This is a great article: http://business.time.com/2012/12/07/giving-it-away-5-ways-to-make-your-charity-dollars-go-further/.

The article mentions a novel idea called Giving Tuesday starting in New York with the idea that after Black Friday and Cyber Monday, people should focus on giving back around the holidays. This is such a great idea, I really hope it takes off. The article mentions that given the economy charities are having a more difficult time raising money, so the author gives a helpful background on ways to make sure your hard earned dollars are donated to organizations that will use them effectively. The ideas are common sense enough, but the article contains various websites and resources that will help you learn more about the organizations you are thinking of helping.

The five ideas are:

1) Read expert (and non-expert) reviews. This is straightforward enough. There are resources to read a charity’s financials, and there are websites that have people reviews charities they have interacted with over time. Additionally, you can certainly check out their websites, facebook pages, blogs, and do general google searches to get a broader view of an organization.

2) Check efficiency. This is very important and something we focus on a great deal. Some charities use a large percentage of donations for marketing, administrative purposes, and salaries. Not all expenses are bad, but the larger percentage that goes directly to those in need is typically better. The reason this is not always true is that an organization’s charter may be to spread awareness of a cause for instance and that may mean a lot of advertising for instance.

3) Check with the taxman. The idea is to dig into their form 990 to see how the organization spends money. You can see salaries of the top people for instance, and it is easy enough to do. If a charity does not file as a formal 501c3 then they may not have any documentation, and you should be extra careful to make sure your dollars are used in the manner you intend. We are not a 501c3 for instance and have donated money to others who are not as newer organizations may not have raised the money or had the time to do it yet, but you should be aware that donations to a non 501c3 are not tax deductible and there are fewer checks on the organization.

4) Don’t call me, I’ll call you. This is a good rule that I have not thought about much. The idea being that telemarketing is an expensive way to raise donations, so if you get a call from a telemarketer that the telemarketer may get a lot of your donation. I was unaware of this so if true it is interesting.

5) Be suspicious of soliciations that come out of the blue. This was an interesting section as well. The point made is that sometimes groups take names that sound like charities you may be familiar with and send you a letter or email asking for donations. You might assume it is a good cause, but it may not be what you think. Before you send a check, make sure to do a little bit of work and see if it is the charity you think it is and that they are going to do something you want them to with the money.

The article is well worth the read and Time did a great job on the piece. I think the idea of a Giving Tuesday is wonderful, so I am crossing my fingers it sticks.