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Here's something that makes me angry: fake charities. People want to help, they see a heartfelt story online, they donate $50, and the money goes to a scammer in a different country. The cause they cared about gets nothing. Their generosity was stolen.
Fake charities aren't a small problem. After every natural disaster, every humanitarian crisis, every high-profile news story about a cause, fake charity sites pop up within hours. They use real photos, stolen stories, and emotional language designed to make you act before you think. And they're getting better at it — AI tools make it trivial to create a professional-looking charity website in an afternoon.
But there are concrete ways to tell a real charity from a fake one. Here's the verification process I use before donating a single dollar online.
Step 1: Check If It's Actually a Registered Charity
In the United States, legitimate charities are registered with the IRS as 501(c)(3) organizations. This means they file tax returns, their financials are public, and your donation is tax-deductible. You can verify this in minutes.
Go to apps.irs.gov/app/eos/ and search for the charity name. If they're a real 501(c)(3), they'll be in this database. If they're not listed, they're either not a registered charity or they're operating under a different name. Either way, stop and investigate further.
Check Charity Navigator or GuideStar
Charity Navigator rates charities based on financial health, accountability, and transparency. GuideStar (now Candid) provides detailed financial information including how much of your donation actually goes to programs vs. administration and fundraising.
If a charity isn't on either platform, that's a red flag. Legitimate charities want to be found on these sites — it's how donors find them. Absence usually means they're either brand new (risky) or not actually a charity (scam).
Check Your State's Charity Registry
Most states require charities to register with the state Attorney General's office before soliciting donations. Search "[your state] charity registry" to find your state's database. If the charity isn't registered in your state but is soliciting donations there, that's a legal violation — and a strong indicator of a scam.
Step 2: Examine the Website Itself
A real charity's website tells you a lot. Here's what to look for and what to run from:
Green Flags
- Clear mission statement: What they do, where they do it, and who they serve — in specific terms, not vague platitudes
- Named leadership: Real names of board members, executive director, and staff with photos and bios
- Annual report or financials: A PDF or page showing their budget, revenue, expenses, and program outcomes
- Physical address: A real office address, not just a P.O. Box (some small legitimate charities use P.O. Boxes, but combined with other red flags, it's a concern)
- Verified donation platform: They use recognized payment processors (PayPal, Stripe, Network for Good, Classy) rather than asking for wire transfers, crypto, or gift cards
Red Flags
- No EIN listed: A registered charity has an Employer Identification Number. If they don't list it anywhere, you can't verify them
- Domain registered recently: Check the domain on WHOIS. If the domain was registered 3 days ago and they're claiming 20 years of service, that's a scam
- No phone number or the number doesn't work: Call it. If nobody answers and there's no voicemail, that's a problem
- Stock photos only: If every photo on the site is a stock photo and there are no photos of actual work being done, be skeptical
- Vague use of funds: "Your donation helps those in need" tells you nothing. Real charities say "85% of donations go to program services, 10% to administration, 5% to fundraising"
- Pressure tactics: "Donate in the next 24 hours or lives will be lost" is emotional manipulation. Real charities communicate urgency without extortion
- Wire transfers, crypto, or gift cards: No legitimate charity asks for donations via wire transfer, cryptocurrency only, or gift cards. These are untraceable payment methods favored by scammers
Step 3: Verify Their Story
Scam charities often attach themselves to real events. A real disaster happened, real people are suffering, and the scammer creates a charity that claims to be helping. Here's how to verify:
Search for the Charity in News Coverage
If a charity is doing real work on the ground, local news will mention them. Search "[charity name] [location] news" and see what comes up. If the only results are the charity's own website and social media accounts, that's suspicious. Real charities get mentioned by third parties.
Check Their Social Media History
A real charity has a social media presence that goes back further than the current crisis. If their Facebook page was created last week and all their posts are about the current disaster, they're likely a scam that was created to capitalize on the news cycle.
Look for Partnerships and Endorsements
Real charities partner with other organizations — local governments, churches, companies, other nonprofits. If the charity claims to be working in a disaster zone but no other organization mentions them, be skeptical. Cross-reference their claims.
Step 4: Check How Your Money Is Actually Used
Even legitimate charities vary wildly in how efficiently they use donations. Some spend 90% of donations on programs. Others spend 50% on fundraising and administration. Both are legal, but you probably want your money going to the cause, not to more fundraising.
What to Look For
- Program ratio: The percentage of total expenses that go to actual programs. Aim for 75% or higher. Below 60% is questionable
- Fundraising costs: How much they spend to raise each dollar. If they spend $0.30 to raise $1.00, that's okay. If they spend $0.80 to raise $1.00, your donation is mostly going to more fundraising
- Executive compensation: This is public information. A charity paying its CEO $500K while running a $2M organization is different from a charity paying its CEO $500K while running a $500M organization. Context matters
- Reserves: Does the charity have months of operating reserves, or are they spending everything they raise immediately? Both can be fine depending on the charity's model, but a charity with zero reserves that's constantly "desperately fundraising" may have financial management issues
Charity Navigator and GuideStar provide all of this information. If a charity isn't rated on either, request their most recent Form 990 directly — they're required to provide it.
Step 5: Be Extra Careful After Disasters
The 48 hours after a major disaster are prime time for scam charities. Here's what to do:
- Don't donate to the first charity you see on social media. Wait 48 hours. Real charities will still need money next week
- Donate to established organizations first. Red Cross, Salvation Army, Direct Relief, GlobalGiving — organizations with track records. They have infrastructure already in place
- Verify GoFundMe and crowdfunding campaigns individually. Some are legitimate (started by people directly affected). Others are scams. Check if the organizer has a connection to the cause, look for updates with verifiable information, and check if the beneficiary is a verified organization
- Never click donation links in unsolicited emails or texts. Go directly to the charity's website by typing the URL yourself
The Quick Charity Verification Checklist
Before you donate, run through this list:
- ☑ Listed in IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search
- ☑ Rated on Charity Navigator or listed on GuideStar
- ☑ Registered in your state (if required)
- ☑ Website has a real address and phone number
- ☑ EIN is listed on their website
- ☑ Domain has been registered for more than 1 year
- ☑ Program ratio is 75% or higher
- ☑ Uses recognized payment processor (not wire/crypto/gift cards)
- ☑ Mentioned by third-party sources (news, other organizations)
- ☑ No pressure tactics or emotional manipulation
If all 10 check out, donate with confidence. If 2-3 are missing, investigate further. If more than half are missing, don't donate.
How Local-Eye Helps
Local-Eye is built to verify whether businesses and organizations are legitimate. When you're looking at a charity online, Local-Eye can check several of the items on the checklist above automatically — domain age, business registration status, web presence consistency, and whether the organization shows up in official databases.
What it does:
- Checks domain registration date and history
- Verifies business/organization registration status
- Cross-references the organization's claimed address, phone, and details against public records
- Flags inconsistencies in web presence (new domain claiming decades of history, for example)
What it doesn't do:
- Replace your own judgment — if something feels off, don't donate even if the technical checks pass
- Verify the quality of the charity's programs — that's what Charity Navigator and GuideStar are for
Local-Eye catches the technical red flags. You still need to do the human work of reading their website, understanding their mission, and deciding if their work aligns with what you want to support.
👉 Try Local-Eye — verify any website before you trust it with your money →
(P.S. The fact that you're reading this means you care enough to verify before donating. That already puts you ahead of most people. Scammers rely on the opposite — people who act on emotion without checking. Take the 5 minutes. The real charities you support will get more of your money, and the scammers will get nothing.)