Recently, I got a call from a charitable organization, asking me for a donation. The charity is called "Holiday Relief Fund" and it claims to provide food to those in need. Like I always do, I told the person on the phone to send me some information about themselves and I'll figure out which one to donate at the end of the month.
So a few days ago a little post card came with 2 paragraphs of information and asking to send checks to holiday relief fund. The information on the card wasn't enough, so I decided to find about them online to see what's their mission.
The search for "Holiday Relief Fund" didn't yield anything, so I looked up their tax id: "501-C4" and their EIN: "94-3116195" and the following came up: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/charities/search_detail.aspx?charity_id=4914
Seems a bit odd, doesn't it? Now it may still be legit, is it common for several charities to go through the same tax id? This is all the useful information that they sent me, the only other useful piece is their address:
PO Box 13171, Seattle WA 98198
PS Box 1464, Tacoma, WA 98401
So a few days ago a little post card came with 2 paragraphs of information and asking to send checks to holiday relief fund. The information on the card wasn't enough, so I decided to find about them online to see what's their mission.
The search for "Holiday Relief Fund" didn't yield anything, so I looked up their tax id: "501-C4" and their EIN: "94-3116195" and the following came up: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/charities/search_detail.aspx?charity_id=4914
Seems a bit odd, doesn't it? Now it may still be legit, is it common for several charities to go through the same tax id? This is all the useful information that they sent me, the only other useful piece is their address:
PO Box 13171, Seattle WA 98198
PS Box 1464, Tacoma, WA 98401