1. Can your
charity clearly communicate who they are and what they do?
If a charity struggles in articulating its mission and its programs, it
will probably struggle in delivering those programs. Organizations that
can explain who they are and what they're trying to accomplish have a
singularity of purpose and a commitment to focused institutional
change. The dot.com boom and bust showed that for-profit companies that
couldn't articulate exactly what purpose they served and what product
they delivered couldn't compete with bricks and mortar businesses with
clear visions of who they were, and what they did. Charities are no
different. If a charity can't explain who it is and what it does, and
why it is needed, find one that can. The stakes are too high and too
many good organizations exist who know exactly who they are, what they
do, and why they are needed.
2. Can your charity define their short-term and
long-term goals?
Organizations without quantifiable goals have no way to measure
success. If they have no way to know if they are successful, how can
you be sure they are working toward something? Demand that your charity
tell you what it is trying to do. Good organizations relish this
opportunity. They know what they are working toward today and tomorrow.
3. Can your
charity tell you the progress it has made (or is making) toward its
goal?
Once again, it's not enough to merely be concerned with a problem. Good
intentions are no longer sufficient to warrant your charitable support.
The marketplace is too crowded. Ask your organization what it has done
to make the issue it confronts better. What are its results? You
wouldn't buy a brand of toothpaste if the manufacturer couldn't prove to
you that it fought cavities successfully. Why should you support an
environmental clean-up organization if it can't show you that it
is cleaning up the environment?
4. Do your
charity's programs make sense to you?
If you support the mission of an organization, ask yourself if its
programs also make sense. You believe in the cause, and you hope for
the end result, but is the organization working toward that result in a
way that seems rational and productive to you? If an organization's
goal is to promote kindness toward animals, does it pursue its goal in a
way that makes sense to you, or does it merely inflame the issue? Do
you want your research organizations doing advocacy? Do you want your
outreach organizations making policy, or your policy organizations doing
outreach? Maybe you do, maybe you don't. This doesn't mean that every
organization should be singular in focus. It also doesn't mean,
however, that you have to support every organization that has the same
belief system as you. Just because you support the ends, you may not
support the means. If you know you want to support the outcome the
charity aims to deliver, ask yourself if its method of arriving at that
outcome makes sense to you.
5. Can you trust
your charity?
Our research has shown that the overwhelming majority of charities in
this country are not only responsible and honest, but well-managed. So
we give with confidence. You should feel the same way before you give.
Don't support a charity until you feel comfortable with it. A guilty
and distrustful giver is a one-time giver. To gain this trust, use
Charity Navigator, or another unbiased source. If you have time, check
with the IRS or your state attorney general's office. Call the
President of the organization, and ask the questions you need answered
before you can be assured this is a good use of your money. Ask for an
annual report. Do whatever it takes to put your mind at ease. Use your
rights to gather data so that you will be comfortable. Good charities
will encourage this. A happy and trusting donor is a willing and
supportive donor.
6. Are you willing
to make a long-term commitment to your organization?
We like to think of giving to charity as a long-term commitment, more
akin to marriage than dating. Intelligent giving is motivated by
altruism, knowledge, and perspective, not a knee-jerk reaction to a
television commercial. You are an adult. You have a budget. You have
the means to help others. You want to help. Ask yourself if your
charity is the type of organization to which you're willing to make a
long-term commitment. When you do this, you agree to support them
through good times and bad, and provide the funding it needs to weather
economic downturns. In return, it promises to continue working toward
addressing the issue you both think is so vital. Look hard and find an
organization you can support for many years to come. When you find that
charity, give it your dollars, tell it you'll be there through thick and
thin, and then continue to support it. Only then will long-term
sustainable change take place.
