Do you want to do good well when you support charities?

Do you want to do good well dealing with the end of life for yourself or those you love?

I’m devoted to excellence in both charitable giving and end-of-life care — and created this site to share with you as you seek to do good well in those vital arenas. I hope you find it helpful.

— Ed Long

Savvy Donors Do Good Well

Many generous people donate to charities but then aren’t sure if it’s money well spent.

Life is too short to donate to charity wasters and fakers. And it’s just plain wrong that weak charities waste donated money and fake charities steal donated money.

At SavvyDonors.org, we help generous people be Savvy Donors.

Savvy Donors know how to find strong charities and avoid charity wasters and fakers.

Savvy Donors know whether their donated money is well spent. Savvy Donors do good well!

The joys of being a Savvy Donor

As a savvy donor, you

- continue to make a difference in the world
- protect your generosity from wasters and fakers
- support strong charities doing solid work
- give wisely and well
- and save time and worry while doing it.

Are you already a Savvy Donor?

Take the DonorType Quiz and find out if you’re already a Savvy Donor.

Donor Resources

We’ve rounded up a bunch of our favorite resources. Consider bookmarking this page for your reference and convenience when you’re doing charity-related research.

Nonprofit and Charity Research

Do your CharityCheck to identify the organization and find its tax status and EIN (employer identification number).
Dig further with the Best Free Charity Research Sites (below) to find out more about an organization’s mission, operations and finances.
The EIN is the gateway to information about a nonprofit, with the organization’s IRS Form 990 being the first place to look. Find a Charity IRS Form 990 super-fast and free

Giving Smart

Smart and Easy Ways to Leave Gifts to Charity – gifts to charity don’t have to be complicated, they can be smart and easy.
Savvy Donors Do Good Well – are you a savvy donor?

Volunteers and Taxes

See Volunteer Mileage and Tax Deductions tab below

Donor-Advised Funds

IRS Rules and Requirements

These donor resources can help you learn about the IRS rules and requirements related to charitable giving.

Consumer Protection Help

These government donor resources can help you with consumer protection matters.

Books on Philanthropy

Inspired Philanthropy, by Tracy Gary
Leap of Reason, by Mario Morino
Stop Acting Rich … and Start Living Like a Real Millionaire, by Thomas J. Stanley
Toxic Charity – How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help, by Robert D. Lupton
Start Something That Matters, by Blake Mycoskie
Social Entrepreneurship – What Everyone Needs to Know, by David Bornstein and Susan Davis

CharityCheck 101

Thinking about giving? First do your CharityCheck to identify the organization and find its tax status and EIN (employer identification number).

Dig before you donate — heed the warnings of the FBI, IRS, FTC, NASCO and state attorneys general.

The CharityCheck directory includes every charity and nonprofit organization listed by the Internal Revenue Service as exempt from federal income taxes.

Avoid Fakes. Not every group that looks, sounds or feels like a charity is truly a charity. Fake “charities” often adopt names similar to legitimate charities, siphoning off dollars needed for good works. They’re specially active around crises, natural disasters and other big news items and causes. Do a charity check to make sure the group is truly a charity.
Confirm Identity. There are more than 1.8 million organizations recognized as tax-exempt by the IRS. Their names are often similar. Similar names easily produce confusion. Do a charity check to make sure you are supporting exactly the group you want.
Confirm Tax Status. Do a charity check to find the organization’s tax status. Is the organization recognized as a charity or nonprofit by the IRS? Will a donation be deductible as a charitable contribution?

Doing a CharityCheck directory search is smart, fast, safe and free. Doing a Reverse Lookup is just as smart, safe and free — and even faster!

Charity DNA and Research

Charity DNA

While charity names can be similar, no two charities have the same EIN (employer identification number). EINs are like charity DNA.

The EIN is the gateway to information about a nonprofit, with the organization’s IRS Form 990 being the first place to look. Find a Charity IRS Form 990 super-fast and free

Charities Should Prominently Show Their EINs

Overview

EIN checking is more precise than DNA testing.
While charity names can be confusingly similar, no two charities have the same EIN (employer identification number).
Using an EIN is the quickest path to successful charity research.
Using an EIN is quickest way to avoid “charity” scams.

