeping almost all of the money they get in for themselves. If you do a search on "worst charities" (or "charity ratings" or similar) it can be a real eye-opener.

A few sites dedicated to this that might help:

Charity Ratings and Donor Resources | Charity Navigator

Use Charity Navigator's ratings and resources to find and support highly rated charities that align with your passions and values. Whether you're looking to give toward international relief, the environment, animal welfare, or something else, we empower you to donate and volunteer with confidence.

www.charitynavigator.org

Charity Ratings | America's Most Independent, Assertive Charity Watchdog | CharityWatch

Donate with confidence. Get detailed information about your favorite charities. CharityWatch is America's most independent, assertive charity watchdog.

www.charitywatch.org

Choosing a Charity: Avoiding throwing good money after bad

Choosing a charity to support can be a daunting task. Maybe that's why only 34% of Americans do any research at all. Here are some tips to help you.

fundraisingcoach.com

FWIW!

 

[Koolau]

Thanks for those sites.

For the most part, I donate to charities that I know of directly. I may know the director(s) or Head(s) of the organization, personally. These organizations are typically small and relatively unknown to the general public. I looked up some of them in the sites (above) and most are listed as 503(c)1 but they have not been rated. Probably too small.

In most cases, people I know have actually visited these organizations and in many cases participated in their w*rk as volunteers for days to weeks. Based on that I feel good about supporting them.

The larger charities, I usually leave to folks who only see ads on TV for the "big" charities. Exceptions are for recent hurricane relief. I looked up Samaritans Purse and Red Cross which both have excellent reputations listed.

 

[OldShooter]

I use guidestar.org to review the tax returns of charities I am interested in. You have to register as a user to download returns but I have been registered for years and have never experienced spam or any other aggravation as a result.

I look at salaries and expenses, also to see if the charity is a "family business" with multiple people with the same last name drawing paychecks. A wholly-owned taxable subsidiary is also a red flag, as the charity can pay the sub for services and the sub has to disclose nothing about profits or staff.