Think Philanthropically

“Giving is not just about making a donation. It is about making a difference.” – Kathy Calvin

I’d like to begin this column by wishing all the loyal readers of The Montrealer a wonderful holiday season and all the best for 2025.

“My counsel to donors is…verify before donating!”

Most readers of this column are donors. If that were not the case, you would likely skip past page two! The month of December is one of the most important months for philanthropy.  There are a variety of social, psychological, and fiscal reasons for this. There is subtle, and not-so-subtle, social pressure to give at this time of year. There are more opportunities to give to causes we typically support, as well as a variety of ad hoc giving options.  There are also, of course, tax-related considerations that can encourage us to plan to give slightly larger gifts as the end of the calendar year approaches.

It is also the time of year when charity related fraud peaks and charity “hucksterism” abounds.  What is the difference? Fraud is illegal and is perpetrated by people with criminal intent. What we define as “hucksterism” is carefully crafted misrepresentation that causes good-hearted people to donate to organizations that are not exactly what they appear to be. My counsel to donors is…verify before donating! Just because a charity makes wonderful claims, tells compelling stories, has a cool website, or does emotion-laden mainstream media advertising, does not mean that it is doing a good job of responding to a need.

“Careful planning and due diligence will ensure that we help the right cause…the right way.”

What do I mean by verify? There are at least two key areas of verification.

Review the governance of the organization. Donors should give to well-led, well-governed organizations. Who is running the operation and who is providing oversight?  Avoid charities that do not identify their leadership or have no evidence that a credible board of directors exists. Most charities should have three years of audited financial statements on their website. At the very least, registered charities are required to file with the Canada Revenue Agency and their financial information is available on the CRA site.

Communicate directly to the people at the organization. Call or write to the leaders and ask questions. Quality organizations that are engaged in worthy causes love to have the opportunity to tell you about what they do and describe how your gift will produce an outcome. I recommend visiting the place, but that may not be possible if it is a confidential women’s shelter or if the organization digs wells in villages in Kenya.

“Random acts of charity might look good in a media report or feel good for the donor, but they are seldom helpful to a cause.”

In my day-to-day activities I frequently encounter generous people who fall into what I call “charitable malpractice”, a situation where a donor fails to ensure that their donation will produce an impact. Random acts of charity might look good in a media report or feel good for the donor, but they are seldom helpful to a cause. The donor’s motives might be pure but the action taken is flawed. Careful planning and due diligence will ensure that we help the right cause…the right way. Charity done effectively will produce a corresponding outcome.

So, in this “giving season”, at the end of 2024, let’s all be incredibly generous and extraordinarily wise in our giving. Let’s make sure that we make a difference.

Sam Watts serves as the CEO of Welcome Hall Mission  www.welcomehallmission.com  He serves on several non-profit boards and is an appointed member of the National Housing Council of Canada.  He is the author of Good Work…Done Better www.goodworkdonebetter.com