5 Essential Questions to Ask Before Making End-of-Year Tax Deductible Donations

By Aaron Webber October 10, 2025

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5 Essential Questions to Ask Before Making End-of-Year Tax Deductible Donations — © NoDerog / iStock via Getty Images

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Many households make charitable donations near the end of the year — sometimes motivated by the holiday spirit, and sometimes to take advantage of potential tax deductions. However, donations are only tax-deductible for people who itemize their deductions on their tax return, not for those taking the standard deduction.

It can also be an overly emotional time of year and giving could be related to this heightened sense of business and emotion. Because of these and a myriad of other reasons, donations could be made hastily without much forethought. Whatever the reason, there are several essential questions that everyone should be asking before donating any amount of money to any organization.

This post was updated on October 10, 2025 to clarify transparency-checking resources, that donations are only tax deductible for those who itemize deductions, exceptions to publishing transparency reports, and to provide scam reporting information.

#1 Is This Organization Legitimate?

Head shot portrait smiling Indian female doctor physician in white uniform with stethoscope holding pink piggy bank, looking at camera, medical insurance or charity concept, healthcare and medicine

Giving to charity.

‘Tis the season of giving but also the season of scamming. For a lot of people, committing fraud via fake non-profits, NGOs, GoFundMe, and other crowd-sourcing platforms is part of their holiday income. Making sure something is legitimate before giving your money to it is essential. If you see the organization on social media platforms, for example, make sure to look up the organization on a browser. Does the organization have any certifications?

A great place to look is the Better Business Bureau to ensure they are a legitimate charitable organization. Many charitable organizations are listed on the BBB’s Website, give.org. You should always look up the organization here first. Not only does the Better Business Bureau give out accreditations, but it also allows organizations to report their accountability. The BBB has a rating system based on 20 standards addressing transparent representation, truthfulness, governance, and accurate results reporting. (Not all legitimate charities are listed or accredited by the Better Business Bureau. Listing is voluntary, and many reputable organizations (especially smaller nonprofits) are not registered there.)

24/7 spoke with GoFundMe and they had the following to say about avoiding scams on their website:

“Being a safe and trusted place to give and receive help is our top priority. We have a team of experts working around the clock to review fundraisers and prevent misuse using both human reviews and technical tools. Anyone can report a fundraiser if they have concerns, and our experts will promptly investigate any flagged suspicious activity. We have zero tolerance for platform misuse.

GoFundMe also has the first and only donor protection guarantee in the crowdfunding industry. GoFundMe’s Giving Guarantee offers a full refund in the rare case when something isn’t right. (You can find more details about our GoFundMe Giving Guarantee on our website).”

-GoFundMe, 2024

#2 What Percentage of Donations Go Toward the Intended Recipients?

Donations.

The average donor might not necessarily know how to look up the percentage of donations that actually go toward helping the intended cause. Less reputable organizations might spend a small fraction of donations (sometimes under 25%) on actual programs, while keeping most for administrative or fundraising costs. This can be determined by looking at the organization’s finances, viewing the report provided by the Better Business Bureau, reporting from third-party organizations, going to charitywatch.org, etc. Don’t just believe the information an organization posts on its website. Always dig a little deeper.

#3 Is There Transparency?

Male volunteers holding donation boxes and dividing into groups female teams holding garbage bags during doing good deeds nature conservation project volunteers tourism areas natural water resources.

Volunteers at work.

Financial and oversight transparency is really important in organizations. Who is on the board of trustees? Is there nepotism occurring within the organization? What is the salary of executive-level members? The less transparency an organization has, the easier it is to scam. The more reputable an organization, the more likely that organization is willing to publish transparency reports (though some small nonprofits are transparent without publishing formal “transparency reports”). Alongside give.org, other resources like Charity Navigator, Guidestar (now Candid), or CharityWatch can help you gauge transparency.

#4 Are You Feeling Pressure to Donate on The Spot?

Social workers.

A common scammer tactic is to pressure a potential donor to give RIGHT NOW. It will use emotional manipulation to get you to skip past the research stage and just give your hard-earned cash. Any reputable organization might solicit donations via cold-calling or cold-texting but won’t ever pressure you to donate that very second. If it does, there is a high chance it isn’t reputable.

#5 Is Everything Spelled Correctly?

Grocery delivery courier man in red uniform holds cardboard box with fresh vegetables, fruits and other food. Express food delivery, donation concept.

Donating food.

Scammers often copy the usernames, organization names, web addresses, etc. with just slightly different spelling. For example, instead of www.247wallst.com (this website), they could use www.247walllst.com. To the unsuspecting eye, these web addresses might look identical, but I slipped in an additional L.

If you were to click on a fake webpage that is a copy of the original, you are in danger of being scammed. If you aren’t sure whether a website is legitimate or not, you can always look up the organization on the BBB or Charity Watch and get the weblink from the organization’s profile. If you are looking at social media, you can see if an organization is verified (except for on platforms like X, where anyone can purchase a verification check mark). Places like TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Lemon8 usually have verified profiles.

The moral of the story is to just breathe through your emotions for a few minutes, put in a few minutes of research, and then donate if everything looks like it’s in order. If you find that you have been the victim of scamming, donors are advised to report fraud to the FTC or state attorney general.