Buying gifts is so often the focus of the holiday season that it's easy to forget charities also get the bulk of their donations in the last three months of the year.
Three years ago, the 92nd Street Y in New York decided to promote holiday philanthropy by designating the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving as Giving Tuesday, a day to pause the shopping and donate to charities. More than 27,000 partners have joined the cause, and last year the official Giving Tuesday website processed more than $26.1 million in donations.
Even without a Giving Tuesday, many people will receive a deluge of solicitations this month asking them to support causes ranging from helping the homeless to fighting disease or providing services to people with disabilities or other needs.
Charities that ask for your money should be transparent about how donations are used. Before you give, ask the charity what programs and services your money will support and how much of each dollar is spent on fundraising and other overhead.
Better Business Bureau has been evaluating charities for most of its 100-year history, using standards developed by the national BBB Wise Giving Alliance to evaluate local charities.
Reports on more than 14,000 charities are available at bbb.org, including more than 1,000 reviews of charities in eastern Missouri and southern Illinois. St. Louis BBB also has an online guide to BBB Accredited Charities that lists more than 200 charities in the region that meet BBB Standards for Charity Accountability.
Here are a few tips on making donations:
• If you are unfamiliar with an organization, don't hesitate to ask the charity for written information about its programs and finances.
• Don't succumb to pressure to give money on the spot. A charity that can use your money today will welcome it just as much tomorrow. Watch out for appeals that bring tears to your eyes, but tell you nothing about how your donation will be used.
• Before making online donations, determine whether the charity's website is secure and that it has a privacy policy concerning the use of your name, email address or other personal facts. (Secure sites' addresses begin with "https://.")
• When considering support for a cause-related marketing campaign, find the answers to these questions: What portion of the purchase price will benefit the charity? What is the duration of the campaign? What is the maximum or minimum total contribution? If the information is not on the item, check the organization's website.
• Before donating used items make sure they are in good shape to reuse. Donating junk puts an undue burden on the charity and does more harm than good. You may want to consider selling items and donating the proceeds to a charity.
• Check out a charity at bbb.org.
Sean Spence is the Mid-Missouri regional director for Better Business Bureau.