If you are considering giving to a charity or foundation--start by determining whether it is a legitimate charity --especially if you have been solicited for a contribution via the Internet. The Internet has much information available both about nonprofits and for nonprofits.

Start out by going to www.give.org. The BBB Wise Giving Alliance was formed in 2001 with the merger of the National Charities Information Bureau and the Council of Better Business Bureau Foundation and its Philanthropic Advisory Service. The BBB Wise Giving Alliance collects and distributes information on hundreds of nonprofit organizations that solicit nationally or have national or international program services. it will let you know whether the charity conforms to its voluntary standards.

Or use Guidestar, which is a national database of nonprofit organizations. You will find Guidestar at www.guidestar.org. This great site includes financial information, IRS Form 990s, a list of the board of directors, and much more. You must sign up to use it, but the information available is impressive.

The Internal Revenue Service itself maintains a database of its Publication 78, Cumulative List of Organizations described in Section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. This is a list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions. The database is now searchable via the Internet. Go to the Charities and Non-Profits portion of the IRS site at www.irs.gov/charities/index.html. Scroll down on the left hand side of the page for the link “Search for Charities” and choose that link. You can search for the charities that interest you by using the Search box or scrolling through an alphabetical list of the organizations. In addition, the IRS Charities page has a number of excellent publications that explain filing for non-profit status, rules for classification as a foundation or charity, a description of the disclosure and substantiation requirements for contributions to charitable organizations, and more.

Use the Federal government’s Firstgov site to find more information for nonprofits. Go to www.firstgov. gov and choose the tab near the top of the page titled “For Businesses and Nonprofits.” Near the middle of this new page you will see a heading called “By Audience.” Beneath this heading you will find a link for “Nonprofit Organizations.” Choose this link and it will take you to multiple resources. You may want to check out “Fundraising and Outreach,” as this will take you directly to state forms and information for charitable activities, telemarketing rules for fundraising, and a paper on Nonprofit Uses of the Internet. While this paper is a few years old, it is an interesting perspective on the how the Internet can be used by charities for fundraising, publicity, volunteer recruitment, and more.

And finally, don’t forget our own Washington State Attorney General web site as it maintains information about Charities on its Consumer Protection page at www.atg.wa.gov/ consumer/charity.shtml. This page includes a direct link to the Secretary of State, as all fundraisers and charities are required to be registered. The Secretary of State’s Charity searching is located at www.secstate.wa.gov/ charities/search.aspx.