Charity Check: Phone Solicitations
It's 6pm. The phone rings, and you answer as you usually do. Immediately the caller greets you and launches into an urgent plea for help: children are dying of hunger, women are dying of breast cancer, or an oppressed minority group needs your support.
"Can we count on your donation?" the caller asks.
Oh, your heart bleeds for this cause, as well it probably should - but don't get out that checkbook just yet, and giving a donation over the phone isn't a good idea either. Instead, take down the name and address of the charity and do a little charity check online.
While I have my arguments with watchdog organizations and the methods they use to judge efficiency, organizations like Charity Navigator, Guidestar, and the Better Business Bureau serve as excellent sources to ensure that the charity you want to donate to is legitimate. You can also check the website of your Secretary of State or Attorney General, as many will list charities and link to their registration and financial reporting paperwork.
What are you looking for?
- Evidence that this charity exists: a standard web search of the organization's name will provide you with some information.
- Evidence that the charity is a legitimate 501(c)(3) organization: check with your Secretary of State or Attorney General's websites, or Guidestar.
- While I have my arguments with measures of "efficiency", checking Charity Navigator or the Better Business Bureau (or both!) should provide some helpful information, such as the overhead of a given charity and whether any complaints have been lodged against it within the last three years.
None of this is particularly new information, except that my opinion of efficiency and overhead aren't mainstream in or out of the third sector. I personally subscribe to the more lenient overhead "limit": 25%.
"But Charity! A full quarter of what I donate might be going to pay for someone's salary? And you think that's OK?"
Well, yes, I do - perhaps because for the most part, salaries in the NPO world aren't very high except at the top. Charities rely on "overhead" (particularly the administration part; fund raising expenses are often separated) to ensure that the organization can do what it needs to do. How can an organization effectively provide services if the electricity has been shut off, the roof of its building is leaking, and they can't pay their employees anything resembling a living wage - or worse, can't even make payroll?