How to Check Out a Nonprofit Before You Donate

Applying this to us is entirely fair, so here are the checks and our answers alongside them.

Find the legal entity. A real organization publishes its legal name and registration. Vagueness here is the single biggest warning sign. Ours: Jamaica Education for the Poor Foundation, Inc., a Maryland 501(c)(3), EIN 30-0207531, at 8003 24th Ave, Hyattsville, MD 20783.

Check who is paid. Not to catch anybody out. A nonprofit with paid staff may well be more effective than one without; what matters is that you can find out. Our officers serve as volunteers and have historically reported receiving no compensation, which is in the public filings rather than only on this page.

Ask what the money buys, and see whether the answer is items or categories. An organization that can only speak in themes usually has not thought it through. We can name the items: books, school supplies, backpacks, computers, printers, exam fees, scholarships, mentoring coordination.

Look hard at how future plans are described. This is where otherwise honest organizations mislead, by writing about an intended project in language that implies it is underway. Ours is a leadership training center in Jamaica. It has not been built, no site has been announced and no opening date has been set. We are raising the money. If we ever describe it differently, hold us to this paragraph.

Look for a track record that is checkable by someone other than the organization. Claims about years of service are easy to make. Our events are publicly listed with venues and ticket pages, which anyone can verify without asking us.

Be suspicious of a headline percentage figure. Programme-spending ratios are defined flexibly and are widely optimised. We do not publish one, because we will not put a number on this site that has not been verified.

If an organization fails several of these, that does not make it fraudulent. It usually means it is small and disorganised. But you are entitled to know before you give, and a good one will not mind you asking.