In this season of giving, make sure your donation isn’t wasted

PHOENIX – On Giving Tuesday, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said he wants to help people give wisely.

“We want to make sure the money is actually going to people in need and not to a bureaucratic overhead,” he told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Bruce St. James and Pamela Hughes.

Brnovich said to never make donations to anybody who comes to your door or calls on the phone.

Doing so increases the risk that you’ll give to a charity that isn’t legitimate or your donation won’t actually go to those in need.

“I also tell people to go to websites like Give.org or Charitywatch.org and you can look to see how much of your donation actually goes to help people versus administrative and overhead costs,” he said, adding that Charity Navigator was another useful site.

He gave an example of a fake Arizona cancer organization that used only a small portion of money collected to assist cancer patients.

“They were a charity and they were literally taking millions of dollars and going on trips and all sorts of stuff, wasting the money,” he said.

“Ninety percent of it was going to administrative costs and to line people’s pockets versus helping people.”

One way to be sure your donation is being used efficiently is to give your time, not money.

“There’s things that you can do, where even if you don’t have money, you can do something positive for people in need. … All that stuff makes a difference,” Brnovich said.

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