I seem to get a lot of solicitations from various charities these days and I was checking out a couple online when I came across a site and thought it might be useful to some others here, especially with the holiday giving season coming up. With charitable donations down due to the recession, it makes a lot of sense to check out the charities you're donating to and make sure the money you're giving them is being used wisely and for its intended purpose.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
You can find quite a bit of information on various charitable organizations (in the U.S.) including how much they take in, the fraction of donations spent on administrative and fund raising costs, the annual salaries of the board of directors, and other great information. There is also a comments section where people can share their past experiences giving to a particular charity. I decided to stop giving to one organization I had previously supported and to give to one I was on the fence about after looking at some of the information there.
The site is limited to largish charities that bring in over $500,000 per year, but they have a link where you can look up the tax return info (Form 990) on smaller organizations. I was able to look up my local no-kill animal shelter and a rescue group that I give to through this method.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
You can find quite a bit of information on various charitable organizations (in the U.S.) including how much they take in, the fraction of donations spent on administrative and fund raising costs, the annual salaries of the board of directors, and other great information. There is also a comments section where people can share their past experiences giving to a particular charity. I decided to stop giving to one organization I had previously supported and to give to one I was on the fence about after looking at some of the information there.
The site is limited to largish charities that bring in over $500,000 per year, but they have a link where you can look up the tax return info (Form 990) on smaller organizations. I was able to look up my local no-kill animal shelter and a rescue group that I give to through this method.
