09 November 2010

How to contribute to a charity

If you get a fundraising phone call, hang up the phone... and then call the charity:
Informed donors recognize that for-profit fundraisers, those primarily used in charitable telemarketing campaigns, keep 25 to 95 cents of every dollar they collect. These donors never give out their personal information - like credit card accounts, social security numbers - over the phone. If they like what they hear in the pitch, they'll hang up, investigate the charity on-line and send their contribution directly to the charity, thereby cutting out the middleman and ensuring 100% of their donation reaches the charity. To help you investigate charities that solicit you, we include each charity's contact information in the bottom right-hand corner of its ratings page.
Additional tips at Charity Navigator.

3 comments:

  1. Good info, esp considering that most charities dump the majority of their proceeds into MORE fundraising.

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  2. Use the same tactic when you're approached on the street for money. I work for a major charity, we've seen impostors collecting cash in our name. Please go home and mail a check instead.

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  3. "If they like what they hear in the pitch..." and end up donating directly to the charity, it seems to me that the telemarketer is being cheated out of remuneration for a job well done. After all, isn't this a donation that the charity otherwise would not have received? I have no problem with the person generating the donations getting fair pay for a fair day's work. I suppose it's really about defining "fair". But to me a 10% tip for a job well done is reasonable.

    ReplyDelete

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