I am a huge believer in Pay It Forward. And fortunately, our country has been blessed with many generous citizens that do just that. They Pay It Forward.
There are so many ways to give and there are so many causes and charities to give to. While we want to be generous and give we also need to make sure that the organizations that we are giving to are truly being the most fiscally responsible with the money we are donating to them.
For some, giving may just be for the tax break they get. But, I think for most, they give in the spirit of giving. So we need to know that money is really going to the intended goal. There are some websites out there that provide some information on the various charities, but I think we need even better transparency. At the very least we should know how much of the money we give is going to the following about our favorite charities:
- What % goes to marketing?
- What % goes to the executives/employees?
- What % goes to the overhead?
- What % goes to the cause itself?
What we really need is a better rating system for all charities. A star rating that shows the charities from good to bad. Something that all charities will want to be a part of and that incentivizes them to be the best that they can be.
There are charities out there that just take your money to pad their own pockets and do very little for the actual charity. We need to know who they are and avoid them. And we also need to know that the charity that we are giving to actually is providing the service to those that truly need the help and that they are not being taken advantage of by people who do not need it. There are some foreign charities that are bad because of their overhead, corruption, and waste.
Do your homework and fact check your favorite charity. Make sure your money is going where you think it’s going.
Do you have any ideas how we the private sector can better monitor and rate charities?
