Truth 23 Fake charities

I am pretty certain there are few people who are more skeptical than I am when it comes to solicitations over the telephone. While I admit that I do enjoy listening to the pitch and my whole goal while on the phone is to try to knock people off their script, in the end no one can say he’s ever convinced me to give him a dime.

Of course, you might jump to the conclusion that I’m cheap, but the truth of the matter is that I absolutely refuse to give out any information over the phone that would be required to make a purchase or give a donation. I just don’t trust anyone. How do I know the charity is legitimate? How do I know I am not speaking to an identity thief? However, there are times when I can see how someone might just want to help those less fortunate. To those, this Truth is for you.

I was probably one of the first who registered on the National Do Not Call Registry (www.donotcall.gov/). This list is designed to stop telemarketers from calling you. Of course, nothing is perfect, and I still get the occasional call, but for the most part the list really does work. However, I did notice that while the telemarketer calls stopped, calls on behalf of charities just kept coming. It turns out, when you read the fine print, the government agencies regulating the no-call list do not have jurisdiction over calls on behalf of political organizations, charities, and telephone surveyors. That means those charities can keep calling in and laying one heavy guilt trip after another. A typical call might go something like this:

“Hello Mr. Stickley, I’m calling on behalf of the widows of fallen police officers in New York. I assume you appreciate that police officers are giving up their lives so that you can live yours….”

Seriously, how do you say no to that question? Right off the bat, you are on the hook, and now you have to figure out how to say that you can’t donate $10 to help the widow buy groceries for her children. Now, just to be clear, I think police officers are far underpaid, and I have never received a traffic ticket I didn’t completely deserve. That said, there is no way I am going to give a dime to this person on the phone. Just because this caller is talking about people whom we can respect and admire does not mean we have to trust the person on the line. Instead, I have found that if I am truly interested in the caller’s cause, I ask for as much information as possible.

What is the exact charity name?

What city and state are they based out of?

Do they have a Web site?

What is the main contact number for the charity?

If the caller is representing a group such as police officers, I find out if he has been endorsed by that group and where I can find more information about the endorsement.

Generally, I find that if it is truly a legitimate charity, the caller will have the answer to every one of my questions, plus offer me more information to validate who he is, while the scammer will give many excuses as to why he can’t answer several of the questions. If I am truly interested in making a donation, I will let the caller know that I am onboard, and that once I have verified that the charity is legitimate, I will send a check in the mail. I do not ask for a mailing address, as I assume that when I look them up, I will be able to find that address myself.

Here are some things you should do before agreeing to give money to any charity that calls you seeking a donation.

Verify that the charity is real. A quick visit to the IRS can help with this (http://apps.irs.gov/portal/site/pub78/). Simply type in the name of the charity, provide the city and state, and the site lets you know if they are registered.

Make sure the charity is endorsed by the organization it is purporting to help. For instance, using the police example, if I wanted to verify the validity of the charity, I would call the police department directly and ask if it were aware of the charity in question.

Next, perform a quick online search for the charity and verify that the Web site matches the Web site address the caller gave you.

Send a cashier’s check instead of a personal check, which contains your account number.

Generally, both real and fake charities ask you to supply a credit card or bank account number over the phone. Of course, you know by now that identity thieves can quickly and easily use both. NEVER give this information out, no matter how just the cause and how convincing the story.

Keep in mind that I am not saying you should stop giving. Just make sure you don’t end up giving more than you planned.

Lastly, you should be aware that not all of your donation always goes to the people you think it’s going to. Some more questionable charities put the majority of your donation back into “administrative fees,” so the cause they represent sees little to none of your donation. That is why it is so important to speak with the group who is being represented by the charity. Many times you will find that they do not even support that charity and have set up their own charity fund and would prefer your donations go there.