GREENSBORO, N.C. — What's in a name? Well, it's the first way someone identifies you or a company or in this case, a charity.
For example, there is a 'Disabled American Veterans' group and a 'Disabled Veterans National Foundation' group. They're similar, but just because a charity name sounds like the one you gave to last year, doesn't mean you shouldn't look at it before you give to it this year.
"You want to know your money is going to an organization that is actually going to give to the mission," said Lechelle Yates, Better Business Bureau.
'Tis the season for you to get a call, an email, a text, or something in the mail asking you to give. Before you give... take 10 minutes to look at how the organization spends the money. One tool you can use is Give.org from the Better Business Bureau.
You put in the name of the charity and get all kinds of information. The BBB looks at 20 criteria from how the organization is governed to how effective it is, the finances, and even how donor privacy is handled. You could spend a lot of time going through all the info, but my go-to is the Financial Tab.
The Finances Tab gives you a pie graph of how the money is spent. This example shows you the biggest piece of the pie and the smaller pieces of the pie.
"The BBB's criteria is that a charity spends 65% of the money on the mission," said Yates.
Not every organization spends the same way. Check out how those similar-sounding organizations spend money.
