By Sandra Guile
Better Business Bureau
During the holiday season, the desire to help out the community and donate to a favorite charity becomes part of the gift giving list. In fact, American charities receive one-third of their annual donations during this time of year. In 2015, $116.7 million was donated to charitable causes on Giving Tuesday – a national movement started by several charities in 2012 to celebrate and encourage the act of giving. This year, Giving Tuesday falls on November 29.
Although Giving Tuesday is a national campaign, contributions have an impact locally too. Family Nurturing Center – a BBB Accredited Charity Seal Holder that provides education, prevention, and treatment of all forms of child abuse and neglect – is participating in Giving Tuesday for a few reasons.
“Giving Tuesday is beneficial for nonprofits because it’s all online, making it very easy for donors to make a contribution,” said Tracy Fuchs, Director of Marketing and Special Events. “but it’s so much more than that. The donor can read more about the agency they are supporting. Giving Tuesday drives awareness and helps breaks the person outside of their bubble.”
Family Nurturing Center serves families in Northern Kentucky and Hamilton County. Fuchs said they rely heavily on support from donations to continue their work, so the added funding received during the holiday season is welcome.
“Giving Tuesday is a powerful reminder that people have a way of changing a life, lifestyle, or situation simply by swiping, clicking, or tapping a screen. They can learn about people in their own community and be a part of the solution,” said Fuchs.
As donors carefully consider where to make their end-of-year contributions, BBB encourages everyone to plan ahead and verify the charity they want to give to meets the BBB’s 20 Standards for Charity for Accountability. The 20 Standards are used to review a variety of a charity’s inner workings to determine how it is run and how donations are spent. This includes looking into things like governance, effectiveness, results, and funding. This gives donors an overview into how the money they contribute is used by the organization.
Unfortunately, the giving season is also a time when scammers use people’s charitable inclinations to collect money for themselves. Many use the guise of a previously-made pledge that a victim is then pressured into settling – even though there was no promise to donate made in the first place. These practices subsequently make donors hesitant to give to legitimate organizations when approached for a contribution. The best course of action when pressured for a donation is to simply refuse. If the charity is legitimate, they will welcome a donation from you after you’ve done your research and feel more comfortable supporting their cause.
Giving Tuesday is a great time to support a local cause you trust, so visit givingtuesday.org to learn more about how you can contribute, and check give.org to find out how your preferred charity uses your generous gift.
Sandra Guile is the Community Outreach Specialist for BBB. She promotes BBB’s message of marketplace ethics through public speaking engagements, presentations, media relations, press releases, web content, and other written materials. Tune in Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. with Scott Sloan on 700WLW for The Scam of the Week and every third Thursday with Brian Thomas on 55KRC. Contact Sandra at (513) 639-9126 or sguile@cincinnati.bbb.org. Your BBB is located at 1 East 4th Street Suite 600 Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 – to reach the office, call (513) 421-3015.