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Advertisement 'Tis the season for charitable giving. But before you write a check, make sure you do a charity check-up. The sad truth is that not all nonprofits put their money where their mission is.

Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission and law enforcement partners from every state and the District of Columbia charged four cancer charities with defrauding consumers of more than $187 million. Instead of helping cancer patients, the heads of the Cancer Fund of America, Cancer Support Services, Children’s Cancer Fund of America, and the Breast Cancer Society allegedly funneled donations into luxury cruises, college tuition for family members and friends, gym memberships, sporting event and concert tickets, and even dating website memberships.

And the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe led H. Art Taylor, president of the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance, to warn consumers about spurious solicitations for humanitarian help. (Use our advice to find out whether a charity is a scam.)

Then there's the fact that even without being fraudulent, some charities routinely spend a larger amount of their donors’ dollars on administrative and fundraising costs than on programs that benefit people in need.

Similar-sounding names can further confuse consumers. For example, while the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society allocates $19 to raise $100 and funnels 73 percent of its budget to programs, the Childhood Leukemia Foundation spends $65 for every $100 it raises and targets just 27 percent of its budget to programs.

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