#1: Why should a charity prominently show its EIN?

To help donors protect themselves.
To help donors get the results they want.
To help law enforcement combat “charity” scams.
EINs are the key to finding a particular charity.
While charity names can be similar, no two charities have the same EIN. EIN checking is more precise than DNA testing.
Charity names can be confusingly similar. For example, we entered “american cancer” as the organization name in the CharityCheck101.org directory search and got 129 results. We narrowed the name search to “american cancer society” and got 40 results. We entered “habitat for humanity” and got 1,228 results. We entered “veteran” and got 17,275 results!
Names can be used to mislead. Scam “charities” often adopt names confusingly similar to legitimate charities, siphoning off dollars needed for good works.

#2: What’s an EIN?

Every charity has its own unique federal employer identification number (EIN), which it obtains by applying to the IRS. An EIN is typically a nine-digit number, shown like 12-3456789. A few charities have EINs with eight or fewer digits (normally shown with a leading zero like 01-2345678).

#3: Why would a donor care?

Using an EIN is the quickest path to successful charity research.
Using an EIN is the quickest way to avoid “charity” scams.
Using an EIN is a solid way to avoid confusion among legitimate charities.
Using an EIN helps in checking for a charity’s current address.
Using an EIN helps document charitable deductions at tax time.

#4: How can a donor use an EIN in charity research?

The EIN is the gateway to information about a nonprofit, with the organization’s IRS Form 990 being the first place to look. Find a Charity IRS Form 990 super-fast and free.
You can also enter the EIN (with or without the hyphen) at CharityCheck101.org, GuideStar.org, or even Google — you’ll quickly find available information about the group.
See also our top free charity research websites.

#5: You’re saying charity EINs are public information?

Yes. Charity EINs are a key part of the public disclosure system mandated by the Internal Revenue Code. They’re available on the IRS website for anyone to find. And they’re the pathway to finding charity information filed with the IRS and available through CharityCheck101.org, GuideStar.org and elsewhere. The system’s already in place, let’s use it!

#6: Could showing charity EINs help “charity” scammers?

No, it will hurt them. If all charity fundraisers show their EINs, “charity” scammers will also have to show EINs. Potential donors will know to look for the EIN, and ask for it when contacted for donations.

If a scammer doesn’t show an EIN, it will be immediately suspect to potential donors.
If a scammer uses its own EIN, potential donors can quickly check it out through CharityCheck101.org, GuideStar.org, or Google.
If a scammer uses the EIN of a legitimate charity, it will easily get caught and will have given law enforcement clear proof of fraud.

#7: Where should a charity prominently show its EIN?

Show the EIN prominently –

On every piece of mail sent seeking a donation or other funding.
On every donation acknowledgement.
On the “About Us” page of the website and in the footer of every page.

Bottom Line:

No foundation would give a charity a grant unless the charity provided its EIN first.

Why should individual and family donors, who provide more than 80% of charity donations, have to waste time searching for charity EINs?

Charity Research — best free sites

See the “Best free charity research sites” tab for my latest list . . .

Best Free Charity Research Sites

Best free charity research sites

Using free charity research websites can connect you to a gold mine of information.

They’ll help you track down individual charities and view their operations and finances.
You can then check charity missions, programs, spending, assets, liabilities, staff and board, and much more.

Here’s my list, updated in August 2023

The list is in alphabetical order.

CharityCheck101.org

All IRS-listed nonprofits
Check identity and tax status
Find EINs; Reverse Lookup
No registration required

CharityNavigator.org

Reports 195,000+ charities rated
Star ratings and reviews
All IRS-listed nonprofits
Optional registration gets you deeper access

CharityWatch.org

640+ letter ratings and reviews
Investigative reports
Donate $75 (annual) and get deeper access

GuideStar.org (part of Candid)

All IRS-listed nonprofits
Data and copies of Form 990 and Form 990-PF filings
Optional registration gets you deeper access

IRS.gov Exempt Organizations

All IRS-listed nonprofits
Check identity and tax status
Data and copies of Form 990 and Form 990-PF filings
No registration required

ProPublica.org Explorer

All IRS-listed nonprofits
Data and copies of Form 990 and Form 990-PF filings
No registration required

Volunteer Mileage and Tax Deductions

Volunteer and other mileage rates

The Internal Revenue Service has issued the 2023 optional standard mileage rates. They’re used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2023, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car, van, pickup or panel truck (including electric and hybrid-electric automobiles, as well as gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles) will be:

65.5 cents per mile for business miles driven. Compare to 58.5 cents in January through June 2022. And to 62.5 cents in July through December 2022.
22 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes Compare to 18 cents in January through June 2022. Same as the 22 cents in July through December 2022.
14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations (no change, again).

