Websites to help you avoid charity rip-offs

It’s Giving Tuesday.

The holiday season is a popular time for people to open their wallets and make donations to charities, but how can you be sure your money is going to the right place?

WINK News has some tips for you.

It’s natural that charities compete for your end-of-year giving, but if anyone comes off as overly aggressive, that should not set off jingle bells.

“I think donors ought to look at things that they’re passionate about, rather than charities that are passionate about them,” said Chris Simoneau, development director of Lee Health Foundation.

Simoneau oversees the Lee Health Foundation.

“It is dedicated to helping your friends, your neighbors, your children in our community,” Simoneau said.

The money stays here to support the children’s hospital, trauma center and cancer and heart institutes. The list goes on.

We caught up with donors at a recent event. All three of the people we interviewed said if you give, give from the heart.

“It gives purpose to our lives and helps others, and so, there’s nothing better,” said Ellen Moran.

But give responsibly.

“You do have to do your due dilligence because it’s all key to finding out can your money go to the people as opposed to it going into the overhead,” said Kevin Hallinan.

“If you really want to get to learn about an organization and learn if that’s who you want to give to, visit,” said Scott Robertson, a charity auctioneer.

We visited this 36-home Habitat for Humanity neighborhood and talked with the CEO Becky Lucas about how they received their four stars on Charity Navigator and platinum status on Guidestar.org.

“We take transparency incredibly seriously, and so we have received the platinum rating for Guidestar with 100% transparency, and you can find all of our financials by going on, honestly, on our website. All of our audits, our financials and all the information is right there going back years,” Lucas said.

If you’re looking to give and want to ensure your money is being well spent, go to Guidestar or Charity Navigator.

They rate charities on various metrics so you can determine whether the one you want to support is impactful, financially responsible and employs good governance.

Your homework is really quite simple.

Ask for the charity’s employer identification number or EIN.

Don’t donate if they can’t provide one.

You can use that EIN to search for a charity on Charity Navigator, Guidestar, or the IRS’s tax-exempt organization search tool.