Before you think about participating in a charitable organization, you should do your research. Due to the many charitable organizations that exist within our philanthropic community, some organizations have come to be that do not have charity in mind. In order to understand which organization is beneficial or harmful, it is important to pay attention to the impact of the organization. While numbers on their website may be important, they aren’t everything within the giving equation.

Some organizations have claimed to be nonprofit and have thus exploited a system based on charity. While a contribution may make its way to the intended individual, along the way the amount is decreased for a variety of reasons leaving the final amount received significantly less than the original contribution.

While it is important to realize the many pitfalls of philanthropic donation, it is essential to realize that not all organizations are like this. In some cases, it can mean life or death to those individuals who are on the receiving end of a donation.

For individual giving, it is important to give to a cause that is important to you. While there are many great organizations that help with global hunger like the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and Action Against Hunger, or global poverty like Innovations for Poverty Action, ultimately where your donation goes is up to you.

Before donating to that major philanthropic organization that says they have used the money to provide x, y and z, look deeper into their numbers and statistics and decide if your donation will really be making a difference.

A good place to get started with general philanthropic organizations can be found here.

In addition, it is important to know which organizations to generally avoid here.

– Alysha Biemolt

Sources: Marketplace, The Life You Can Save 1Tampa Bay Times, The Life You Can Save 2The Life You Can Save 3, Love to Know
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