Answer: To do a good (as in thorough) job, you have three tasks:
- Focus your giving on what’s important to you by examining what you value and care about, what you’d like to see done better or changed, and whether you want to help locally, regionally, nationally or internationally.
- Create a short list of charities whose missions and service areas appear to match what’s important to you.
- From your short list, examine each charity more deeply. See whether there truly is a mission match, and whether the charity is effective in performing its mission. Check charitable and tax status. Check their privacy policy. And see whether the charity responds appropriately to your requests for information.
Once you select a charity, start a relationship by making a donation or volunteering your time — kind of like a first date. Watch and see if they give you appropriate recognition (or anonymity). See how they deal with your privacy. Keep your eyes open as to how your relationship evolves.
We discuss charity selection and relationships in greater depth in our popular Smarter Giving classes.