Daily Idea

How to Choose A Legitimate Charity

Giving to charities is one activity people always seem to want to do more of. Maybe you want to give, but aren’t sure which charity to choose? Here’s a quick guide to help you figure out what places aren’t taking your money for a free ride.

We know there are too many good charities to name, but here are a few of our favorites. Maybe you can only give a few dollars or hours per month, but all small amounts add up to make a big difference.

Save The Children - Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating lasting change in the lives of children in need in the United States and around the world. Recognized for our commitment to accountability, innovation and collaboration, our work takes us into the heart of communities, where we help children and families help themselves.

Nine Million - Ninemillion.org is committed to giving refugee youth the chance to learn and play, recognizing that education and sport can improve their lives. Your donation is an investment worth making. These children are the hope of the future, just as young people everywhere are. We invite you to learn more about the power of giving to the ninemillion.org fund.

Habitat For Humanity - Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry. HFHI seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Habitat invites people of all backgrounds, races and religions to build houses together in partnership with families in need.

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Hi I am Nikki Key and you are watching the Daily Idea.

Giving to charities is one activity that people always seem to want to do more of. Each year Americans donate (insert figure) to charitable organizations, also each year Americans give away (insert figure) to fraudulent charities. We thought about creating our own fake charity to supply our out of control spending habits, including our director’s addiction to a hooker named Charity but decided against it.

(off camera): Oh man…

We here at the Daily Idea know you want to give and we have come up with this guide to help you figure out what places aren’t taking your money for a free ride.

First, do your research. You want to make sure you look into the charity and their background. This is work that you need to do on your own; don’t just take people’s word for it. My Uncle Bob always wears a t-shirt that says, “support single moms” with a picture a stripper on a pole. No matter how much he tries to tell me he is running a serious charity down at “Silly Sam’s Bait Shop and Exotic Dance Emporium” I can’t take his word for it.

Flash doesn’t always equal substance. Some groups will put together some really good marketing materials and leave them in public places or send them to your house. Just because there is a lot of production value and their pitch sounds good doesn’t mean you are going to be supporting a quality charity. Call this the “Waterworld” example, no matter how much money is dumped into something it doesn’t make it good. Those bins that you see at the local convenience store with the nice signs aren’t always legit.

Find out how the money is spent. You will find while a charity is legitimate it isn’t always run very well. While the money you are sending to support little Unabutu in Ethiopia is eventually getting to him it might be a really small fraction of what you are donating. Some charities have high over head cost, including paying executives exorbitant salaries. While the charity itself might not be as crooked as Sarah Michelle Gellar’s nose, the executives may be. So check into this by getting a rundown of how the money is spent.

Don’t flock, think for yourself. While we don’t want to tell you how to spend your money, there are plenty of charities that do good work that don’t have a celebrity endorsing it or are not a hot cause. Examine the charities that exist in your city, they are often neglected as they aren’t the cause de jour.

We hope these tips can be helpful to you, now we are off to stop the director from visiting “Charity”.

(off camera): It’s true love! You can’t stop us.

Until next time, I’m Nikki Key and you are watching the Daily Idea.

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