How to check charitable organizations before giving this holiday season

Do you research charitable organizations before opening your wallets over the holidays?

ABC-7 learned the website Charity Navigator can be a helpful tool this season for those in the giving spirit.

During the holidays, many people help those in need with canned goods, volunteerism or even cash.

“I’m in line and every person in front of me is either donating $1 or $5 dollars,” El Pasoan Joe Arnaudville said. He contacted ABC-7 after his grocer asked him to donate money to feed a local family in need. When he asked the cashier questions about where his money would go, he wasn’t happy with the response.

“The institution that my grocer is collecting for doesn’t provide food boxes to needy families for the holidays,” Arnaudville said.

ABC-7 reached out to a corporate spokesman for the store chain, but did not get a response before this story’s deadline. Meanwhile, El Paso’s Corn Maze collected cans for the El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank for discounted admission.

“We partnered with a local food bank because the holidays are coming around and there’s a lot of people out there who need a food. Just for us to be able to give back to the community and well, share with everybody,” corn maze employee Amanda Garcia said.

The local Red Cross helped when asked how people can know when an organization is legitimate. A spokesman recommended the Charity Navigator website. When it comes to their own organization, “Red Cross puts 91 cents of every dollar into direct client services. The (other) nine cents is invested into support services like utilities and staff salaries. This is lower than most charities because most of our workforce is volunteer,” Kenneth Romero said in an e-mailed response.

As for Arnaudville, the experience has him giving some insight.

“Ask who the money’s for and then look into that charity or organization because not all of them are legit,” Arnaudville said.

Please keep in mind that there are plenty of legitimate organizations that could use your help over the holidays.