Giving Back: Vetting Charitable Organizations With Your Child
See Where Your Child's Donation Dollars Are Going
Updated March 27, 2023
At BT, we are all about the giving. When it comes to making a difference, families can make an impact by giving their time to help others, giving items to those in need or giving the dollars they earn to causes important to them. While there is no one way to give, if kids are handing over their hard-earned money to a cause that is important to them, it’s best they know how those dollars are being put to work.
Deciding Where To Donate?
Not all nonprofits are created equal, and parents should teach their children how to vet organizations before giving. There are valuable online tools to help parents and kids efficiently and effectively navigate the charities that offer the best bang for their buck.
Look them up!
Since most charities enjoy a tax-free status, they are required by law to fully disclose their finances. Charity Navigator, Guidestar and CharityWatch are just three of the online sources that help evaluate charities based on their program costs, fundraising, assets, executive compensation and even overall effectiveness.
Additionally, some sites help givers by recommending already-vetted charities. GiveWell targets charitable organizations that “improve lives the most per dollar,” to make it easy to get your giving right.
The Takeaway
While teaching your child to give back and donate is the top priority, teaching kids to think critically about how far their giving dollars go is a powerful lesson.
Kids should look at how an organization’s dollars are divided up between program costs, administrative expenses, personnel salaries, etc to ensure that the lion’s share of any donation goes directly to those that the charity serves. Most importantly, if a charity isn’t well known, parents and kids should make sure it is registered as a nonprofit and has filed a Form 990 with the IRS. If not, be wary of giving in to a potential scam.
What organizations are you interested in giving to? Let’s do a little digging and see how far your giving dollars will go.