Alice Brown
Over 400 scams have been found prying on those who want to help the Black Lives Movement.
Now if this doesn’t make your blood boil, I don’t know what will! As a modern woman who supports many causes, I always try to give a few dollars to charity whenever I can. As I grow I’ve come to value those I can trust.
But with things like BLM, how can we know who is legit and who is a scam?
Online Reviews
If the charity is older and well established, they will likely have a review on CharityNavigator.org, GuideStar.org or CharityWatch.org – Both of these organizations create reviews to see how much of the money collected goes to helping vs salaries and operating and advertising expenses. These sites are trust worthy.
Visit Websites, Not Just Social Media
When someone shares a non-profit they want you to donate to, don’t just click the social media site to donate. Visit their website. Most larger and more reputable charities will advertise their rating from Charity Navigator, Guide Star or some other similar site.
If you really want to sleuth it up, check to see their phone number. See if the publish their address. Sites that don’t publish an address are not very trustworthy. You can even see if the address is legit by looking it up on google maps. While you don’t have to go crazy and do everything every time, it is good to keep in mind to at least give a brief glance at your charities website to see if any red flags pop up.
Check Staff and Directors
Well managed non profits will always openly list staff, directors and sometimes even board members. This is the type of good sign you want to see.
Charities that hide this information are not to be trusted. Also, feel free to look people up online. Good directors might be part of other good charities, while bad directors and staff might be part of multiple bad projects. Reputation is key.
