Better Business Bureau reminds businesses and consumers to verify charities before donating this Giving Tuesday.
The Tuesday after Black Friday and Cyber Monday is better known as Giving Tuesday. The Giving Tuesday movement has helped raise more than $1 billion for online charitable giving worldwide since its creation in 2012.
The BBB Wise Giving Alliance at Give.org urges potential donors to research charities before giving to ensure their generous contributions are going to trustworthy organizations.
“The evaluations we provide give donors insight into charity trustworthiness, helping them make wiser giving decisions,” remarks Art Taylor, president and CEO of BBB WGA. ”Holiday donations can make a real impact. Therefore, it’s critical that donors’ hard-earned dollars go to charities that operate ethically.”
The BBB Wise Giving Alliance shares the following tips to help donors give wisely and make the most of their generosity this holiday season and all year round.
- Watch out for name similarities. When charities seek support for the same cause, their names are often similar. Before you give, be sure you have the exact name of the charity to avoid a case of mistaken identity.
- Review the website carefully. A responsible charity will include the following facts on its website: its mission and programs, measurable goals, and concrete criteria that describe its achievements. You should also be able to find information on their finances. Keep in mind, the type of work a charity does will affect its costs.
- Avoid on-the-spot donation decisions from unfamiliar organizations. The holidays bring a higher frequency of donation requests outside public locations. Don’t fall into the pressure to make an immediate decision. Responsible organizations will welcome your gift tomorrow as much as they do today.
- Be wary of emotional appeals. Marketers have been known to exploit the holidays to make emotional pleas to donors. Instead of making an impulse decision based on emotion, do some research first to verify that your selected charity operates ethically.
- Check with state charity officials. In many states, charities are required to register with the office of the attorney general before soliciting.
- Rely on standards-based evaluations. Charities can demonstrate they are trustworthy by agreeing to in-depth evaluations such as the 20 BBB Standards for Charity Accountability.
- Research tax status. Don’t assume every organization claiming to do good is a tax-exempt charity. You can check an organization’s tax status with the IRS Tax Exempt charity. You can check an organization’s tax status with the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool. Also, make sure your contribution is tax deductible.
For more information, contact Alma Galvan, agalvan@sacramento.bbb.org.
About the Better Business Bureau
For more than 100 years, the Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands and charities they can trust. In 2020, people turned to BBB more than 220 million times for BBB Business Profiles on 6.2 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at BBB.org. The International Association of Better Business Bureaus is the umbrella organization for the local, independent BBBs in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
