Do Some Research before Donating to Charities
Tips for Donating to Charities
If you are interested in donating to charity you might find the following tips helpful. Donating to charity can be a great opportunity for you to share some of what you have with worthy causes and others who are less fortunate, but you should still be selective when you are determining what charities to send your hard earned money to. Be realistic too. You are probably not going to be able to donate to every charity that interests you, and you shouldn't feel bad about declining to give to a particular charitable organization.
On-The-Spot Phone Calls
Phone solicitations are one way that charities attempt to reach a lot of people. From a charity's perspective it seems like a cost effective way to reach many consumers and actually have a chance that they will listen rather then simply discard a mailing considering it be junk mail. If you receive a phone call solicitation from a charity, it will be up to you if you want to donate or not. I personally do not respond to phone solicitations, since so much of the money collected usually goes to the telemarketing group and I don't really know who is on the other end of the phone.
Who Are You Really Talking To?
Keep in mind that you are allowed to ask whether or not the caller is from the charity or representing a telemarketing firm that is paid to call on the charity's behalf. You can also ask how much per call the telemarketing firm is receiving. It is always a good idea to ask several questions in order to determine whether or not the person calling actually represents a legitimate charity or whether or not they are simply an identity theft criminal phishing for information.
If you find yourself wanting to donate to more charities than you can reasonably afford, you might want to consider rotating your yearly donations so that you can reach more of the charities you are interested. And don't forget to ask for a receipt from each charity for tax purposes.