Please don’t fall for a sad song, a celebrity and a TV ad pleading for your money to help stop cruelty.
Moved to tears, you go to the website and donate. Maybe you call its 800 number.
Commercials can give the perception that a charity is safe and solid. But have you seen what’s been said about the group on Charity Navigator? At least take a look at their ratings.
Put Your Money into the Right Charities
Find out what
a charity says in its mission statement. Where does the money go? Does 100% of a donation go directly to pay for care and rescue as it does with Second Chance Dobes.
Zeus was a rescue taken in and nursed back to health from starvation and abuse.
Those TV commercial showing volunteers helping sick children or abused animals in horrid condition, the purpose of the charity may be legislative work. The purpose of the commercial is to tug at your heart and purse strings.
It may be exactly what is shown. But find out before you donate.
The charity may be poorly rated. It may not spend its money on feeding children. It may be a rights organization instead involved in lobbying for changes to charge abusers with crimes…which is fine.
Advertisements showing people in Washington lobbying for change don’t emotionally engage viewers. While it’s misleading to show dogs in cages shaking and pitiful, it’s not illegal. There’s no one monitoring commercial visuals when claims or promises aren’t made.
It’s kind of sneaky though.
Wipe your tears and find out how much money goes to the CEO. If it’s half a million dollars (ASPCA $494,711), don’t give up. Find a local animal shelter or a children’s home to support. Give to an SPCA in your home town that does rescue animals dumped by owners.
The Humane Society of America, however, does not run one single animal 
shelter. The HSUS is an animal rights and welfare organization with a 53.28% rating out of 100% from Charity Navigator.
Makes you wonder why so low a rating for an organization bringing in $101 million annually.
The ASPCA has an “Eyes of an Angel” commercial with extremely sad-eyed, terrified animals. Charity Navigator rates them 59.87% out of 100%.
Find out what they spend their $117 million in revenue annually.
Hollow Creek Farm Equine & Canine Rescue uses 100% of its donations for the feeding, care and medical needs of animals it rescues. The horse (above right) was for sale for $400 along with its mother. Starving, malnourished, Hollow Creek got the animals new homes.
Donate Locally
Actually, charities needing the most help aren’t on TV, they’re too small for advertising.
In Central Florida, there are many highly-rated local charities to work with. Florida has 312 charities rated on Charity Navigator.
Consider a new, old, or small local charity, right around the corner, in your city, or your state. Managed by people with the guts and commitment to make a difference–the small charities that can’t afford expensive commercials, celebrities or TV time.
Drop a donation in the mail. The charity may be so small it doesn’t have a website, but you can find its address in the yellow pages online.
Charities are Struggling
Many charities do help abandoned children, the homeless, disabled seniors, neglected and abused animals, endangered wildlife, research to end disease.
If you need proof and need to see what a charity really does, then take a visit or be a volunteer for a day. Find out firsthand what goes on and you’re likely to get a wake up call.
It’s tough to see people struggling, children abused, starving or neglected animals. But you’ll understand where help is needed and know what it’s like for charities that are struggling to help.
Two Dollars Go A Long Way
Charities know how to stretch a penny, so every dollar counts as it comes in. No amount is too small. Give what you can. Understaffed and overworked staff divide dollars into food, medical care, clothing, bedding, housing for those they help. Giving $2 to a charity may seem a small act, but it means a lot.
Give What Charities Want and Need Most
Small charities make big differences saving lives and doing the work that most people don’t have the heart for. Choose a small charity, stick with it and go by and lend a hand.
Go to its fundraisers. Donate needed items. Volunteer during hard times. Write a newsletter. Sponsor a food drive. There are many ways to give what charities want and need most. Money, yes. But in hard times, volunteering is priceless.
Here are some of my favorite charities
REBUILDGlobally
Eden Spa
Susan G. Komen
Who Will You Help Today?
©2011 Rebekah Brown
