A Public Service Announcement

Studies have found that Americans give more to charity than any other country on earth. When an earthquake, hurricane or flood happens you can bet that the American public, as well as our government will open our wallets to help those in need.

Unfortunately there is a never ending list of "charities" that will take advantage of this generosity for their own gain. They claim to represent the interests of law enforcement, soldiers, animals, or children and have effective marketing campaigns that tug on your heart strings. How much of your money goes to the charity's stated purpose? How much goes to fund raising and administrative costs? How much money do they have sitting around, not being spent? How much are they paying their CEO? I want to know these things before I fork over my hard earned bucks.

I have found a couple of resources that will give you this information on most national charities. Charity Navigator.org is a website that gives ratings on charities based on the above criteria. Their rating system is in the star system; 4 stars being the best, one star being the worst. I suggest you go to the website and look up some of the national charities. You may be surprised.

The second resource is the American Institute of Philanthropy (charitywatch.org). This is a subscription service ($30 per year) that gives a rating on many charities using an A to F rating just like we did in school. What makes this service worth the $30 is their Charity Rating Guide and Watchdog Report that is updated and sent out every 4 months. It's a quick reference you can keep by your phone to deal with those phone calls. In about 30 pages it gives the scoop on hundreds of charities.

At the risk of preaching here is a list of suggestions that will help in your charity giving.

1. Charity begins at home. Support your local charities such as churches, food banks, women's shelters, and health care clinics. These are usually run by people you know and are easy to see their effectiveness. Also, administrative costs are generally low and you have an opportunity with these charities to get involved.

2. Never commit to donate over the phone. Almost all of the phone solicitors are paid fundraisers who extract most of what you give to cover their costs. When we get them on the phone Emma breaks out the guide and looks up their rating. All of the ones we did this on were rated "F". When you tell the fundraiser on the phone they are done with you. Time will tell if this gets us off their list.

3. Not all cancer charities are created equal. One of the most prolific types of charities are related to cancer. The American Cancer Society rates a C+ where Susan G. Komen for the Cure rates a B+. Many of the names are similar but their ratings vary widely. Be careful!

4. Decide on your bottom rating level that you will donate to. We generally don't give to charities rated below a B- but make some exceptions occasionally if they are a C or better. For example I have been involved in the Relay for Life sponsored by the American Cancer Society. I raise money for this but their rating is a C+. NEVER GIVE TO AN F!!!!!

We have been blessed as Americans beyond the imagination of most of the rest of the world. It is our responsibility as stewards of this blessing that we help those that really need it; not the fat cat administrators drawing million dollar salaries. Maybe eventually those bogus charities will go away.