E-mail a friendArt Taylor
airdate November 11, 2004
Art Taylor is a leader in the nonprofit community. He's the president of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, a charity watchdog formed by the merger of the National Charities Information Bureau and the Council of Better Business Bureaus Foundation and its Philanthropic Advisory Service. Taylor was a CPA and ran a debt-collection agency while studying law at Temple University. A colleague of Rev. Leon Sullivan, Taylor previously headed the Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America.
Art Taylor
Tavis: The holiday season is a busy time for charity organizations here in the U.S. Here tonight with some advice on giving to charity is Art Taylor, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance. He joins us tonight from Arlington, Virginia. Art Taylor, nice to have you on, sir.
Art Taylor: It's nice to be here, Tavis.
Tavis: I'm glad to have you. As I mentioned earlier, during the holiday season, charitable giving goes up dramatically. How dramatic?
Taylor: Well, you know, it's significant for many organizations that depend on contributions from individuals. Many organizations will make their year by what happens in the fourth quarter, and particularly during the holiday season. Some organizations report up to 1/3 of all their contributions will come in during the holiday time.
Tavis: Hmm. How many tax-exempt charitable organizations are we talking about nationwide that are using this season to go after their greatest and most significant gifts?
Taylor: Well, very many. You may know that there are well over a million non-profit organizations that are out there soliciting the public. Many of them are very small, but there are many, also, household name charities that solicit heavily during the holiday season.
Tavis: Tell me how it is that you all go about the business of sharing information--but before I get to that, tell me how you rate these organizations, these charities. Tell me how you go about your work so I know what you do every day.
Taylor: What we do is set standards for charities. We basically will go out and decide, with the support of charities and others who know them very well, how organizations should operate, and how they should relate to donors so that donors can make good decisions about supporting them. And we use these standards to then measure organizations against published reports so donors have a place to go to find out information on charities that are most widely soliciting them.
Taylor: OK, so how do we as givers find out during this season, or for that matter, any other time of the year, the skinny, as it were. The lowdown on whether or not these people are up to snuff who are asking for our money? I mean, we assume that the salvation army is legit because we see them every year and they are, of course, the entity, I think, that most people know during the holiday season. But how do we confirm whether or not these people are on the up and up?
Taylor: Well, let me just say that any donor can go to our website, give.org, and get a significant amount of information on charities that are in front of them and also find out other tips for how to protect themselves from unscrupulous organizations that they may come in contact with. I always say that the biggest defense against unscrupulous activity is the individual because we can't possibly police every single organization. The first line of defense has to be the donor. And there are some things that every donor should be wary of. For instance, pressure tactics that would encourage a donor to give money immediately, rather than to reflect on the cause, is something that we look out for. So, when you get phone calls from charities at night while you're at home asking you to give to some cause, you should be cautious of that. When you get canisters on the street--people pushing causes in front of you while you're walking down the street to go home at night, you should be cautious of those. Generally, well-meaning and well-managed organizations that are serious about achieving a mission don't use those kind of tactics as much.
Tavis: Speaking of the holiday season, when you were giving that last example, I was thinking organization that funny scene in 'Trading Places.' Eddie Murphy is being pushed--never mind, it's a funny story, but it was a good example.
Taylor: I remember that. But there are organizations out there that are putting people on the streets, doing just that. So people need to be very cautious because you know, Tavis, any dollar spent on an unscrupulous cause is one less dollar that could really be going toward something that we all deem important to solving in our society. And so it is important that we use our generosity wisely.
Tavis: How many org--in terms of percentages, how do most organizations measure up when they have to respond to the test that you all put them to--put them through? Are we finding that most organizations are on the up and up? Is there--I mean, talk to me.
Taylor: Of the organizations that we review, about 70% meet all of our standards, and about another 30% will not meet one or more of the standards, or, in some cases, fail to provide the requested information. And, you know, you know how to draw your own conclusions from an organization that refuses to provide publicly available--information that should be publicly available.
Tavis: I got just a few seconds left here, but I am always amazed when I see this stat. It dawns on me, given that you and I both happen to be African Americans in this conversation, that black folk proportionately give more of their money to charitable causes than anybody else in the country.
Taylor: That's impressive, isn't it?
Tavis: It is.
Taylor: And it just expresses the tradition of giving in the African-American community. I remember, as a kid, it was encouraged very early on just by going next door to get a cup of sugar or giving a cup of sugar or even helping to take up a collection to bury somebody who died in the community. This is what I grew up with, and so it's always been a part of everything that I've done.
Tavis: I assume right quick, though, that a lot of that, though, has to do--that number has to with giving through and to the African-American church, though.
Taylor: Well, I would imag--and most giving, a lot of giving is done through churches and religious institutions of various kinds, but there is also the secular giving and non-secular giving as well.
Tavis: Give me the website again right quick for folk who want to--
Taylor: Give.org. And if there's a charity that you want to know about that there's no information on, let us know and we'll get some.
Tavis: Doesn't come any easier than that. Give.org, again the Web site to find that information. Art Taylor is the president, again, and CEO of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, and thank you, Art, for that wise information that you shared tonight and you always do. Nice to have you on. We'll do it again sometime.
Taylor: Thank you, Tavis.
Tavis: All the best to you, my friend. Up next on this program, a conversation we taped earlier this week with actor Rhys Ifans. Stay with us for that in just a moment.
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