Security Certificates are digital documents negotiated through a trusted third party. When a browser enters a site with a security certificate and the negotiation of that certificate is completed the browser displays a small icon to inform you that your transactions with that site meet some level of protection. The user can adjust this mechanism to whatever level of caution they desire. It is my opinion that a similar third party confirmation should occur for sites that describe themselves as charities. Any site that desired to collect charitable givings would undergo bi-annual certification by a charitably certification company. This could be anything from a low level certification such as "there is a verified tax status charity that claims to own this website" up to "money given at this website meets the standards of (X) charities review". This is all done through a third party to prevent false claims. The final user can select what level of charity they want to trust (verified charity, charities approved by Catholic Charities International, charities on the Mother Jones list A+ list or whatever). If the user is not satisfied with this list the user can subscribe (somewhat at their own risk) to a third party certificate provider of their choosing (Coast to Coast AM Certified Foil Hat Projects). This would do wonders to cut down on the outright scams that are EVERYWHERE on the internet.
-- WcW, Jan 21 2010

Charity Commission http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/
[calum, Jan 21 2010]

OSCR http://www.oscr.org.uk/
disappointingly non-grouchy and generally very helpful. [calum, Jan 21 2010]

Certificates for every site https://www.eff.org...-encrypt-entire-web
Obviously charities could make use of this. [Vernon, Jan 04 2015]

Charities in the UK are regulated by the Charities Commission or the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator and are required to show their registered charity numbers on all communications, websites included. Does nothing similar exist in the US? If not, I've just had an excellent idea for a charitable foundation based out of Delaware.
-- calum, Jan 21 2010


Some charities mean well, but simply waste your donations. Some charities have such a strong religious structure that in some sense they are no longer charities. Some scams appear and are legitimate charities up and until a big donor drops a a bundle on them and then just seem to implode like a bust out scam.

Any certificate should provide information about the charities legitimacy, competence or efficiency, and the per cent of donations going which activities. And still some scams will earn legitimate certificates and then abuse them.
-- popbottle, Jan 04 2015


Don't forget about paragraph breaks.
-- normzone, Jan 04 2015


BUNGCO is not a charity but is definitely interested in certifying charities, for a percentage.
-- bungston, Jan 04 2015


There are watchdog companies to evaluate North American charities but it is very difficult to determine just how the money gets spent. One charity I am looking into has filed no reports since 07 yet they seem to have no problem retaining their non-profit status.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 04 2015



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