Charity Databases that Help in Making Effective Giving Decisions

It's widely known that the folks that have the least economically, tend to give the most. That's been shown again in this year's generosity index. The Catalogue for Philanthropy calculates this index by using IRS data to compare income and charitable giving. When analyzed state-by-state, Mississippi and Arkansas, which rank 50th and 47th respectively, in terms of how much they have, rank 1st and 2nd respectively, in terms of how much they give. That makes me proud to be from Arkansas, and proud of the MidSouth.

The generosity index is now ten years old, and looking at all that data over time shows that for the whole country average taxpayer income increased 44% while charitable giving rose 64%. And that doesn't even include donations that are not included on tax returns. Good work, America!

It's great to be charitable, but how do you determine which organizations to support? First, identify the causes that touch you and organizations that work in those areas. Then consider that some organizations might meet needs of its clients better than others. Here's some information on how to evaluate charitable organizations, so that your donation of time and talent does the most good.

* The American Institute of Philanthropy (www.charitywatch.org) rates over 500 charities on financial criteria like their fundraising efficiency and operating costs. They publish a report every year that you may find useful.

*Charity Navigator (charitynavigator.org) rates over 3,000 charities on various financial matters. Check out their online database, tip sheets, and other resources.

* The Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance (www.give.org) rates organizations using financial and nonfinancial standards.

If you can't find your organization in these databases or still need more information, check out www.guidestar.org which has the tax returns for more than 250,000 nonprofits. You can also ask the organization to see a copy of their annual report, which should contain a qualitative and quantitative list of its accomplishments. If you are interested, be sure to determine how much of your donation is tax-deductible.

With this information, you'll be able to make wise decisions about which organizations you want to support. Remember, don't give 'til it hurts, give 'til it helps.

"The best way to teach a child restraint and generosity is to be a model of those qualities yourself. If your child sees that you want a particular item but refrain from buying it, either because it isn't practical or because you can't afford it, he will begin to understand restraint. Likewise, if you donate books or clothing to charity, take him with you to distribute the items to teach him about generosity."- Lawrence Balter (1989), psychologist and author