Above / Summertime and the living often is easier for scammers. Today Better Business Bureau (BBB) provides tips on giving to organizations raising funds for immigration issues and other highly emotional issues.
With hundreds of worthwhile local charitable causes available in DuPage and Will Counties, give to local initiatives with a track record of doing good things beyond Naperville borders before considering what could be a scam.
When asked for support by phone, take time to verify an unfamiliar charity before you give a check, cash or credit card. Make sure the first request you receive is the best choice for your donation. Say, “Let me think about it.”
Then check out and qualify the charity by using the info provided by BBB. If the charity is legitimate, it will still be in the business of serving unmet needs when you’ve made your decision tomorrow or the next day.
CHICAGO – (July 2, 2018) – It’s now Military Consumer Month, a designation from the Federal Trade Commission and its federal, state and local partners. The month-long recognition of military consumers began July 1. This year, the agency and its partners will focus on the fight against imposter scams. The Better Business Bureau recommends service members, veterans, their families, and military supporters to never give personal information to someone they do not know. (It’s good advice for everyone.) Also, military personnel who are deployed should put an active duty alert on their credit reports.
CHICAGO – (June 26, 2018) – In response to public concerns about immigrant children and adults being detained in compounds near the Mexico/Texas border or transported to other locations, many people are seeking ways to help in any way possible.
Sadly, scammers often take advantage of these moments of vulnerability to deceive donors. In addition, there are often campaigns set up by well-meaning individuals who may not be able to carry out their promised activities. Just in the last 24 hours, tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars have been sent to causes supporting immigrant children, families and refugees.
“Scammers always try to capitalize in moments of high emotions and that’s why we always ask people to research first before handing their money over for any cause,” said Steve Bernas, president and CEO of Better Business Bureau serving Chicago and Northern Illinois. “I know without a doubt that consumers want to be able to trust that their money is going to their intended cause. We always urge people to do their due diligence and check out Give.org first.”
Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance (BBB WGA)
BBB Wise Giving Alliance urges donors to give thoughtfully and avoid individuals seeking to take advantage of the generosity of others. Here are BBB WGA’s tips for trusted giving:
1. Thoughtful Giving: Take the time to check out the charity to avoid wasting your generosity by donating to a questionable or poorly managed effort. The first request for a donation may not be the best choice. Be proactive and find trusted charities that are providing assistance. Visit Give.org to verify if a charity meets the BBB Standards for Charitable Accountability.
2. Crowdfunding: While some crowdfunding sites have taken significant measures to help prevent fraudulent postings, other crowdfunding sites do very little vetting of individuals who decide to post for assistance after a tragedy. As a result, it is often difficult for donors to verify the trustworthiness of crowdfunding requests for support. For more Give.org tips on crowdfunding, check out this Wise Giving Wednesday post.
3. Getting permission to use charity names: Individuals that decide to raise funds on behalf of an organization addressing immigrant issues should get permission from the subject charity before doing so.
4. Be cautious about in-kind fundraising: Some individuals or organizations may raise funds to distribute in-kind assistance (such as clothing, televisions, toys, etc.) to immigrants in detention centers. Unless advance arrangements have been made to provide access for such distributions, solicitors may not be able to fulfill such well-intended promises.
5. Government Registration: About 40 of the 50 states in the U.S. require charities to register with a state government agency (usually a division of the State Attorney General’s office) before they solicit for charitable gifts. If the charity is not registered, that may be a significant red flag. In Canada, all charitable organizations must be registered with the Canada Revenue Agency. If an organization is claiming to be a charity and they aren’t registered with the CRA, that’s a red flag.
6. How Will Donations Will Be Used: Watch out for vague appeals that don’t identify the intended use of funds. For example, how will the donations help immigrant children and their families? Also, unless told otherwise, donors will assume that funds collected quickly in the wake of a tragedy will be spent just as quickly. See if the appeal identifies when the collected funds will be used.
7. Advocacy Organizations: The immigration issues can generate requests from a variety of advocacy organizations on both sides of the political aisle. Donors can support these efforts as well, but note that some of these advocacy groups are not tax exempt as charities. Also, watch out for newly-created advocacy groups that will be difficult to check out.
8. Online Caution: Never click on links to charities on unfamiliar websites or in text messages or email. These may take you to a look-alike website where you will be asked to provide personal financial information, or may download harmful malware onto your computer. Don’t assume that charity recommendations on social media have already been vetted.
9. Financial Transparency: After funds are quickly raised in reaction to public concern, it is even more important for organizations to provide an accounting of how funds were spent. Transparent organizations will post this information on their websites so that anyone can find out without having to wait until the audited financial statements are available sometime in the future.
10. Newly-Created v. Established Organizations: This is a personal giving choice, but an established charity will more likely have the experience to quickly address the circumstances and have a track record that can be evaluated. A newly-formed organization may be well-meaning, but will be difficult to check out and may not be well managed.
11. Tax Deductibility: Not all organizations collecting funds in the U.S. to address immigration issues are tax exempt as charities under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donors can support these other entities, but keep this in mind if they want to take a deduction for federal income tax purposes. You can check a U.S. organization’s tax status here. In Canada, only specific types of registered charities are able to provide tax receipts. If you are not sure whether your donation would be eligible for a tax credit, contact the Charities Directorate at 1-800-267-2384. You can also search for information on which organizations can issue official donation receipts here.
Reprinted from Give.org.
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Chicago & Northern Illinois Better Business Bureau since 1926…
For more than 100 years, the Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands and charities they can trust. In 2017, people turned to BBB more than 160 million times for BBB Business Profiles on more than 5.2 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at bbb.org. There are local, independent BBBs across the United States, Canada and Mexico, including BBB Serving Chicago and Northern Illinois which was founded in 1926 and serves counties from Northwest Illinois across the State to Kankakee and all the areas in between.
Story submitted by BBB News Room at Better Business Bureau®.
RELATED PN POSTS / “Scams” have been addressed frequently on this website & in print. Always remember: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
