There is enormous competition for your charitable donation dollars. We are constantly being bombarded for money by email, by snail mail, by phone, and on the street. Yes, the street, previously the exclusive domain for pan handlers. Now they are competing for turf with charities. Some charities are bone fide legitimate, reputable organizations, and unfortunately some are not. Statistics say that Canadians give $40 billion a year to charities. How do we know where the money is going and which of these apparently worthy causes truly deserves our hard earned money?

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has a list of Canadian registered charities, revoked charities, charities that have been suspended, charities that have been annulled, charities that have been assessed penalties, and newly registered charities. Please avail yourself of this information if you have any questions or concerns about an organization that has solicited you for funds.

The old adage “buyers beware” also applies to donors. “Donors Beware”.

• Search the CRA Charities Listings
• Make sure that you use the exact spelling of the charity. Some “fake” charities use names that sound almost exactly like the legitimate ones.
• Never succumb to high pressure tactics.
• Never give out personal information on the telephone.
• Confirm that the organization will provide you with an official donation receipt that can be used for tax purposes.
• Make cheques out ONLY to the name of the charity, NEVER to an individual.
• Report fraud to PhoneBusters, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre, at 1-888-495-8501

Let’s make sure that the money that we donate goes to doing good works. Have you been victimized by a fraudulent charity?