INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT NGO Gorta is calling for charity givers to be extra vigilant when donating goods to charity organisations.

Their call comes as genuine charities, many of which depend on the donation of clothes, continue to lose millions of euros in revenue due to bogus collectors.

A 2011 survey by the Irish Charity Shops Association (ICSA) found that donations with a value of €11 million had been donated to bogus collectors.

The national retail manager for Gorta, Maggie Dwyer, called the problem “very serious and very real.”

“These people take bags of merchandise from outside peoples’ homes that are meant for registered charities or pass themselves off as legitimate collectors,” she said.

Guidelines

In order to help combat this, the ICSA have issued the following guidelines to help determine whether a collector is genuine:

• Check if there is an address and land-line telephone number on the bag.
• Checking if the ICSA logo is on the bag.
• See if the charity name is recognisable.
• Make sure that the charity has a registered CHY number.

For anyone who is still unsure, the ICSA also have an interactive map which shows the clothing and book banks of ICSA members throughout the country.

Another measure which was introduced last month is the addition of a “Choose Charity Shops 1st” logo which now appears on legitimate charity shops.

Read: Should charities act like private businesses to make more money? >