5 Things Before Donating to Charity

To ensure your support counts, do your research. Following are ways to learn more about a charity and avoid donating to a scam, courtesy of the Federal Trade Commission.

Before You Donate

• Find your desired cause online.— Search terms like “hurricane relief” or “homeless kids” plus (include) phrases like “best charity” or “highly rated charity.” Once you a charity like, search its name plus “complaint,” “review,” “rating,” “fraud,” or “scam.” If reviews are bad, start over.
• Check the charity’s website. Does it give details about its programs, how it uses donations, and how much of your donation will go directly to support the programs? If not, find a charity that does.

• Use one of these organizations to research charities:

• Charity Navigator
• CharityWatch
• Is the charity registered? Some states require charities to register with the state regulator. See if It’s registered at https://www.doj.state.or.us/charitable-activities.
• Tax deductible?If important to you, confirm the organization you’re donating to is registered as tax-exempt with the IRS here: https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/tax-exempt-organization-search.

Calls Seeking Donations

The safest thing to do if someone calls asking you to donate and you’d like to, is to get the name and website of the cause. End the call, look up the charity online, and follow the guidelines above.

How You Pay

• Don’t donate with a wire transfer or gift card. Anyone asking you to donate this way is a scammer.
• It’s safest to donate by credit card or check — after researching the charity.
• Beware of cryptocurrency. If someone tells you the only way to donate is with cryptocurrency and that the charity doesn’t accept checks or credit cards, it’s likely a scam.

After you’ve donated

• Check your bank account and credit card statements to confirm you’ve been charged the amount you agreed to ― and that you’re not signed up to make a recurring donation if you didn’t mean to.
• Keep a record for deductions at tax time.

If you sent money to a scammer, read What To Do if You Paid a Scammer for advice on how to try to recover your money.

Report Charity Scams to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov