December 2, 2024 • 6 mins
December 3rd is Giving Tuesday, the global day for supporting the work of charities and nonprofits. But how do you make sure yo're giving to a charity that actually works on its cause and doesn't burn money on bloated administrative costs? We speak with Bryan Oglesby of the Better Business Bureau in West Florida.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gordon Bird herewith Beyond the News Tuesday, deceent for third
is Giving Tuesday, the global day of giving, but for
some it's a global day for scamming. How do you
help support charities that are legit without becoming a victim?
We get some tips from Brian Ogles, b with the
Better Business Bureau in West Florida. Brian Ogles be welcome
(00:20):
to Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Hi, Cornon, thanks for having us today. I appreciate it. Well.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Now you have several points of advice on how to
give with confidence, one of which is checking out the
charity before you give. And there's a lot of information
online that not everybody may be aware of. What are
some of the resources for checking into charities and making
sure that they're on the up and up.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, it's very important to check out a charity before
you give. There's going to be many options out there,
and there's gonna be even more come Tuesday showing up
on your social media accounts, pop up ads, etc. So
you really want to know who it is the charity
you want to give to, what is their website address,
and be careful of mistaken identity. Know that you're actually
(01:04):
giving to the charity you intend to give to, and
then if you have an interest in a charity check
them out. First, research their name on the internet. Add
the word complaint or scam just to see if people
are talking about potential scam mimicking that charity. Go to
check a charity through the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
(01:24):
Every charity in Florida is required and registered with the
State of Florida Department of Agriculture. And then give dot
Org is the BBB's website that reports on charities and
holds charities accountable to standards for charity accountability. So you
can see if charities meet our twenty standards, if they
don't meet some of those standards, which ones they do
(01:45):
and do not meet, And then even if a charity
is accredited by the BBB, wise giving alliance on charities
as well.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Now, one of the things that you point out is
that just because a charity has managed to get a
tax exemption from the ir R, that isn't the same
as an endorsement. Now, are there resources For example, I
know that there's a thing called a Form nine to
ninety that they have to deal with with the IRS.
Are these resources can can the average consumer take a
(02:16):
look at those and get some idea of where the
charities resources go and whether it's a decide in their
own mind whether it's a worthy charity to look into
as far as giving.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
You can. This information should be transparent and provided by
the charity when you go through third party resources like
give dot org, Charity Navigator, there's some well known resources
out there. A lot of those resources are going to
pull those forms in and have those available for you
to review, or those resources like give dot org vets
that data and we'll tell you if it meets standards.
(02:51):
One of those standards of accountability. You can go directly
to the irs. They have a resource page as well.
The key here is just knowing that you are giving
to a charity that meets those standards. So when you
do give those funds to that charity if you need to,
that's something that you can write off when you give
that to your CPA or accountant at the end of
(03:12):
the year, and it's documented. Where you will really want
to be careful about receiving credit for that and writing
that off is on these third party sites, these fundme
sites where individuals are asking for a need. A lot
of times. Those are not registered charities, they're individuals, So
(03:33):
you want to understand if those donations that you may
make to those people may not be all write off
in that case as well.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
And that leads us to another point that you make,
and that is about emotional appeals. And I am certain
there will be on social media. Every charity that's going
to be asking for your money has a story behind it,
an emotional story behind it. And it's a good point
to remember that you make is that you don't have
(04:02):
to make the choice today right on the spur of
the moment to give. You can take that information and
take some time and check them out.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
You can give any time. Just because Giving Tuesday is
on Tuesday. Even if you find your first charity you
want to give to on that day, it doesn't mean
you have to give to them that day. That could
be the day that you do your vetting. You find
the charity that you connect with emotionally, and you want
to proactively connect with the charity emotionally because obviously we
(04:34):
want to give to something that's close to our heart
and pulls on our heartstring, but we don't want to
be reactive to the emotional appeals of charities out there
again doing social media post or aggressive advertising and you
don't really know who the charity is and it's just
capturing your emotional attention. You still want to vet that charity.
You still want to make sure it's a registered, legitimate
(04:55):
charity that meets standards, and make a proactive decision to
give to that charity that you've done research on. The
last thing you want to do is give your harder
money to a charity or most of that money that
you gave goes to the marketing and goes to advertising
and doesn't really go to the need that you had
that emotional connection on. And that's why it's important to
(05:16):
do that research.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
And the Better Business Bureau puts a lot of resources
into making that information available, and you have standards for
accountability and your website again give dot org, and you mentioned,
of course there are many other resources available to check
out information on charities and make sure that when you're
giving on Giving Tuesday, you're giving in a way that
will make the causes in which you believe and are
(05:42):
concerned about hopefully make those situations a little better.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Absolutely, we all want to give, and we want to
give to a good cause and this is the time
to do some homework, do some research, seek out and
find those trustworthy charities in our communities. There's many of
them out there. You just want to find the right
one that connects with you as a donor and make
sure you're giving to the right charities and also make
sure you're avoiding the potential scams. The scams are going
(06:09):
to be the ones that are pretending to be the
good charities. They're going to be aggressive in asking for
donations and may mislead you in the path of giving
to the wrong situation as opposed to the cause that
you want to give to.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Brian Oglesby with the Better Business Bureau in West Florida,
talking about giving Tuesday. Brian, thank you for joining us
on Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Thank you for having us
Gordon Bird herewith Beyond the News Tuesday, deceent for third
is Giving Tuesday, the global day of giving, but for
some it's a global day for scamming. How do you
help support charities that are legit without becoming a victim?
