A how-to guide to vetting charities

Donors can spend a lot of time considering which nonprofits to support. If you’re exploring a new charitable cause without a specific charity in mind, you’ll likely discover there are a myriad of nonprofits to comb through, all of them seemingly impactful and deserving. 

While simply selecting a charity can be confusing, you can’t forget that the next step before you give is to vet the charity. Vetting charities might seem tedious, but it’s a critical part of charitable giving to ensure you’re making the impact you envisioned. Below are proven suggestions and solutions that donors can implement to safeguard their generosity and feel confident forging new philanthropic relationships.

Why vet a charity?

Vetting charities is a precautionary measure that ensures donors’ gifts reach their intended charitable purpose. This vigilance is vital in protecting donors from succumbing to the rise in charity fraud. 

In 2024, consumers lost more than $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, a $10 billion increase from 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported. And the IRS’ Dirty Dozen list, an annual compilation of the top 12 scams threatening taxpayers, cited charitable solicitations as one of the most common fraud trends of 2025. 

The uptick in charity fraud reaffirms the notion that vetting isn’t optional—it’s elemental in sustaining, enhancing, and protecting your philanthropy and tax-deductible giving goals.

Warning signs of charity fraud 

Charity scams are especially prevalent during times of uncertainty, tragedy, or turmoil. Scammers have become more sophisticated in their money grabbing schemes, and tumultuous periods are considered the most appealing and lucrative for charity fraud.

Crisis often spurs generous people to give. When donors look to provide aid for communities shuttered by natural disasters, political uprise, and more, meticulously evaluating red flags is critical. 

“In times of crisis, donors want these dollars to arrive at organizations supporting crises as quickly as possible. However, it is critical that donors take the time to use tools and partners to support due diligence to ensure that the organizations they are intending to support are active and legitimate.” -Rebecca Moffett, president of Vanguard Charitable 

Some common warning signs of charity scams include:

• High urgency or high-pressure requests for donations
• Outreach from charities that ask for personal information, such as bank account details and Social Security numbers
• Requests that donations be made via gift card or wire transfer
• Donations that can only be made through crowdfunding or social media

It’s important that donors are aware of the red flags that may signal they’re the target of charity fraud to avoid charitable dollars not reaching the communities that need them or even worse consequences.

Tools for vetting charities 

Several online screening tools are readily available to donors for researching and verifying more than one million U.S.-based nonprofits. To make vetting and giving as uncomplicated as possible, donors can use the below trusted tools to accurately determine a nonprofit’s legitimacy. 
 

• The Tax-Exempt Organization Search by the IRS allows donors to search charities using several data sets, such as viewing which nonprofits have filed forms in the Form 990 series—forms required by the IRS to be filed by tax-exempt organizations, nonexempt charitable trusts, and others—and which organizations are eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
• Charity Navigator has been an industry go-to since 2001, with more than 1.3 million IRS-registered organizations listed on its website and a tailored rating report for more than 225,000 501(c)(3) organizations. The charity search engine assesses organizations by impact and measurement, accountability and finance, culture and community, and leadership and adaptability.
• The Better Business Bureau’s Give.org is a self-proclaimed charity evaluator that verifies the “trustworthiness of publicly-soliciting charities by completing rigorous evaluations based on 20 BBB Standards for Charity Accountability,” according to the bureau’s website. The vetting tool evaluates four areas of accountability: governance, results reporting, finances, and truthful transparent communications.

Vanguard Charitable’s due diligence

"A donor-advised fund is a valuable way to ensure that this generosity gets into the hands of these important organizations quickly and safely, as we provide resources to ensure that each organization is fully vetted." - Rebecca Moffett, president of Vanguard Charitable

Vetting charities is a key component of giving. That's why donors that give with a Vanguard Charitable donor-advised fund (DAF) don’t have to bear the burden of due diligence—we do it for you.

Our dedicated grants team reviews the receiving charity, its tax-exempt status, and considers any possible red flags. Not only does superior due diligence ensure charitable dollars go to trustworthy charities, it also protects your tax benefits, as charitable dollars must go to qualified charities for giving to be considered tax-deductible.

Vanguard Charitable provides donors with protection and peace of mind, elements that are essential in strengthening philanthropy. If you’ve been looking to enhance your impact safely and confidently, opening a DAF account is a secure way of making a philanthropic impact while maximizing the tax benefits of charitable giving.