By Dahlia Bensaid
ThirdAge News
September 17, 2001

How Worthy Is That Charitable Appeal?

If you're like many Americans, you're inundated with appeals from dozens of charities. So how do you know which ones are worthy of your hard-earned dollars? In particular, how can you ensure that your donations are going to the programs themselves, and not to cover administrative costs?

First check out Independent Sector's ten tips for giving wisely. The list includes guidelines on becoming an informed giver, including questions to ask before you write that check.

A great place to start researching nonprofit organizations is GuideStar, which lists more than 700,000 charities. Just type the name of the charity you wish to research in the Quick Search box. All kinds of information is listed, including financial information based on the charities’ IRS Form 990 filings.

The Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance publishes a complimentary Wise Giving Guide. Nonprofit organizations are listed alphabetically with everything you need to know about their programs, including lists of each's Board of Directors, accounts of fundraising methods and financial information -- including a breakdown of how each organization’s resources are allocated.

CharityWatch is an independent organization that helps you make informed and practical decisions about donating to charitable organizations. The charities are divided into categories including environment, animals, health, children, faith/religious and more.

Making a donation to a charity online simplifies things. JustGive makes it easy to make an online donation to over 700,000 charities. Learn about a charity, then click on the "donate now" button to type in the dollar amount of the donation that you want to make. The donation will then be listed in your giving basket, where you can view all of your contributions to different charities.

ThirdAge.com