How do you KNOW whether a charity you are donating to is a good one or not as good or outright bad? Now you have a way to do so easily! Charity Navigator (charitynavigator.org) independently reviews over 8000 charities and grades them on all manner of governance including Program Expense (how much of what they receive is actually used FOR the program identified), Salaries and Administrative Expense, etc. The two primary charities that I donate to every year are the Kids In Need Foundation (KINF.org) as well as Feed the Children (feedthechildren.org), BOTH of which garner the highest ratings of 4 Stars from Charity Navigator. As I will be rejoining the Fundraising Committee for the Kids in Need Foundation next week you can expect to hear a little more from me about all the good that we do for children all across the United States. But the primary purpose for this particular post is is to enlighten my FB friends and friends of friends as to how YOU can quickly and easily check to see how your particular charity rates with Charity Navigator. My friend Tom Murphy recently posted that he was unsure as to whether or not a certain fundraising group was legitimate, worthy, or even legal at all! Now, with this one quick check you have easy access to a ratings system that you can.....literally on your doorstep if need be (!) verify and/or investigate the worthiness of any given charitable cause. Some charities are not rated at all, such as The Salvation Army, as they are exempt from filing IRS Form 990 due to the religious nature of their charity.....while other religious charities file a Form 990 regardless so as to SHOW their transparency and willingness to be scrutinized. And for Mr. Murphys benefit, as well as my friend Joe Casey, both the New York City Police Foundation AND the FDNY Foundation ALSO garnered the highest 4 Star rating. I think its important that we are all made more aware of what and who we are dealing with at all times and when it comes to charitable organizations, Charity Navigator is a very useful and important tool to have at your disposal. One can also donate directly to the charity of your choice directly from the site as well! kinf.org and feedthechildren.org are my two charities for 2015......what are yours?
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 21:39:03 +0000
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