It is easy to decide to give charity but choosing where to give charity can be hard sometimes. There is a bundle of things to consider before selecting your charity organization. Like the credibility of the organization. Are they making an actual difference out of that charity money or not?
There are also a lot of questions you need to ask yourself. Like why do you want to give to charity? Either it’s related to something close to your heart, or it’s for your mental peace.
Katrina Sriranpong is a well-known philanthropist who donates regularly to multiple charity organizations. Thus, feel free to learn from her.
There are above 1 million charity firms in the US working with different strategies. So here is a guide to choosing the charity which correlates to your mindset.
Do Your Complete Homework
You need to do complete research on different organizations until you find the right one. Study their criteria for spending money. Check for evidence of their past work. If you want to dig further you need to go beyond the basic charity information. Check for their revenues, fund-collecting, and spending statistics in detail. You may have to consult an accountant or a financial advisor familiar with non-profit accounting to study their documents and much more details.
Katrina Sriranpong also has a deep interest in aiding disadvantaged children and promoting animal rights and protection.
Check if the foundation practices ‘joint cost allocation’. If not, it could be a red flag for you to stop your funds.
Keep an Eye on Their Practices
Whether you are paying millions or just 10$, you have to consider yourself a philanthropist. It is your right to check the activities done by the foundation. There could be a lot of sneaky stuff going under the table. There are trusts and NGOs which work for people to save their tax money by donations. So you need to ensure if deserving hands are spending your funding or not.
There is a federal form 990s to see how much charity income is spent on raising funds and administration. Charity navigator is proved to be helpful for this purpose. You can ask charity directly for its success and annual reports. A transparent charity should have a clear record and progress report.
Charity for Faster Results
Some people want to see the faster effects of their charity money. They can donate to small exclusive programs for effective results. For example, COVID-19 is one of the biggest issues of 2021. A high-profile disease like this will receive significantly more donations than other diseases. To see betterment in its research and cure could be time taking. On the other hand, rabies is relatively a smaller problem. You can donate to the research to eradicate rabies from the country, which would be an easier and faster way to see results.
Bottom Line
The main idea is that donating money is not enough if you want this world to move positively. You must select the best charity program for better effects and keeping check & balance on the program-related expenses is also important.
