Tips for donating to crowdfunding campaigns

Tips from Better Business Bureau

Victims of crime, police shootings and natural or man-made disasters are all using GoFundMe and other crowd-funding sites to raise money to pay for funerals, family expenses or disaster recovery. We have even seen students using the sites to raise money for study abroad programs - or just to buy things.

When you donate to a crowdfunding site, how do you know that the money raised is going to actually help the victim? The sites rely on funders being honest and depends on the public to report fraud. In some cases, the person who raised the money has pocketed most of it without passing it on to the person or cause named as the reason for collecting money.

Better Business Bureau expects fraudulent fundraising to take place in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, and at least one such scheme has been reported to a BBB in Kentucky. Scammers often build their schemes on topics trending in the news or on social media.

GoFundMe has information on how to report fraud on its site. You also can report it to local law enforcement or to BBB.

The U.S. Justice Department also advises fraud victims to report suspected fraud, waste, abuse or mismanagement involving disaster relief operations to contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud at 866-720-5721, by fax at 225-334-4707 or by email to [email protected].

BBB has the following tips for people who want to donate to disaster relief or other charitable causes.

Rely on respected experts to evaluate a charity. Be cautious when relying on third-party recommendations such as bloggers or social media personalities, because they may not have fully researched the listed relief organizations. BBB offers reviews of more than 11,000 charities that indicate whether a charity complies with BBB's 20 Standards for Charity Accountability.

Be wary of claims that 100 percent of donations assist victims. All charities have fundraising and administrative costs. Even a credit card donation will involve, at a minimum, a processing fee.

Be cautious when giving online to unfamiliar charities. Be wary of spam messages and emails that claim to link to a relief organization. After the tsunami disaster in 2011 and the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, many websites and organizations that were created overnight allegedly to help victims turned out to be scams.

Find out if the charity has a presence in the impacted areas. Unless the charity already has staff in the affected areas, it may be difficult to get new aid workers into the area to provide assistance. See if the charity's website clearly describes what they can do to address victims' needs.

Find out if the charity is providing direct aid or raising money for other groups. You may want to avoid the middleman and give directly to charities working in the region. Check out the ultimate recipients of the donations to ensure the organizations are equipped to effectively provide aid.

Gifts of clothing, food or other in-kind donations may not be appropriate. Unless the organization has the staff and infrastructure to distribute such aid, the donations may be more of a burden than a help. Ask the charity about their transportation and distribution plans. Be wary of those who are not experienced in refugee relief.

Be cautious about crowdfunding. These sites do very little to check out the individuals seeking funds after a disaster, and donors may not be able to verify whether the organization or individual seeking funds is trustworthy.

For more information about charities or to get a BBB Charity Review, check with BBB at midmobbb.org or by calling 573-886-8965.

Sean Spence is the Mid-Missouri regional director for Better Business Bureau.