Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is recognized every September by childhood cancer organizations around the world. Their goal is simple: to increase awareness and raise funds for those affected by childhood cancer. Better Business Bureau (BBB) is advising consumers to do your homework before donating.

Before deciding which charity is going to receive your hard earned money, BBB offers the following tips to help charitable givers decide where to direct donations:

Research a charity’s website. Look for website transparency; basic facts such as programs, finances, and governance should be easily accessible. Also look for the charity’s mission statement. It should align with what the charity is raising funds for. The website should also provide an electronic access to their latest IRS Form 990. The bottom line is, donors should not have to dig for basic facts, a transparent charity website should already compile the details and have it in one easily accessible place.

Rely on respected experts to evaluate a charity. Be cautious when relying on third-party recommendations such as bloggers or social media personalities, because they may not have fully researched the listed relief organizations. BBB offers BBB Charity Reviews for more than 11,000 charities that indicate whether a charity complies with BBB’s 20 Standards for Charity Accountability.

Watch out for names that only look like well-known charities. Choosing a charity by name alone is a mistake some donors make, and their money sometimes goes to less-than-worthy groups. Those organizations may spend too much money on administrative costs or they can be outright scammers looking for an easy way to get money. Confirm that the money being donated is helping the right people.

Make sure the charity’s website is secure. A secure website is a safe website. An unsafe website can spread malware, steal private information such as a credit card number, send spam, and more. Look for the “s” in the URL. Instead of the standard ‘http’, an “s” is added to the end of a secure URL. If the website has ‘https’ in the URL, it means that the site has a SSL certificate for safety.

How you make your donation is important. Never pay by gift card or money transfer. Credit card and check are much safer. After donation, monitor bank account or credit card statements closely. Make sure the amount you were charged was the amount you agreed to donate. Also, make sure it is not setup as a recurring donation.

Never feel pressured to donate. Scammers often say anything to get money. Also, never be rushed into donating money.

For more information about charities or to get a BBB Charity Review, check with BBB at bbb.org or by calling 888-996-3887.