Reno, NV – As the year draws to a close, the number of solicitations from charities seems to increase exponentially. The requests for donations come in your email inbox, mailbox and even through requests at your door. All of the appeals for donations can make you question where to give your hard-earned money.

Before you donate:

1. Budget a Specific Amount. Even when presented with emotional appeals from friends and family, stick to your budget. If you’re questioning how much of your budget to allocate to charitable giving, consider how much you will budget on gifts for your loved ones. You may consider between 10-25 percent of that amount as a potential rule of thumb. Lastly, decide if you would like to donate to one or more charities. It’s easier to track your budget when donating to fewer charities, along with monitoring the progress of their cause.
2. Decide on Causes to Fund. There are numerous good causes; choose ones that you believe could benefit from your donation or that you are passionate about. You may decide to fund a local or national organization or one that does research for a specific disease. There is no rush. A reputable organization will wait for your donation.
3. Investigate All Organizations. Use BBB’s Give.org to verify that the charity will use your funds to fund their programs. If you can’t find the information you need, consider another organization. Watch out for look-alike names.

If you are not going to contribute to an organization, consider asking them to remove you from their mailing (email or USPS) list. This will help them spend less on mailings and not clog up your mailbox or inbox. Usually there is an email address on a charity’s website that will help you with this removal or you can send back the mailing and ask to be removed. You can also register at dmachoice.org, although not all non-profits or commercial businesses subscribe to this service.