What You Should Know Before You Give To Charity

The 990 form can look complicated but it gives you lots of useful information to help you decide if a charity is a good one to trust with your hard-earned money. The 990 form shows you what percent of its total funds an organization actually spends on its programs, as opposed to using these dollars to build up an endowment or pay administrative and fundraising fees. The 990 form also includes the salaries of highest-paid employees and how much went to high-paid independent contractors, so you can see if a charity is paying fair wages or is perhaps using most of their donor funds to pay themselves instead of advancing their mission.Besides Guidestar, another place to find reliable reporting information about charities is the GreatNonprofits website, which lets people evaluate charities based on their actual experiences as a client, staff member, volunteer or board member. And the Charity Navigator website has a star-based rating system that looks at a charity's finances, accountability and transparency.After you've looked at the various evaluation materials that are available, it's time to narrow down your charity search to a few promising organizations and then check out their websites or contact them directly before you make your final decision. Certainly you want to see that the organization has a defined mission statement as well as a practical strategic plan to carry out that mission. A charity should make it clear to you why you should donate to their organization, and how your funds will be used.

Finally, you need to know that the charity is able to measure the progress they make towards achieving their goals. While many charities use heart-felt stories and images to help induce donors to give, in the end what matters is that real changes are really going to happen as the result of the donations you and others make. So before you sign your check or do your electronic transfer, take some time to do your research so that you can be sure that your gift will actually do the good that you intend it to.

People always think twice before giving to charity. Over recent years there has been a number of disturbing stories in the media about charities wasting millions of dollars either in the wrong areas that have little effect or on administration and salaries. This should not stop people giving to charity as there are still a great number of worthwhile causes out there that need continued support. Most of these charities hugely benefit from the smallest of donations.Charity is, and should be, considered a noble act and in many ways it can benefit your life. I'm not talking about the tax benefits (although they should not be ignored) there are a number of other ways your life can improve by giving regularly to charitable organizations. Here are 5 reasons you should give to charity.

1. Small things can make a big differenceDonating even a small amount can have a big effect on disadvantages people. Small donations from developed countries are worth a lot more in the developing world. Don't even stop to think about it, give whatever you can, when you can, because you are lucky you can. Bessemer City