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Holiday Giving Tips And What To Avoid

holiday giving
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End-of-year, charitable giving not only nabs you a nice tax deduction, it also gives you the opportunity to support meaningful causes of importance to you. Holiday appeals are probably besieging your inbox and stuffing your mailbox to bursting on a daily basis, as many worthwhile charities vie for your attention and dollars. You're also probably being targeted by unscrupulous scammers who are pretending to represent charities, and some less-than-reputable, though actual charities whose work has less impact than you would hope for. Of course, you want your donation to count. Here are some considerations to mull over before you write that check.

Know Who Is Calling
Never give a credit card number or bank routing number to a telemarketer, even if they claim to be calling from a charity whose name is familiar to you. Non-profits do not typically call the general public looking for donations and these phone calls are often unscrupulous, dialing-for-dollars scam artists. Be particularly wary of those seeking support for in-the-news heartstring causes like a recent natural disaster or disease outbreak, such as Ebola.

Know Who Is Emailing
You may be on a ton of email lists, many of which come from legitimate non-profits, but never respond to one that writes to you out of the blue, without your prior consent. Be aware that con artists often mimic charities in email requests by using names that are highly identifiable and similar to the names of charities you trust. No matter who is emailing you, legitimate or not, never make a donation with a credit card number in the body of an email but rather, use a secure online server to do so.

Do Your Due Diligence
In order to assure a tax deduction for your contribution, make sure the charity of your choice has received non-profit status from the IRS. An easy way to look this up, as well as obtain pertinent info about the organization you are considering, is through GuideStar, a non-profit database providing up-to-date information, including tax forms, on 1.8 million registered, legitimate charities operating in the U.S. You can also check the Better Business Bureau's Start With Trust website for filed complaints against charities.

Demand Transparency, Efficiency and Accountability
Good non-profit professionals will not be offended if you ask for proof of their organization's fiscal health. Charity Navigator supplies a rating system that can help you to determine this, but don't hesitate to also communicate with the people running the charity. Look for professionalism instead of charisma and ask about their goals and fund allocation for programming and operations. Find out what impact your gift will have and what their blue sky goals are for the future. An educated funder is more likely to donate over and over again, so if they have nothing to hide, they will welcome your questions.

Think With Your Head as well as Your Heart
It's easy to be swayed by heart wrenching stories about starving children or photos of abandoned, albeit adorable, kittens, but remember that charities operate within the public trust and that the best ones are completely and passionately committed to a vision of making the world a better place. This may be by saving animals, children, an art museum, the planet or something else entirely. Whatever their cause may be, read their mission statement to see if it syncs with your own value system so you can feel good about your support.

Corey Whelan is a freelance writer in New York. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.


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