Attorneys General across the United States warn donors about making charitable contributions due to the number of scams that have surfaced using the internet. The suggestion that donations are not making it to intended destinations feeds the worries of donors, perhaps making them hold back on contributions.
Would donors still be interested in your cause if they knew that less than half of the money they donated actually made it to the worthy beneficiaries? Helping donors make wise, informed decisions about charitable contributions could come down to putting information at their fingertips. Most people want to be sure that they are giving to a worthy cause and that the money they give is helping. Here are some ideas that might help make the gift-giving experience a success on both sides.
Help donors to make an informed choice. Provide information about how much of the gift givers’ donation will actually go to the charitable cause.
Don’t make high-pressure appeals. Legitimate charities don't rush donors.
Provide written information. Legitimate charities will be willing to send information to donors before a transaction takes place. Provide information on your organization's mission and on how your donation will be used along with proof that the contribution is tax deductible.
Have a call in line. Make sure that your charity can be reached by phone. This will allow a donor to make sure that you are legitimate.
Make sure credit card payments provide security. Credit card payments make funds available more quickly. Using a secure site like PayPal can make the user experience easier and secure.
Provide appropriate tax information. Make sure to provide tax deductible information for federal and state income taxes. Donating to some tax-exempt organizations may not necessarily result in a tax-deductible donation and some organizations may even try to use terms like "tax I.D. number" or "keep this receipt for your records" to suggest they are tax-exempt charities when they aren't. For record keeping, a canceled check or credit card statement generally is sufficient for IRS purposes when you donate less than $250. For larger donations, you will want to provide properly worded receipts from your charity confirming the donation.
Provide alternative forms of giving. Provide alternative forms of giving such as charitable gift annuities, gifts in-kind, and endowments.
Make it easy to volunteer. Giving of time and personal skills can be a valuable to nonprofit organizations. Get organized and make it easy for someone to give their time.
What has worked for you? Give us your ideas.
nonprofit
2 comments:
Unfortunately the internet has been home to crooks since it's inception. This is in large part because law enforcement will not get involved unless is it a major scam involving millions of people.
Although I like the idea of peer to peer fundraising or being a donor to a great cause we need to be suspicious or at least very cautious as your post has indicated.
I like supporting causes that I can see their website being updated and am intimately familiar with their programs. I also like to see financial information and know of others that are involved especially those that volunteer because I am a big believer in giving time. Nonprofit organizations need feet,hands and expertise which sometimes makes a program successful or not. Transparency is the key!
I do believe that communication is the key difference in fighting this sort of activity. The donor and the charity must intiate communications at all times in different forms and by different people to successfully combat this type activity.
By continually helping people be aware that these activities can happen (such as this post) we do a great service in the fight to twart would be scams.
To help donors make wise choices, I think it's also important to have timely appeals. For example, while working with a California nonprofit a few years ago, I sent an email to our supporters asking for donations to support our volunteer programs. It was the best time to ask for support, specifically for our volunteer programs, as National Volunteer Week was quickly approaching. Among other things, I stated what the donations would be used for (recruitment, recognition, etc,), listed the different ways they could give - check or online - and within a few minutes the first set of donations started rolling in! We did not meet our goal but I attributed that to insufficient planning, plus our email/donor list was not that extensive. Nonetheless, asking for donors, at the right time, for the right cause, is extremely important to your success.
Great post!
Chanelle Carver
www.chanellecarver.com
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