If you are thinking about making a charitable gift before year end, here are a few ideas that may help.
- Think locally. Look around your community for charities at work in your community. You’re likely to find quite a few small to mid-sized nonprofits based right in your town. These nonprofits need your support.
- Research. Once you’ve identified a nonprofit you might want to support, do some research. Visit their website. Who do they serve? What are their programs? Then find out how the charity spends its money by viewing the charity’s IRS annual information return, called the Form 990. These are available on the Guidestar website: http://www.guidestar.org/
- Visit. The great thing about supporting local charities is that you can visit and see the work your gift is supporting. Visit the charity. Talk to the staff. Learn more about the organization’s needs.