Archive for Charity

Evaluating your Favorite Charities Online

How to Search the Internet for Volunteer Opportunities and Information about Specific Charities

                 Internet searches offer the easiest way to garner information about volunteer opportunities and your favorite charities. Almost all charities maintain Web sites that provide basic information including a brief history, mission statements, programs, how to contact and ways to donate.

However, if you perform a general Google or Yahoo search, it usually yields an infinite list of organizations. For instance, a search for alcohol treatment centers produced 79,500,000 hits and homeless shelters 26,000,000. These numbers can be lowered by adding more identifiers such as state, zip code and specific type of programs and services. Even then the blind search method is tedious because the lists remain lengthy and random, many obsolete Web sites linger and lack currency, and organizations that pay a fee or have a high search engine ranking populate the front pages.

Knowing the precise name of the organization circumvents this aggravation. But you need to be cautious, since many organizations have similar names.

There are numerous Internet sites that offer volunteer referral services that match volunteers with volunteer opportunities. These sites cross-index volunteer positions by zip code and categories.  Popular sites include www.volunteermatch.org, www.handsonnetwork.org and www.encore.org. If you are looking for board experience, you can post your profile on the Internet at www.boardnetusa.org. If you are uncertain of a US-based charity’s tax exempt status visit IRS Publication 78 at www.irs.gov  for a current list of all charities eligible to receive contributions as charitable gifts.

Volunteers can access nonprofit news on many web sites such as www.NotforprofitNews.com. These sites usually list volunteer opportunities, job openings, civic events and abstracts of articles from philanthropic journals. The watchdog agencies such as the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance (www.give.org), the American Institute of Philanthropy (www.charitywatch.org), and Guide Star USA, INC (www.guidestar.org) are excellent resources to evaluate nonprofits as they post information from the IRS Form 990s and evaluate the larger nonprofits based upon a range of parameters.

Most charities are venturing forth into social media to form groups, post events, build networks, procure e-mail addresses, maintain a blog and increase awareness of a specific cause. Only a few raise substantial amounts of money through social media. Moreover, testimonials from volunteers and clients can offer a compelling look inside the programs that a nonprofit offers.

Saying 'No'

How Difficult is it to just say ‘no’ when you are asked by a cashier or other unfamiliar person for a small charitable donation for an organization with which you

are unfamiliar?

For instance, before totaling your bill the clerk asks “would you like to contribute $1 toward helping breast cancer victims or those with muscular dystrophy?” This type of solicitation occurs with some regularity and, if you decide to give, the small donations may go toward worthwhile causes but how do you know the organization that receives the money will put it to good work. It is a pure leap of faith. I prefer give larger donations to just a few organizations whose mission and range of charitable services I fully understand. What are your thoughts about these ‘blind-siding’ requests and do you have suggestion about how to suppress any guilt you might feel by refusing to give?