It’s the holiday season and we’re opening our wallets. Every year, December brings out the best in consumers as well as the worst in charity scams. From big name charities that have incredibly high over-head to the total scams that just take the money and run, the charity landscape is is often not what it appears.
And unless you thoroughly research a charity, your gift could be enabling this nefarious behavior.
Surprisingly, a number of America’s highest profile charities are guilty of mismanaging large amounts of money. Their TV and radio commercials feature stories compelling enough to make you cry, yet the behind-the-scenes reality is hardly heart-warming. From $600K per year CEO salaries to annual meetings held in Hawaii, the mismanagement of funds by the big players if often breathtaking.
Before you give to your favorite charity this year, be sure to vet them. Make sure that they’re using your gift for good. Charity Navigators is a New York-based non-profit that rates charities. Within 5 minutes on the Charity Navigator website, you can drill down into several aspects of a charity’s operations. And you can get an accurate picture regarding the real motivation of the charity and its leadership.
For more information on wise charitable giving, I recommend that you read The Consumer Team Guide to Charitable Giving. It’s the Holidays…a time to give, but give carefully.
Merry Christmas & Best Wishes for a Prosperous 2015,
CEO
Editor’s Note: Pete Thomson is host of The Consumer Team, a consumer advocacy talk radio program broadcast weekly on 1080 KRLD Radio in Dallas.
