So many good causes for animals, so little “disposable income.” How do you know which causes are legit?
I try to donate to animal rescues and causes every day. And I’ll admit I am particularly swayed by those ever-proliferating emotional ads and posts that come my way. Especially the smaller organizations, where I feel my donations might have a bigger impact. All this made me more vulnerable to scams. So I guess it was inevitable that I got scammed a while back, and since then have done research on any charity to which I give my hard-earned money. It takes a few minutes, but it has served me well.
When researching animal charities, it’s a good idea to use independent watchdog databases to verify their legal status, financial transparency and actual impact for animals. At the very least check out the potential benefactor on sites like Reddit. Checking databases like the ones listed below can help ensure that your money goes directly to supporting animal welfare rather than administrative costs or misleading marketing campaigns.
- Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE): Researches and identifies the most effective animal charities focusing on animal advocacy and animal welfare. ACE evaluates how effectively an organization reduces animal suffering per dollar spent.
- Pet Lifesaving Dashboard: Maintained by Best Friends Animal Society, providing near-real-time data for thousands of U.S. shelters
- Charity Navigator: Assesses financial health and transparency based on audited financial statements, accountability policies and the percentage of funds spent directly on programs for animals versus administrative overhead. Rates organizations zero- to four-star.
- CharityWatch: Analyzes audited financial statements and tax filings to grade the financial efficiency and accountability of various nonprofits, including animal charities. Manually reviews a charity’s tax statements and financial documents, adjusting for “creative accounting” tricks to issue ratings from A-plus to F.
- Shelter Animals Count: Collects national intake, outcome, and community service data from shelters across the United States to improve transparency via Shelter Animals Count.
Best Friends Animal Society: Maintains a Pet Lifesaving Dashboard providing near-real-time data for thousands of U.S. shelters
So keep both your heart and your eyes open when donating to animal causes.
