Before You Give

A couple of weeks ago, two of our close friends gave us a very nice desk for our home office. Our old desk was still usable, but was a bit small for our needs and was starting to show its age. After getting the new desk set up, we carried the old one to Goodwill. While it was well used, there was still some life in it. We also threw in some other items we no longer needed. We are big believers in giving to charity. I've always given to Goodwill and the Salvation Army. I've seen their work, and I trust them.

They aren't all so easily trusted. Tonight, WSB-TV in Atlanta aired a segment during their news on people who collect money from motorists at traffic lights, supposedly for church-related charities. They appear to be scamming people out of their money.

There are so many "charitable" organizations today that it can be hard to tell the legitimate ones from the fake ones. I stumbled across a web site that was designed to help. It's called Charity Navigator, and it bills itself as "America's premier independent charity evaluator, works to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the financial health of America's largest charities."

You can find evaluations of hundreds of charitable organizations across the country. You can learn how much of the money the organizations raise actually goes to the cause, and how much goes for program and administrative expenses; see how their CEO's are paid; even see if they are in financial trouble. It's a good place to study up on a charity before you give, so you know your donation is going to good use.