Distinguishing Between The Genuine And Fake Public Charities

By Stephanie Wilson


Most citizens are willing to donate to charity organizations but are skeptical about the beneficiaries of their donations. Fake public charities are in the habit of pocketing the donations instead of channeling them to the needy. This is very disheartening to donors since they feel fleeced. To stop this trend, there is need for donors to verify the activities and existence of these charitable organizations before making their contributions. Here is a checklist that will help you establish the credibility of a charity.

Request the fundraising agent to reveal the mission, course or aim of the donations sort. It is easy to recognize genuine reasons. However, there are outright fake reasons like the mention of an disaster or need that is nonexistent. Should the organization or its agent give you an unconvincing reason, hold back your donation for a more worthy course.

Donations to charity are usually exempt from tax. Organizations receive details to be forwarded to donors so that they can make claims when filing their tax returns. If the fundraiser does not provide such details, or is hesitant, it is likely that the intention is fake or there is a plan to divert the money. Avoid making a contribution because you will be forced to still pay taxes.

There are charities that settle for names that sound or appear similar to those of popular humanitarian organizations. This is one of the tactics used in defrauding donors. Close resemblance is used to hoodwink donors who are not too keen on the name. Since this is a cause for alarm, the best thing is to verify the existence of such an organization. This is one of the clearest signs of fraud.

A fundraiser should never push you to contribute in a hurry. This only happens when the agent does not want you to question his mission or realize that something is wrong with the campaign. You are likely to fall for the trick especially when money is readily available. Do not give into pressure. Hold on until such a time when you can ascertain that the deal is genuine. This will prevent your money from going to the wrong beneficiaries.

There are organizations that claim to be years old in charity yet have nothing tangible to show for their existence. Pick the name and check online for news about their activities and existence. Should there be any doubts, halt any donation action. At least a few success stories and the latest photographic evidence is a reasonable threshold.

The government regulates and sanctions all charity organizations. The licensing bodies provide their details on their websites for public access and verification. You should check the administrators responsible for these organizations and the activities they are sanctioned to undertake. This will indicate whether they are genuine and reliable or not. Since the details are available online, you can verify them anytime.

An SMS option is provided to verify the authenticity of charity course or organizations and prevent loss of funds. Verify the details as provided by the fundraiser. If the course or organization is ascertained to be false, law enforcers should be notified to prevent continued fraud. This ensures that charity money benefits the intended persons.




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