Americans are very generous and donate up to around $300 billion to charities each year. Most of the charitable organizations are trustworthy and reputable, but with a vast number of organizations to choose from there is always the danger of fraud. This article provides a list of rules that people should follow when it comes to selecting a charity to donate money towards. Some of the advice is common sense like making sure that personal information is secure or doing research on the charity. People should avoid sound alike charities and should not give to cold callers. It is also important not to cave into pressure from people that are being intimidating or not to fall for certain sob stories. This article provides links to many review sites that people can look to if they want to conduct research on any charitable organization that they are considering donating money to.
See Kristen Sturt, How to Avoid Charity Scams, Next Avenue, December 23, 2015.
