Easily-misconstrued question about "charity" solicitation in front of stores

Great Debates
1

To establish a rebutable presumption, I do not hate the poor (I don’t think I hate anyone), am querelous about capitalism, and love the right of free speech that makes sites like the SDMB possible.

So here’s the picture. My local Target store has, seemingly permanently encamped in front of its exit door, a “station” at which solicitors for charitable purposes sit and ask (always politely) for donations. Sometimes the pitch is “help the homeless,” sometimes “help abused kids,” sometimes other things. I have the impression that it is the same organization doing this: they have the same semi-illegible sign, the same tall and narrow metal “bank,” and I’d swear many of the solicitors rotate through on a regular basis. This is in a semi-upscale suburban area in Orange County, California; there are indeed homeless persons and abused kids in this county, but the issue does not loom large in this particular locality.

I have sometimes given to such operations. I give to panhandlers now and then. But some questions come to mind.

(1) There are plenty of major commercial establishments of all kinds within a radius of a few miles of this one Target store. There are many chain supermarkets, K-Marts, Wal-Marts, drugstores, major shopping malls with big anchor stores, booksellers like Barnes & Noble, lavish restaurants, movie complexes–you name it. But I have never seen anything like a persistent solicitations presence ANYWHERE else locally–except this one store. Might the Target chain, or this one store in particular, be under some sort of settlement or court injunction requiring them to provide a prominent space for solicitation by a particular charity? Does that happen? Do charities have a right to engage in such solicitations on private commercial property, without approval by the property owners? If so, why is this so rarely done? Must it be by some sort of “registered” charity?–do I have the right to go door-to-door in my housing tract asking for donations to my personal wellbeing and happiness? (Most givers don’t seem to bother with getting a receipt re: tax write-offs.)

(2) The other big issue is whether such operations are legitimate at all. No one asks whom they are affiliated with. But let’s say someone does, and they are given some name like “Mother Theresa’s House of Mercy.” Anyone can make up a nice-sounding name. So you ask for one of those official registered-charities certificate cards that some counties require. Well, how do you tell a valid one from an invalid one? Hold it up to the light? Anyone with Photoshop and a good printer can create something that looks plausible. --So you call the number on the card, supposedly some kind of county office. Well again, what’s to stop anyone from having somebody sitting by a telephone in their garage, taking calls and “verifying” the operation? (And what’s to stop phonies from using the registration number of a legitimate charity with which they are completely unaffiliated?)

Ultimately, how does one know ANYTHING about these people and their purposes? (There are usually little wall-signs nearby that make clear that the property owner does not endorse the solicitors.) Is there the slightest reason to presume that they are anything other than some kind of semi-organized scam?

I recall one woman who had a cute little dog in a basket next to her, and a sign that asked for donations to give the dog needed surgery. Nice gimmick. How about those guys that stop you on the street asking for money to fill-up the tank on their car, so they can get home to grandma? Uh-huh.

But I’m not just blowing off steam. Is there any way at all to test the legitimacy of a solicitor without investing a good deal of time? Does, eg, Target really do absolutely nothing to weed out the pure scam artists?

I didn’t used to be this cynical. Then I had to sue my best friend.

2

I will never give any money to the charity places outside of major department stores. Mainly because I do not trust that the store has really investigated enough about the certain orgainization. Basically, they don’t have to do anything besides a minor check on the certain charities, so they don’t do anything more than that. Basically, I think it’s just smart to forget about these people and walk right past them.

3

Target, from what I gather, does a lot of charity work on its own through donations of some kind to some sort of funds… at least the local target indicates this in posters I pass as I travel through the vestibule. So if we accept this is more or less honest, it might be that Target just likes the notion of charity.

On the issue of fact-checking, I don’t know.

4

The chances that Target is required to do this by some legal order is highly unlikely. There is no right to solicit on private property, and the sidewalk in front of Target is undoubtedly the private property of someone. (Be it Target or the owner of the complex where the store is located.) The requirement for “registration” of charities (and with what governmental entity the registration must be lodged) is going to be a matter of local statute.

Most legit charities and those they choose to solicit on their behalf are more than forthcoming with information about who they are, who is in charge, where the money is going and so forth. If they have registration papers, they should include the seal of some government agency that’s recognizable (be it the state, county or municipality in which the solicitation is occurring) and an address and phone number which correspond. (Of course, this presumes that you’re aware of the general location of your seats of government.) If you’re in doubt about a charity, the answer is, of course, to call a phone number that you know belongs to your government, at some level, to find out about the charity’s bonafides.

Target probably engages only in a cursory inspection of credentials. They aren’t really responsible if their customers get suckered outside their doors, after all.

But there’s no reason why you shouldn’t limit your on-the-spot donations to organizations whose names are clear and whose solicitors have obvious signage and information about exactly who they represent and the general target of the funds that they are gathering.

If it’s a bell ringer with a red kettle between September and February, look for the obvious sign which says “Salvation Army” and if it’s not there, don’t drop your change.

If it’s a person wearing a firefighter helmet, walking around with a firefighter boot, in an intersection, from mid-August to mid-September, look for the obvious MDA sign, and if it’s not there, keep your window rolled up.

But at the heart of it, if you want to know without any doubt that you’re giving to a legit charity, make your donations directly to those groups whose names you know, whose goals you support, and do so by mailing them a check directly to their local or national headquarters. And then you can walk by on-the-street solicitors secure in the knowledge that you’ve offered your financial assistance in a way that is sufficient and you have no need to feel badly about not responding to the folks outside of Target or anywhere else.

5

If the charity is a well-established organization with a solid reputation, then I see no harm in giving to such charities. The Salvation Army, for example, routinely solicits outside of department stores every year. Their charitable works are respected and highly visible, and their reputation is well-known.

So I think that having a blanket policy against giving to charities which solicits outside of a department store is a bit extreme.

6

I always ask for the most recent financial statement of the charity; I am often told I can request a copy from the main office.

I ask for the phone number. There is never one available.

I then give at home to my chosen charities.

7

j66 has boiled it down to the simplest, easiest way to do this. The financial form you should request is the Form 990. All 501©(3) organizations (your run-of-the-mill charity) are required to file this form, and are also required by law to provide a copy upon request.

However, organizations with a working budget under a certain amount (I believe it’s around $10,000, but could be wrong) do not need to file. These are usually private little organizations and clubs that have little outside/public “charity work”.

As for the “Scott Dickerson Defense Fund”, you’re free to do so. But if you ever get audited (HIGHLY unlikely), you’d have to prove that all funds and gifts that have been given to you have gone to your stated mission which you filed with the IRS.

Your best solution? Don’t give money to groups that you can’t verify, especially those described in the OP. If they aren’t readily recognizable, easily found, or are fly-by-night, you don’t want them to have your money.