<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Do your homework. Ask questions before you donate. &amp;quot;Look for three things,&amp;quot; says Sandra Miniutti, vice president of CharityNavigator.com, the nation&amp;#039;s largest charity evaluator, &amp;quot;the organization&amp;#039;s financial health, its commitment to being transparent, and its results reporting.&amp;quot; You can determine this by evaluating its IRS Form 990. &amp;quot;The best charities have this form on their website. If a charity stalls or hedges about giving you a copy \u2014 and by law, they must provide the last three filings \u2014 that&amp;#039;s a red flag.&amp;quot; Donate to an organization that uses the bulk of its resources to achieve its mission; the ratio of program costs to administrative costs should be at least 3 to 1. &amp;quot;A \u2028newer charity may not be able to hit that benchmark right away, but most established charities should,&amp;quot; says Miniutti. A financially solvent organization should reflect a 3 to 5 percent rate of annual growth. Familiarize yourself with the leaders. Check out the organization&amp;#039;s governance practice on Form 990. A charity that is overseen by, say, five independent voting board members is likely more accountable than one run by the owner, his or her spouse, and a couple cousins. Restrict your gift. Want to help those affected by a natural disaster? Make sure to &amp;quot;restrict&amp;quot; your gift. &amp;quot;If you make a donation for disaster relief, specifically ask the organization&amp;#039;s team to use your donation solely to help those who&amp;#039;ve been displaced,&amp;quot; says Miniutti. Doing so will keep your funds from being used to, say, pay an organization&amp;#039;s light bill or other operational costs. Be proactive. &amp;quot;Don&amp;#039;t just respond to every solicitation you get,&amp;quot; says Elie Hasenfield, co-founder of givewell.org, an independent, non-profit charity evaluator. &amp;quot;Look for the organizations that are doing good in the areas that you care most about.&amp;quot; Once you find one that makes your heart sing, evaluate its performance. Hasenfield recommends asking management: How do you know your program is working? How do you measure your success? How will additional funding be used in the coming months and years? Use the evaluation tools offered on givewell.org and charitynavigator.com \u2014 they&amp;#039;ve done most of the legwork for you. Looking for creative ways to give? Read How to Help This Holiday Season. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/money/advice/a13908/donating-money-charity/?src=shelter_footer>