The Role of Donors

No one argues that change is not difficult. Significant change is so difficult that it often must be prodded by painful triggering events. It's rare to see a smoker quit spontaneously. More often there is a physical illness or relational conflict or other trigger that forces the change.

It would be naive to think that charities are going to change their ways without some level of pain. That pain can't be the pain of those suffering under our benevolent oppression. If that were the case we would've changed decades ago because those receiving our charity have been suffering for a very long time. No, it has to be painful for the charity itself. And the only way to cause pain for a charity is to cut off the dollars donated to them. Having spent most of my career in non-profits wholly dependent on donor dollars I can tell you that when those dollars drop off there is a mad dash to figure out how to change and get those dollars back.

This post is not about telling donors to stop giving to charity. Far from it. Donors have the greatest leverage to change how charity works. If you take your dollars away completely all you accomplish is shutting down charities. Instead donors need to be very particular about where they put their dollars. There are awesome tools on the internet now that provide you with tons of information about charities here in the U.S. You can find out how much money charities bring in, how much the staff is paid, what percentage of your donated money goes to marketing and administration and how much gets to the field. That kind of research takes almost no effort at all and is a good place to start. I highly recommend Charity Navigator and Guidestar as two online services that will provide excellent information.

These two watchdog agencies are limited in that a charity must submit their information in order to be listed. So if you're planning to give to a charity and they aren't listed on Charity Navigator or Guidestar that should be your first red flag. Reputable charities that are doing what they say they do aren't shy about being listed. If you don't find them listed but still want to donate, you can check out their financials by requesting directly from the charity a copy of their most recent IRS Form 990. This is the form every non-profit is required to file with the government on an annual basis and they are obligated by law to produce it for you if you request it. Form 990 contains all the information you'll get from Charity Navigator or Guidestar but in a government form that is harder to decipher.

Getting the financial records of a charity is a good first step to seeing if you want to support what they do...and you should let the charity know you are checking them out in this way. But that, alone, doesn't do anything to end benevolent oppression. In order to do that you need to work a bit harder. There are a few key questions that you should ask any charity that will help you determine whether they are properly shepherding your donation in ways that truly help people or just giving money away without regard for the damage it could be doing. In my post tomorrow I'll list the questions you should ask and the answers you should look for before donating to any charity.

Donors can change the way we do charity if enough of them start scrutinizing the charities to which they donate.