We get some tips from Brian Ogles, b with the
Better Business Bureau in West Florida. Brian Ogles be welcome
(00:20):
to Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Hi, Cornon, thanks for having us today. I appreciate it. Well.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Now you have several points of advice on how to
give with confidence, one of which is checking out the
charity before you give. And there's a lot of information
online that not everybody may be aware of. What are
some of the resources for checking into charities and making
sure that they're on the up and up.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, it's very important to check out a charity before
you give. There's going to be many options out there,
and there's gonna be even more come Tuesday showing up
on your social media accounts, pop up ads, etc. So
you really want to know who it is the charity
you want to give to, what is their website address,
and be careful of mistaken identity. Know that you're actually
(01:04):
giving to the charity you intend to give to, and
then if you have an interest in a charity check
them out. First, research their name on the internet. Add
the word complaint or scam just to see if people
are talking about potential scam mimicking that charity. Go to
check a charity through the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
(01:24):
Every charity in Florida is required and registered with the
State of Florida Department of Agriculture. And then give dot
Org is the BBB's website that reports on charities and
holds charities accountable to standards for charity accountability. So you
can see if charities meet our twenty standards, if they
don't meet some of those standards, which ones they do
(01:45):
and do not meet, And then even if a charity
is accredited by the BBB, wise giving alliance on charities
as well.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Now, one of the things that you point out is
that just because a charity has managed to get a
tax exemption from the ir R, that isn't the same
as an endorsement. Now, are there resources For example, I
know that there's a thing called a Form nine to
ninety that they have to deal with with the IRS.
Are these resources can can the average consumer take a
(02:16):
look at those and get some idea of where the
charities resources go and whether it's a decide in their
own mind whether it's a worthy charity to look into
as far as giving.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
You can. This information should be transparent and provided by
the charity when you go through third party resources like
give dot org, Charity Navigator, there's some well known resources
out there. A lot of those resources are going to
pull those forms in and have those available for you
to review, or those resources like give dot org vets
that data and we'll tell you if it meets standards.
(02:51):
One of those standards of accountability. You can go directly
to the irs. They have a resource page as well.
The key here is just knowing that you are giving
to a charity that meets those standards. So when you
do give those funds to that charity if you need to,
that's something that you can write off when you give
that to your CPA or accountant at the end of
(03:12):
the year, and it's documented. Where you will really want
to be careful about receiving credit for that and writing
that off is on these third party sites, these fundme
sites where individuals are asking for a need. A lot
of times. Those are not registered charities, they're individuals, So
(03:33):
you want to understand if those donations that you may
make to those people may not be all write off
in that case as well.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
And that leads us to another point that you make,
and that is about emotional appeals. And I am certain
there will be on social media. Every charity that's going
to be asking for your money has a story behind it,
an emotional story behind it. And it's a good point
to remember that you make is that you don't have
(04:02):
to make the choice today right on the spur of
the moment to give. You can take that information and
take some time and check them out.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
You can give any time. Just because Giving Tuesday is
on Tuesday. Even if you find your first charity you
want to give to on that day, it doesn't mean
you have to give to them that day. That could
be the day that you do your vetting. You find
the charity that you connect with emotionally, and you want
to proactively connect with the charity emotionally because obviously we
(04:34):
want to give to something that's close to our heart
and pulls on our heartstring, but we don't want to
be reactive to the emotional appeals of charities out there
again doing social media post or aggressive advertising and you
don't really know who the charity is and it's just
capturing your emotional attention. You still want to vet that charity.
You still want to make sure it's a registered, legitimate
(04:55):
charity that meets standards, and make a proactive decision to
give to that charity that you've done research on. The
last thing you want to do is give your harder
money to a charity or most of that money that
you gave goes to the marketing and goes to advertising
and doesn't really go to the need that you had
that emotional connection on. And that's why it's important to
(05:16):
do that research.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
And the Better Business Bureau puts a lot of resources
into making that information available, and you have standards for
accountability and your website again give dot org, and you mentioned,
of course there are many other resources available to check
out information on charities and make sure that when you're
giving on Giving Tuesday, you're giving in a way that
will make the causes in which you believe and are
(05:42):
concerned about hopefully make those situations a little better.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Absolutely, we all want to give, and we want to
give to a good cause and this is the time
to do some homework, do some research, seek out and
find those trustworthy charities in our communities. There's many of
them out there. You just want to find the right
one that connects with you as a donor and make
sure you're giving to the right charities and also make
sure you're avoiding the potential scams. The scams are going
(06:09):
to be the ones that are pretending to be the
good charities. They're going to be aggressive in asking for
donations and may mislead you in the path of giving
to the wrong situation as opposed to the cause that
you want to give to.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Brian Oglesby with the Better Business Bureau in West Florida,
talking about giving Tuesday. Brian, thank you for joining us
on Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Thank you for having us
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.