Use your gut when dealing with people representing charities

Use your gut when dealing with people representing charities. Donate wisely to charities. Dreamstime

While charities look for donations all year, the holiday season is synonymous for giving and it's not uncommon to be inundated with requests to donate money.

There are several ways charitable organizations appeal for donations - on television, email or direct mail, at your door, by phone or at the supermarket and malls.

Many of us have certain charities or causes we hold dear and actively do things to support them, but others may want to give and have no idea as to where to donate or if they are being approached by a group that's legitimate.

"I'm not sure that there's an increase of charitable scams (this time of year), I think those tend to be constant," said Douglas Tindal, senior communications advisor, Ministry of Consumer Services.

Tindal said there are things you can do to help choose, which charity to donate and to ensure your money is going where you intended.

Because charitable designation is a federal function, the best place to look up charities is the Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA) online national database, Tindal said. If the charity has a charitable number, it means they're registered with the CRA. There is a lot of other information there as well.

"It tells you about how you save money on your taxes when you make a charitable donation, what the regulations are and it gives information about schemes... and it's also the doorway through which you can get access to a listing of charities," he said.

Tindal said the test of whether a charity is legitimate is if it has a charitable registration number. And, while it depends on the size of the charity, he said most would have a website with an overview of what the charity is about and contact information to ask questions.

The basic question may be to ask for more information about the charity to be sent to you or for a website. If you've been asked for a donation over the phone, Tindal said the simplest way to see if that charity is legitimate is to ask if you can call them back. The solicitor should be able to provide you with a phone number.

However, Tindal said the right questions to ask aren't easy to summarize because questions and answers will vary based on individual interests and the nature of the charity's activity.

But one thing people often ask, particularly if they're dealing with international development and relief agencies, is 'How much of the money is actually going overseas'?

People often want to know about administrative costs, which is important, Tindal said. However, often things one would consider being an administrative cost is not.

"For example, some people tend to think salaries are automatically administration, but they're not necessarily. The salary might be the salary of the person who is actually providing the relief and so that's part of what the money is for," he said.

Generally, we tend to think if people are fumbling for answers they may not be legit, but Tindal said most people have the answers and are well-versed in how and what they are going to say.

"Having ready answers to those questions doesn't necessarily mean that you're dealing with a legitimate person because some of that information is readily available on the web," he said.

Another popular scam is someone who takes a legitimate, well-known charity and say they're calling from there or alter the name to make it sound similar or a division of that larger charity.

Tindal said another useful tool for those who want to donate to charities is CanadaHelps.org, a not-for-profit organization that tries to connect donors with charitable organizations by tapping into the Canada Revenue database and making a record for every registered charity.

"Then they help make them (charities) easily searchable by location or by kind of activity so that you, as a donor, can go to CanadaHelps, find the kind of activity you're interested in and make a secure donation through CanadaHelps," Tindal said.

Most importantly, when dealing with people asking for your money, use your gut and don't feel pressured to give right on the spot.

Many of us get caught off guard, feel awkward or obligated, but Tindal said take your time, think about it and then donate at a later time. If it is a legitimate charity, it will be there to take your donation when you decide.

"Follow through on being engaged in charitable activities to the extent that you wish, don't let general anxiety prevent you from getting involved in things you may find very rewarding and will certainly help make the community a better place," Tindal said.

Visit insidetoronto.com next week for a look at three charities that are helping people in Toronto.