GIVE INTELLIGENTLY NOT EVERY CHARITY DESERVES YOUR SUPPORT

It's that time of year again when, along with a bombardment ofgift catalogs and sale notices, your mailbox is crammed withappeals from charities.

It may be confusing and possibly annoying, but charities have agood reason to make their appeal blitz in December: Half of thedonations from individuals to charities are made at the end of theyear, says Dan Langan, spokesman for the National CharitiesInformation Bureau (NCIB) in New York City.

"Only a few people will respond to any pitches early in theyear and most people have not given anything so far this year," hesays.

Non-profit experts are not sure exactly why Americans wait tocontribute. For those who itemize deductions on their tax returns,the end of the year may remind them they have to give now in orderto reduce their taxes. But the majority of Americans no longeritemize their deductions.

Many donations may be motivated either by the good feelingsthat come with the holidays or from a sense of guilt over thedonors' good fortune compared to those who are less well off,Langan says.

No matter what the reason, Americans will lay out big moneythis month.

The Council of Better Business Bureaus estimates individualscontributed nearly 80 percent of the $130 billion that went tocharities during 1994; if comparable amounts are contributed thisyear, they will give $52 billion to charities this holiday season.

For the average American family contributing $646 a year tocharity, the plethora of holiday pitches can be confusing.

Charity experts say you shouldn't just throw your money at thefirst mailing that comes to your door, or the one that includesfree Christmas cards.

Because your ability to donate is limited, you should make sureyour money is used as efficiently as possible, they say. You alsoshould make sure your money isn't going to a scam, they add.

"The great majority of charities are honest, but there are somescams and questionable operations that surface at this time of yearand try to take advantage of donors' generosity," says James J.Bausch, president of the NCIB. "Every dollar given to a dishonestor badly run organization is doubly lost -- first to thecontributor and second to a deserving charity."

There are some easy ways to avoid falling victim to a phonycharity, he says:

If a charity reaches you by telephone, insist on writteninformation about the organization, its goals, and the percentageof dollars used for charitable programs.

Hang up on callers who say you have won a large amount of moneyor a prize from a charity contest you did not enter.

Don't give money if the charity offers to send a messenger topick up your donation. The caller may be trying to avoid the U.S.Postal Service and mail fraud charges.

Pay no attention to letters that say you have pledged money,unless you are sure you did. No reputable charity will ever sendyou a dunning letter.

Never give credit card numbers to strangers on the telephone.Pay only by check made out to the charity.

Check with New York's Charities Bureau to make sure the charityis registered as a legitimate, non-profit organization.

While those guidelines will help you guard against giving moneyto a phony charity, they won't help you pick out an inefficientcharity.

Inefficient charities spend most of their money on fund-raisingand administrative costs; little is left over for the actualcharitable purposes of the organization.

The BBB and the NCIB put out giving guides that list majorcharities and tell whether they meet the two organizations'standards.

The BBB says charities should spend at least half of theirtotal income on programs, rather than on fund-raising andadministrative costs. It believes charities should spend no morethan 35 percent on fund-raising.

The NCIB's standard for an efficient charity is one whoseprograms account for at least 60 percent of its expenses.

To get a free copy of the BBB's holiday edition of "Give . . .But Give Wisely," send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: TheBetter Business Bureau, 346 Delaware Ave., Buffalo, N.Y. 14202.

For a free copy of the NCIB's "Wise Giving Guide," write to:National Charities Information Bureau, Dept. 501, 19 Union SquareW., New York, N.Y., 10003.

Both organizations maintain home pages on the Internet thatoffer a variety of information for free. For the BBB typehttp://www.bbb.org/bbb. The NCIB address is http://www.give.org.

Those two organizations will not help everyone, because theylist only major charities that have complied with requests forinformation.

There are about 600,000 charitable groups in the United States,and most file information with federal and state agencies that canbe obtained either from the charities or through governmentalagencies.

Some charity watchdogs argue that wise donors will take thetime to do their own financial analysis of a charity beforecontributing.

"There is a vacuum of information out there in terms ofinformation on charities that are actively soliciting," says DanielBorochoff, who heads the non-profit American Institute ofPhilanthropy in St. Louis. "You as a donor bear this burden."

Any charity whose annual contributions are more than $25,000,or that uses a professional fund-raiser, has to file an annualreport with New York State's Charities Bureau, which operates underthe state Attorney General's office.

"If you call us we can tell you if a charity is registered ornot and how much money it has," says Douglas Williams, bureaudirector.

The state also can send you a three-year financial summary onan organization, along with some guidelines on analyzing the data.You can reach the bureau at (518) 474-3820, or (518) 474-3720.

Those connected to the Internet also can access the state'scharity records through the Internet NonProfit Center, whichoperates a home page on the World Wide Web. The center offersrecords from every state that registers charities. Its address ishttp://www.human.com:80/inc/.

For those who want a thorough analysis but don't want to do itthemselves, the American Institute of Philanthropy offers alow-priced summary of its ratings on 300 major charities.

Unlike the BBB and the NCIB, the institute examines charitiesthat are uncooperative in requests for information. It piecestogether financial information from the charity, federal taxstatements and state registration forms.

The institute gives charities a letter grade from A to F,reflecting how much money is spent on programs and how large thecharity's reserves are (a charity with billions in the bank shouldbe spending it rather than raising more money).

To get a copy of its Charity Rating Guide and Watchdog Report,send $3 to: American Institute of Philanthropy, 4579 Laclede Ave.,Suite 136, St. Louis, Mo., 63108.