The Federal Trade Commission is warning consumers to be careful when making charitable donations through “online giving portals”.

Online giving portals allow you to quickly and easily contribute to a number of different charities that you want to support through one website. While that’s certainly convenient, there’s also a downside:  your donations probably aren’t going directly to the charities you’re supporting. And even when they do, they may take awhile to get there. Instead, your money is going to the organization that’s operating the portal. These organizations are essentially middlemen. They process your donations and send you a tax receipt. But they also deduct a service fee from your contribution before sending what’s left to the charity.

The FTC’s website  lists several things consumers should look for when making charitable contributions through online giving portals. If you want to donate through a portal that doesn’t provide the details described on the FTC’s website, makes the details hard to find, or doesn’t describe them clearly, you’re better off donating directly to each charity.

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