Vetting a Non-Profit Beneficiary For Your Event
What the RVA Beard League does to determine which charity to support
Our Rules of Thumb
Note: These are the policies we’ve come to adopt for the RVA Beard League, one size does not, nor should, fit all.
Global pandemics and North American championships notwithstanding, at the end of each April we hold our annual charity facial hair fundraiser, the Mid-Atlantic Beard & ‘Stache Championships. The fall before, we solicit nominations from members for smaller, local charities to support. While private fundraisers and GoFundMe’s to help others can be a worthwhile pursuit, we tend to go for better organized operations with some transparency as to where the money we raise is spent. It’s important to us that the money we raise and the time and effort we all put into raising it goes to do good, and get as much bang for our buck as possible. So these are the steps we go through with each prospective non-profit beneficiary.
Size
At the First Ever MABSC in 2012, we supported a worthy, but large, charity in town. They provided a media pack and custom signage, but that was about it. After all was said and done, when we brought in our (admittedly meager) $1,400 donation check, their enthusiasm did not remotely match ours for the time and effort we put into it. Ever since then, we’ve decided to go with more modest non-profits who need our help more or don’t have the staff of the ones who hold galas or mailers so that our donation would have a bigger impact on their programs and allow them to do even more.
Scope
We also usually don’t consider animal or children’s charities because of the easier “sell”. We try and support the less-sexy causes that impact the lives of the people of Richmond who a Sarah McLaughlin song doesn’t really help. That being said, we’ve held other fundraisers that do support animal or children’s charities, that’s just the policy we’ve decided to adhere to for the Mid-Atlantic Championships.
Our other standard policy is to “spread the love” and find new or different charities each year to work with to help as many people as possible, and to work with different groups throughout Richmond.
If you don’t have a specific non-profit in mind, then identify the area you want to impact (medical charities, homelessness, food pantries, local libraries, wildlife/environmental causes, pets, etc.) then see what non-profits are around that help meet that need. Check out their websites and social media profiles to see what they're doing and who they’re helping, how often they’re updated, and what events they’ve held in the past. Overall, are they a group you want to spend your time assisting, and your club to be associated with?
Vetting
We try to get a list of 4-6 charities that we could work with over the next 6 months leading up to our competition. Once we have their names, we look them up on the IRS’ website and take a look at what they’ve reported. There’s usually a good amount of information in there that can help make your decision easier.
From there, search by Organization Name or Employer Identification Number (EIN) their IRS-issued ID. As an example, we’ll look at the James River Association.
James River Association
EIN: 51-0211913 | Richmond, VA, United States
Their profile page will list their most recent IRS filings. Review the last year or two, keeping in mind anything recent will likely be affected by the pandemic. Earlier filings from 2019 and 2018 may provide a more complete picture of their work. We’ll go through what information to look for in the next section and what info is useful.
In addition, there are two major non-profit record organizations: GuideStar and Charity Navigator. Both sites present slightly different profile information from each other, so it’s good to check and collect information from both.
Profile for the James River Association: https://www.guidestar.org/profile/51-0211913.
