What do you say to someone who asks you to contribute to a charity?
Don't automatically contribute. Ask a few questions first, and then decide whether you want to make a contribution, suggests Kenneth Albrecht, president of the National Charities Information Bureau (NCIB) in New York City.The organization rates charities according to whether they meet certain standards.
If you aren't certain of the nature of the charity, ask the following questions, says Albrecht.
- Ask if the caller is a volunteer or an employee of the charity, or of an outside fund-raising firm. If the answer is an outside firm, ask about the financial arrangements between the firm and the charity. How much of your contribution would go to the charity? Find out if the person asking for money is working on a commission basis. If the answer is yes, you might think again about the intensity of the sales pitch.
- Ask if the organization is registered in the state in which you live. In most instances, it should be even if its headquarters are elsewhere.
- If the organization is national, ask if it meets standards of the National Charities Information Bureau or the Philanthropic Advisory Service of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. If it's an evangelical group, ask if it has received the seal of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. "Yes, we are registered" with one of these organizations is not a valid response.
- Ask the solicitor what portion of the charity's expenses in the last year was used for the charitable cause. Ask what portion of your donation would go to the charity. If the solicitor says "We don't have to tell you," then say, "I don't have to give and won't unless I get the information I want."
For a copy of the NCIB's seven-page "Wise Giving Guide," send your name and address to NCIB, 19 Union Square West, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10003-3995.
The pamphlet lists national charities and reports on whether they meet NCIB standards.
Among charities that do not meet its standards: Habitat for Humanity International; Public Citizen; Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children; Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S.; Citizens for a Drug Free America; Christian Relief Services; AMVETS National Service Foundation; and Famine Relief Fund.