Givers Beware

The Aug. 19 issue of the Dallas Morning News featured a front-page article about several charitable organizations created to help the families of wounded and slain Dallas-area police officers. One of the organizations has only allocated 6 percent of the funds they raised to help officers’ families and another one – run by the same person – has allocated only 13 percent of their funds to the families.

The rest of the funds went to pay telemarketers and the salaries for the people who run the foundations. Shocking? Yes, but all too common. For most people, charitable giving is often an emotional response to a need. And there are always people who want to try to take advantage of that type of response.

It’s always good to do your homework on checking out any organization asking for your money. Yes, it’s a little more work – but it can ensure the majority of your donation goes to actually provide the help you intended. If you don’t want to do the checking on your own – or don’t have the time – hire Philanthropology to do it for you. This may not make sense for small donations, but if you really want to be generous, spend a little more to make sure your gift goes to a well-managed organization that will use most of it to help people. Remember this the next time a telemarketer calls!

#Giving #charity #education