Make Sure Organizations You Donate To Are Properly Registered

Today, (Nov. 28) is Giving Tuesday.

The day is fairly new beginning in 2012 in the United States. The idea behind the holiday is to give to a charitable organization. Charities see donations rise typically around Christmas time so 'Giving Tuesday' is just one of those days that reminds you to make a charitable contribution if you choose to do so.

Unfortunately, some people like to run scams and say they have a charity when the reality is they do not.

Granted, some charities may go through the administrative work to appear legitimate and can still be corrupt.

But at the very least, before donating to an organization, especially one that you don't know much about, you want to make sure it is properly registered.

To properly register, organizations need to go through the Secretary of State.

The Secretary of State also has a very comprehensive PDF document detailing the charitable organizations that are registered with the state.

The list includes local organizations such as the Bismarck Cancer Center but it also includes national organizations such as the American Cancer Society. Even national organizations need to register in every state in order to legally host fundraisers in that state.

So with that being said, here is a link to the PDF document detailing all of the registered charitable organizations in North Dakota.

To see if a specific organization is on that list, simply hit CTRL+F on your keyboard (Command + F on a Mac) and search for the organization you want. Make sure the PDF document fully loads before performing this function.

The list, in addition to giving the names of the charities also provides a physical address, a phone number and an email address.

**Editor's Note: We are not legal experts when it comes to the requirements necessary to register a charity with the state of North Dakota. If you are curious as to why charities may or may not show up on the list and whether certain charities are operating legally, please consult with a proper lawyer.