How Did Donate Charities Become the Best?Find Out

Donations by individuals to charity or to community amateur sports clubs (CASCs) are tax free.
E.g., Kim Kardashian’s generous donation of 5% of the proceeds of her “Charity Auctions” to the likes of the “Life Change Community Church” owned by her mom, or Lady Gaga’s charity that took in $2.6MM in donations and then spent the money on lawyers, consultants and publicity (including $50,000 on ‘social media’) but only gave away $5,000 in grants.
“Create a plan with your family to support the things you are most passionate about, and then set yourselves a giving budget,” says Babbie Jacobs, program director of Bolder Giving, a nonprofit focused on helping Americans give more effectively.
And remember, adds Otar Makharashvili, also a program director at Bolder Giving, “any gift is a good gift, no matter how small.” Conduct an Audit Once you’ve settled on your preferred causes, treat your donation like an investment decision.
“You can look at the work they are doing, the money they’ve raised, who is on the board, and other financial information,” says Timothy Seiler, a professor of philanthropic studies at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
Other sites such as GiveWell.org, GivingWhatWeCan.org, and TheLifeYouCanSave.org do the work for you by evaluating and testing individual charities to compile their own top-rated list of organizations they think are doing great work, managing costs, and capable of effectively using more funding.
Myphilanthropedia.org pulls together experts to recommend and evaluate charities in 31 different areas, while greatnonprofits.org functions as a kind of Yelp of the nonprofit world, offering reviews of the work charities are doing by volunteers, donors, and other beneficiaries.
Other easy ways to check out your selected your charity: ask a community of like-minded donors or friends who’ve given to the charity before about their experience, get involved directly by volunteering, or look up their website to see how they spell out their mission and measure progress, suggests Seiler.
Note that charities that are just starting out or work on marginalized causes that are harder to raise money for may have higher overhead expenses for legitimate reasons, says Seiler.
You’ll want to stick with nonprofits that limit their administrative and fundraising expenses to less than 25% of their budget, says Sandra Miniutti of Charity Navigator.
If you are just getting into supporting a cause, gifting smaller amounts to several organizations in that space can help you determine which charities’ programs and level of donor engagement you prefer, says Jacobs



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