Who is responsible for the appeal?
Identify who publishes the appeal, who controls the money and who is intended to benefit. If a third party is fundraising, look for the recipient’s permission or published community-fundraising process. Registration details can clarify legal form and tax claims, but they do not independently prove programme quality or future success.
Identify the person or organisation publishing the appeal and the intended recipient. If a third party is fundraising, look for the recipient’s permission or stated process for community fundraisers. A familiar platform name does not answer this question.
Registration information can clarify legal form and tax claims. It does not by itself prove programme quality or guarantee that a specific appeal will succeed.
What exactly will the gift support?
Read the eligible uses, exclusions, geographic restrictions and rules for a shortfall, surplus or changing needs. A country named in a headline does not always restrict the gift to that country. Treat donation tiers as estimates unless current official terms document a fixed service, and never assume a guaranteed beneficiary outcome.
Read the eligible uses, exclusions and what happens if needs change or too little or too much is raised. A named-country page does not always restrict a gift to that country.
Treat donation tiers as estimates unless the source documents a current fixed service and terms. A planning figure is not a promise of a named patient, a fixed number of rescues or a guaranteed result.
Which facts are current?
Check publication dates, update dates, incident dates and review deadlines before relying on an appeal. A dramatic photograph may be historical, and an emergency image does not prove who delivered aid. Missing financial or delivery figures mean unpublished information, not zero. Decide whether the available evidence is sufficient for you.
Look for publication and update dates, incident dates and review deadlines. A dramatic photograph may be historical; a current emergency image is not evidence that a particular organisation delivered aid.
Do not interpret a missing financial or delivery figure as zero. It may simply be unpublished. Decide whether the available reporting is sufficient for your own giving decision.
Where will you pay and find updates?
Follow the giving link and confirm the domain, organisation, appeal selection, amount, currency and recurring frequency before entering payment details. Read refund and cancellation terms, then keep the receipt. Also locate future updates or grant records, looking for separate reporting of gifts received, partner payments and delivered services.
Follow the donation link and check the domain, organisation name, appeal selection, amount, currency and recurring frequency before entering details. Keep the receipt and the published refund or cancellation route.
Find the grant register or update page in advance. Useful reporting separates money received, payments to partners and delivered services, and protects patient or beneficiary privacy.
