America’s 50 worst charities
Charity Fake News
From the Tampa Bay Times (published 2017):
The 50 worst charities in America devote less than 4 percent of donations raised to direct cash aid. Some charities give even less. Over a decade, one diabetes charity raised nearly $14 million and gave about $10,000 to patients. Six spent nothing at all on direct cash aid.
Charity Fakes
Whether tying themselves to a prominent cause or preying on compassion related to a natural disaster, “charity” fakes are a year-round plague. And “charity” fakers do double damage — they steal from you and they steal from those you want to help with your donated dollars.
The 50 worst charities named by the Tampa Bay Times do exist as nonprofits and charities, but they do next to nothing to help those they purport to raise funds for.
Check before You Donate
The key to avoiding charity fakes is to check if the group is recognized by the IRS as a nonprofit or charity. CharityCheck101.org helps you do that for free with its Directory Search and Reverse Lookup pages. Get the organization’s EIN and then dig deeper.