The Blog Squad

In everyones heart there is a desire to help their fellow man. Many do this through donations to various non-profit organizations. Unfortunately, scammers have seen this as easy money and have devised various schemes to take advantage of the situation.

One charity scam which has been prevalent in the past few years is helping families and children overseas. The public is flooded with brochures and images on television predicting starving children or destitute families. The recipient is told how much their money will help and given an addressed envelope.

While no one wants to see children or families suffer, donating money without a thorough knowledge of where it will go is not a wise decision. Scams revealed in the past few years have shown that the money collected in many supposed charity events actually went for the personal pleasure of the scammers rather than for the supposed recipients. This gives all charities a bad name and, actually, many work hard to ensure that donated dollars go exactly where they should.

Some companies advertise for charity donations through the Internet, television, magazines, and other type of media. They ask for donations from ten dollars up. If a person stops to think how much is spent for these advertisements they would know where most of the money is going.

In one instance, the organization was properly registered and did send money overseas. However, investigation revealed that ninety percent of the money received went for the overhead of the directors who received large salaries. This did not leave much for the charity purpose and was, in itself, a type of charity scam.

Charity scams come in many forms. It can be a plea for the homeless, the destitute, animals, and just about anything else. While there are many legitimate charities in existence there is always someone in the wings that will use any means to remove money from ones pockets in order to fill their own.

To avoid being taken in by a charity scam it is very important to investigate the organization thoroughly. This can be done via the Internet, Better Business Bureau, the consumer complaint division, the government, or other means. If a telephone number and name is given it is important to use telephone services such as http://411telephonedirectory.com/Colorado to verify if the caller is really whom they claim to be.

One should be especially suspect of people coming to the door with cans supposedly collecting for a well-known charity. One has no way of knowing if this is where the money is going or if it is going into the collectors pocket. If the organization is well-known, a direct donation is the best way to go.