Senior Advisor: How to be savvy in your charitable giving

Around this time of year we are thinking about our income taxes including deductions for charitable giving. Starving children, homeless animals, disabled veterans, cancer research, unwed mothers, abused women, hurricane victims—the list of causes seems to be endless and requests for help seem to come at us 24 hours a day, seven days a week by telephone, television, through the mail, on the Internet—even on billboards.  How do you decide where the best place is to give your hard-earned dollars—especially when you are living on a fixed income in retirement?   

I’ve found that you can better focus your charitable giving when you take the time to find out about the places where you are being asked to make donations.  One of the best ways to select a worthwhile charity is to work with a local organization as a volunteer. This helps provide first-hand knowledge about programs that benefit your own community.  

But many causes that deserve your dollars are not necessarily local. If you are asked for donations from charities you are unfamiliar with, private watchdog organizations such as the Wise Giving Alliance www.give.org; Council of Better Business Bureaus’ Foundation www.bbb.org or the American Institute of Philanthropy www.charitywatch.org  can help you determine if they are legitimate.  These organizations may also be able to help you find ways to remove yourself from mailing lists that stuff your mailbox with unwanted solicitations. 

If you get a phone call, ask the charity to send you written information about its revenue, expenses and programs as well as how your donation will be used and proof that your contribution is tax-deductible before making a donation. Always confirm the charity’s name, address, telephone number, proof of exempt status and registration with the Illinois Attorney General’s office.  If you wish, you can call the charity directly to find out if the organization exists and is aware of the solicitation.  If the charity hasn’t authorized the use of its name, the call could be fraudulent. If the solicitor tells you the donation is for your local police, firefighter or other public safety agency, check directly with the agency to make sure that it is actually participating in the fundraising appeal.  And watch out for copycat or similar-sounding names.  Some questionable organizations use names that closely resemble those of well-established charitable organizations.

Finally, giving money is not the only way to be charitable.  You can also be generous with your time.  At the Summit of Uptown, we encourage charity through volunteerism.  There are groups who knit caps and blankets for cancer patients, lap robes for veterans at Hines VA Hospital and stuffed animals for kids at Lutheran General Children’s Hospital just to name a few.

There are always choices when it comes to dealing with anything in life—and one of those things is how you support your favorite charities.  You’re in charge.  It’s up to you to decide just how much to give and when to give it—or anything else for that matter.

Stop by sometime and help us celebrate our 30th Anniversary throughout the year.

For questions and comments, you can call me at 847-825-1161, email me at audrey@summitofuptown.com , or write to me at The Summit of Uptown, 10 N. Summit Ave., Park Ridge, Ill 60068.