How to Pick a Charity

Your charitable donation provides the funds for organizations to research illnesses, feed the poor, help the needy and support other worthwile causes. If you want to donate to a charity, follow these steps to ensure your money is well spent.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

1. Decide on what type of donation you are going to make. This helps narrow your charity choices. You can donate food, money, vehicles or toys to different organizations. Figure out what you want to donate and find a charity that accepts that item.

2. Pick a cause that is important to you. An easy way to pick a charity is to donate to a cause that has directly affected you in some way. For example, if you have lost a loved one to breast cancer, you may wish to donate to the Susan G. Komen Foundation or the American Cancer Society.

3. Use the Charity Navigator website. This resource evaluates individual charities and can help you give to a charity that is known to use its money wisely. It also separates charities by category for easier navigation.

4. Consider a church donation. Many churches will collect donations from its parishioners and put the money towards several charities.

5. Find out how what percentage of donations actually goes towards the cause and how much is spent on administration. The Charities Review Council recommends that charities spend no more than 30% of their revenues on administration, although some other watchdog groups put that figure as high as 50%.

6. Donate to an area in crisis. If a natural disaster has occurred in an area, send a monetary donation through the Red Cross.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure the charity is reputable before you donate to it. Many people pose as a charity as a scam to get money.

• You can ask friends or family to give you information about charities that they support.

Resources

• Visit Charity Navigator to find reputable charities.
• Visit the Charity Review Council for more guidelines.