While charities in Chicago and beyond prepare for the approach of Giving Tuesday, a global day of charitable giving that takes place on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, local authorities are urging donors to take steps to ensure their money is going to legitimate change-making organizations.
Cases of charity fraud tend to increase in Illinois during the holiday season amid occasions such as Giving Tuesday and the end-of-year rush of donations to qualify for tax deductions, according to watchdog organizations.
The worldwide Giving Tuesday initiative raised over $3.1 billion in charitable giving in the U.S. alone in 2023, with over 34 million Americans participating, according to the GivingTuesday Data Commons.
“With there being a lot of money involved … with that comes the scammers,” said Steve Bernas, president and chief executive officer of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois. “What the Better Business Bureau has seen in the past are fake charities that will be created, or no charity at all and just saying that they’re basically a charity, to try to take advantage of peoples’ good willing feeling, especially during the holiday season.”
For local charitable organizations such as the animal shelter nonprofit PAWS Chicago, Giving Tuesday and the weeks that follow typically bring the greatest fundraising yield of the year.
“The bulk of our fundraising happens during this period for the whole year,” said PAWS Chicago Chief Executive Officer Susanna Wickham. “Having a strong Giving Tuesday to kick off the holiday giving season allows us to know that we’re able to fund our homeless pet hospital 365 days a year, because it’s critically important to us.”
However, scammers and fraudulent charities may try to take advantage of this day of generosity, as Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul warned of in a consumer alert on Monday urging donors to thoroughly research any organizations they give to.
In addition to seeking money from unwitting donors, scammers may also try to trick them into providing sensitive personal information, Bernas said.
Individuals impersonating charities can easily set up GoFundMe pages and share those links on social media, potentially purporting to be connected to well-known and established nonprofits, according to Mason Wilder, research director for the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
“In this day and age, it’s never been easier to impersonate an organization or a person,” Wilder said. “Before you pay any money or transfer any money or conduct a financial transaction online, it’s really important to just take a moment and think about it and look into it to make sure that you’re not falling victim to a scam.”
Tips for avoiding charity scams
Raoul recommends that potential donors thoroughly research charities on their own and ask questions before donating any money, including about how much of their donation will go to charitable programming as compared to being used to pay for fundraising or administrative costs.
All charitable organizations and fundraisers are required under Illinois law to register with the attorney general’s office annually. Key information about any registered charity, including financial reports, can be viewed on an online database run by the attorney general’s office, as well as on platforms such as Charity Navigator and Guidestar.
The Internal Revenue Service also has a search tool where donors can verify an organization’s tax-exempt status.
Even when seeing social media posts or donation links for a reputable charity that one is familiar with, Wilder emphasized that donors should independently verify the legitimacy of the fundraisers through the organization’s “actual website” and other official channels.
“Just take a couple minutes to think through what is being presented to you, and potentially find the official sources for those organizations or causes,” Wilder said. “If you just take a pause and think about it and be a little skeptical, do a little bit of due diligence, you should be able to avoid scams.”
Jeffrey Gawel, chief information and technology officer for the nonprofit United Way of Metro Chicago, told the Tribune in an email that the organization encourages its donors to “be diligent and take steps such as researching charities online via Charity Navigator, checking that websites are secure before giving online, and reporting any scams to the Federal Trade Commission.”
On Giving Tuesday, United Way plans to hold a care kit packing event for individuals and families experiencing food insecurity with more than 100 volunteers from BMO.
Donors should request written information about the organization’s mission and plans for distributing donations, as well as written proof that their contribution is tax deductible, according to Raoul.
However, the website of a “responsible” charity should already include key facts such as its mission, programs, finances, measurable goals and concrete achievements, according to the Better Business Bureau.
“Donate only when your questions have been answered and you are certain your money will be used according to your wishes,” Raoul wrote in Monday’s release.
The sentimental nature of the holiday season may also bring more “emotional pleas to donors,” according to the Better Business Bureau. They recommend avoiding donating on-the-spot when receiving urgent and emotionally charged requests from unfamiliar organizations.
“A legitimate charity will want your money today, they’ll want it tomorrow, they’ll want it next year,” Bernas said. “A scammer wants your money within 30 minutes. They take nothing for granted. They don’t want you to look them up, they don’t want you to think about it.”
If an individual soliciting donations uses “high-pressure tactics,” requests cash payment or insists on sending someone to retrieve the donation in-person, no donations should be made, according to Raoul. Such tactics are “hallmarks of a scam,” he wrote.
Donors should pay close attention to the names of charities, as scammers may try to mislead them by using names that look similar to those of legitimate organizations, according to Raoul.
Any donations should be paid by check, credit card or any other method of payment “for which you will have a record,” Raoul added. Checks should be written out to the full official name of the charity without any abbreviations.
Payments in cash, or through apps such as Venmo or Zelle, should be avoided, according to Raoul. An organization requesting the use of unconventional payment methods such as gift cards or wiring money is also a major red flag, according to Bernas.
When receiving any solicitations for donations, individuals should keep detailed notes of the date and time of the call, the organization’s name, the name of the solicitor and any other “pertinent information” about their pitch, according to Raoul.
Perhaps the best way to know where your donations are going on Giving Tuesday, Wickham said, is to give to nonprofits within the community.
“You see the work of the nonprofits in your own community, and the best place to start is where you’ve actually seen the results,” Wickham said.
Suspicious solicitations for charitable donations can be reported by calling the attorney general’s office’s Charitable Trust Bureau at 312-814-2595.
