The Signature Tool
Seven steps. Free public records. About fifteen minutes for a full check — or two minutes for the short version. Your generosity deserves this much protection.
The two-minute version: confirm the organization's legal name and EIN, look it up in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search, and give through the website you found yourself — never through a link someone sent you. If any of those three steps fails, pause.
Every legitimate U.S. charity has a legal name and a nine-digit Employer Identification Number (EIN). It should appear on their website, usually in the footer or donation page. A group that cannot or will not give you its EIN is asking for trust without offering identity.
Verified means the name and EIN match in official records — not that the logo looks professional.
Search the EIN in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search. Confirm the organization exists, is currently exempt, and whether donations to it are actually tax-deductible. Names can be imitated; EINs are much harder to fake.
Look the organization up on Candid (GuideStar) and Charity Navigator. Read the most recent Form 990: what programs actually cost, what leadership is paid, and whether revenue and spending make sense together. You are not looking for perfection — you are looking for honesty and consistency.
Most U.S. states require charities that solicit donations to register. Your state charity official (usually the Attorney General or Secretary of State) keeps a public registry and a record of enforcement actions. Find yours through NASCO, linked below.
"100% goes directly to the cause" is almost never literally true — someone pays for staff, transfer fees, and infrastructure, and it matters who. Fair questions: What exactly will this money do? How do you know it worked? What did you learn when it didn't? Good organizations love these questions. Bad ones change the subject to a story.
Reported means the organization says it — Verified means an independent record confirms it. Keep the difference.
Real needs are often urgent; real organizations still let you take an hour to check them. Pressure to give right now, only by gift card, wire, cryptocurrency, or cash, is the signature of a scam — the FTC's guidance below lists the current patterns. Urgency plus untraceable payment equals walk away.
Type the organization's address yourself or use its verified profile — not a link from an email, text, or comment section. Keep the receipt. Then put a note in your calendar for three months later: look for their report on what your gift did. Organizations that never report are answering your question too.
Crowdfunding for an individual person and giving inside a mutual-aid network are different from donating to a registered charity — there is usually no EIN, no 990, and no regulator. That does not make them wrong; it makes verification personal instead of institutional. The Community Care pillar covers dignity-preserving checks for helping a specific person, and why "I know someone who can vouch" is the real record there.
Why trust this page? Don't — check it. Every resource above is an official or long-established public record you can open yourself. This page teaches verification; it never asks for money. That is the whole point. Found an error? See our corrections policy.
Lifegiving Compassion