Taxpayers always have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates. For more information, see our article on charitable deductions for volunteers and IRS Revenue Procedure 2010-51. The volunteer mileage rate of 14 cents has not changed in many years.

Use CharityCheck101.org to see if a nonprofit is qualified to provide you a charitable deduction for the miles you drive.

Volunteers and taxes

Volunteers may be able to deduct amounts they expend volunteering for charity — see What can a volunteer deduct?

End-of-Life Care

We all deserve peace at the end of life. But that’s not the end-of-life experience for many in our communities. Many die in hospitals and skilled nursing homes — medical facilities where peace can be hard to find.

And while families do remarkable work to provide care at home, that can bring family worry, stress, exhaustion, fear about making mistakes, and even family conflict. Peace at home can be hard to maintain.

I’ve dedicated a lot of my time as a volunteer focusing on end-of-life care homes for men and women and families — helping to assure peace at the end of life.

End-of-life care homes – Caring House

Caring House is an end-of-life care home in Torrance, CA, the first of its kind in Los Angeles County, CA. It’s an IRC 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to helping residents in the last weeks and days of their lives.

All residents receive hospice services from the hospice agency of their choice. Freed from caregiving duties, family and friends can spend their time supporting and connecting with their loved one and each other.

Caring House has six attractive private bedrooms in a home in a peaceful residential neighborhood. Residents/families are asked to help cover the costs of care to the best of their ability.

Patty (my wife) and were among the founders and we served as the volunteer management staff from opening in 2016 until early 2021. For more information see YourCaringHouse.org.

End-of-life care homes – Hopewell House

Hopewell House is an end-of-life care home in Portland, OR, and re-opened in early 2023. It’s an IRC 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to helping residents in the last weeks and days of their lives.

Hopewell House has twelve attractive private bedrooms in a home in on a beautiful 4.5-acre property in SW Portland. Residents/families are asked to help cover the costs of care to the best of their ability. Hopewell House is able to accept Medicaid as payment for Medicaid-elibible residents.

Patty and I now live in Portland, OR, and are glad to support Hopewell House as volunteers and donors. For more information see HopewellHousePDX.org.

End-of-life care homes – Omega Home Network

The Omega Home Network is a nonprofit national membership organization that promotes development and expansion of community homes people who are dying. Through information sharing, consultation and educational offerings, the Network provides direct assistance to those developing and operating homes in their communities.

Members of the network are independent homes for end-of-life care located across the U.S., either currently operating or in development. They vary in size, appearance and internal policies and operate under different state and local rules — but share a common foundation and philosophy.

For more information see OmegaHomeNetwork.org.

Care Planning

We all deserve peace at the end of life. Care planning can help assure that we find that peace.

Choose the Right Person

A key component is successful care planning is choosing the right person to make decisions.

Advance directives are crucial and valuable, and an excellent way to name who will speak for you.
The success of an advance directive depends on the person named in the advance directive to make care decisions. In other words, an advance directive is only as effective as the person you name.
See this free and simple 2-page guide to help you choose the right person. Key selection factors: legal age; clearheadedness; availability; communicating about personal things; asserting and persuading; honoring your wishes.

What’s Important to You?

It’s also important to think and communicate about what’s important to you, and to keep that up to date. Here’s a handy one-page template for sorting out what’s important to you. With the template you sit down and list up to ten things that are important to you (the template has a few examples). Then you set it aside for a day or so, coming back and crossing off half of the items — refining what’s most important to you.

Peace at the End

The Peace at the End project pulls together information and resources on care planning and decision-making.

Questions? If you have questions, suggestions or other feedback for me use the Contact and Ask page.