5 Tips on How to Have the Most Impact Through Charitable Giving
By: Susan Poole
Tags: Philanthropy, Fundraising, Nonprofit, Charity, Giving

5 Tips on How to Have the Most Impact Through Charitable Giving

Ask your favorite nonprofit exactly what they need before making your next donation.

Photo by Igal Ness on Unsplash

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. This is typically the time of year when people give more thought to charitable giving. Whether you choose to support organizations dedicated to health and human services, arts and culture, youth and education, or animal welfare, each and every nonprofit has its own unique wish list. Thanks to COVID-19, their needs are even greater right now.

I’ve spent most of my career working in development in the nonprofit sector and it’s been heartwarming to witness the outpouring of endless generosity. While a cash donation always allows an organization the most flexibility, many donors prefer to make a more restricted gift. This is never more apparent during holiday time when most charities are usually hosting a variety of community programs.

Take for instance the social services agency I used to manage. We had donors who gave turkeys every year to provide a traditional Thanksgiving meal for our families. Others gave presents for the children at Christmas or warm socks and blankets to distribute to the homeless. Each and every one of those gifts was very much appreciated and always put to good use.

However, here are some things to consider before making your next donation.

1. Do your homework on the charity first.

Many donors prefer to make a restricted gift for a particular purpose or an in-kind gift (i.e., donation of goods/services) over an outright, unrestricted cash donation to ensure their contribution is used wisely. But does that really help the nonprofit in the most impactful way?

One of the most important things a nonprofit organization can do is establish trust with its donors. Long-term relationships are critical in sustaining support year after year.

If you already have an established relationship with your favorite charity, shouldn’t that be enough? If they’ve earned your trust to the point where you’re considering a gift, why not take it one step further and allow the agency to make the decision on how to use it? I loved receiving checks with a note in the MEMO line that simply stated “use where needed most.” We must have been doing something right for that donor to entrust us with their hard-earned cash to use at our discretion.

If you’re still learning about a nonprofit — you love their mission but haven’t had enough experience with them — there are plenty of resources to help you do your homework.

Familiarize yourself with their website, their annual report and their board of directors.

Check out GuideStar and look at their IRS Form 990.

Head to the government agency in your state to make sure they’re up to date on their nonprofit filings.

Call the local Better Business Bureau to make sure there have been no complaints against them.

You get the picture.

Nonprofit organizations couldn’t succeed without lots of community support, so their reputations are everything. Find the best way to give yourself peace of mind that you’ve made the right choice in terms of who to support. After that, it’s okay to step aside and let them do the rest.

On a related note, this is also the time of year when a list of the highest paid nonprofit CEOs makes its rounds across the Internet. Don’t be deterred from supporting an organization just because its leader is paid well. Programs don’t run themselves, and it takes strong leadership to do good work in any business. Checking out a nonprofit’s administrative fees can give a good picture of how much they spend on operating fees versus program expenses. Generally speaking, anything below 15% for overhead is usually considered good, but there are other variables to consider too. Again, do your homework.

2. Don’t try to be a mind-reader.

Ask the organization what they need. Their staff will always know best what they need at any given time. They’re the boots on the ground and they’ve made plans that depend on donation projections.

Speaking of projections, a nonprofit budgets a certain amount of money each year for particular programs, a process that factors in a great deal of guesswork as no one really knows how much money will come through the door each year. Although it’s similar to making sales projections at a for-profit company, a nonprofit promotes causes instead of products and there are plenty of unknowns involved in trying to rely on revenue that’s entirely dependent on the goodwill of others. Especially during a global pandemic.

The same can be said of in-kind donations too. For instance, a food pantry always needs certain staples, like peanut butter, canned soup and breakfast cereal. If there’s a shortage of those items, they may dip into their own cash to purchase them. Meanwhile, donations of things like tofu and quinoa might not be “bestsellers” at the pantry. Just because you like them, the majority of people probably don’t. Rather than wasting your money on items that might expire on the pantry shelves, call ahead and ask what they’re short on.

This applies to all kinds of nonprofits orgs. I’m currently doing work for a historical society, and I can’t tell you how many calls they get asking whether they’d like a donation of the newspaper edition featuring a front-page story about a tornado that hit the town in 1924. It’s an interesting piece of local history and a neat artifact, but they only need a few copies.

3. Check out the nonprofit’s donation timelines and abide by them.

If you want to support a particular program that’s time sensitive, be sure to familiarize yourself with their deadlines. For instance, if a group is collecting school supplies and gearing up for a big distribution, please don’t walk through the door with your donation the day before school starts. Even if they get some last-minute needs, chances are you’re not the only one who missed the deadline for donations, and excess supplies would most likely be saved for the following year. Backpacks and binders can take up a lot of space, something that’s usually at a premium for most nonprofits.

This piece of advice always conjures up a “funny” memory for me from my days at the social services agency. A longstanding board member once waltzed in the door on December 23rd, twenty minutes before closing time, with three large garbage bags filled with toys. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but we had done our Christmas distributions weeks earlier, trying to allow as much time for our client families to prepare for their holidays—not to mention the fact that my staff and I have our own families and we were all anxious to start preparing for our own Christmas gatherings. No doubt this board member meant well, but we came up empty trying to figure out what to do with those gifts in the eleventh hour, even after calling around to several other organizations. They too had planned ahead.

4. Think twice before requesting special accommodations.

Most nonprofits are stretched thin. Many employees wear multiple hats and the capacity to stray too far from normal operations just isn’t there. So, if you’d like someone to meet you outside office hours to accept your donation, please think twice. Or, if you have a large filing cabinet in your basement that you’re trying to get rid of, and you think the local nonprofit could use it, please try to figure out a way to deliver it before requesting a pick-up.

Nonprofit staffers often move mountains to get their hands on worthy donations, which doesn’t always lead to smart decision-making. The lawyer in me would always advise against an employee or volunteer driving to someone’s house to pick up a donation. What if they got in a car crash on the way there? Dropped the filing cabinet on their foot while loading it into their truck? Sometimes good intentions aren’t enough and nonprofits need to be protected against liability just like any other corporate entity.

5. Always consider cash.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, my suggestion is to always donate “cash.” It’s easier, offers the greatest flexibility in fulfilling the organization’s needs, doesn’t require storage space and can be sent via check through the mail or via credit card online.

But regardless of how you choose to give to your favorite charity this year, keep in mind how hard-hit the nonprofits have been by this global pandemic. If you’re in a position to do so, open your wallets wide to support the causes closest to your heart.