needs disappear
charities on the Indie Gospel Artist
network began in 2008 with one
simple purpose: to win souls and
feed the kids. We are aware of the
change in our financial culture due
to the economy. In response to
that, we have created a program to
capture smaller donations, called
C4C or "Change for Children."
of giving back was a difficult one. I
gave whole heartedly and sacrificially
to three scam artists before I
understood that there were more
wolves than sheep collecting my
hard-earned dollars. One Christmas,
my family and I decided to sponsor
children in an orphanage and forgo
our own gifts and celebration. It felt
good at the time, until I found out
months later that the orphanage did
not even exist.
take my anger and disappointment
about being `taken' and do something
positive about it. That was when the
owner of Indie Gospel, Ken Rich,
asked me if I would be interested
in becoming the Worthy Charity
Oversight Director of his massive
network. I accepted his invitation
and proceeded with a plan of action.
I made a promise to my team and all
of the network members that I would
make giving safe.
there are many more real and
desperately needy charities than there
are swindlers. In a sea of scammers
out to collect from the whole of heart
and trusting givers, we at Indie have
educated and empowered ourselves
organizations. We are winning the
war. My job is to ensure the `worthy'
in a worthy charity and we promote
giving only to organizations that
are transparent and accountable to
the Body of Christ. Now with our
C4C program we are able to collect
very small donations that compile
for two months and those funds are
given to a "Spotlighted Charity" for a
two-month period.
give big, give of your talents and
to entire villages, help leaders in
Board Members, we communicate,
network, share information, develop
worldwide relationships, and use our
God-given intuition to effectively
investigate every ministry, orphanage
or needy charity that seeks our help.
I developed a due diligence process
for us to adhere to, before allowing
a charity into our program.
what they ask for and we verify
every request. This is where the
scammers surface most visibly.
Unfortunately, there are scammers
who have real credentials, created
by ministries with integrity who are
unaware of the deception. Having
the correct papers in order is only a
start with us. We have learned that
a true Christian ministry will not
beg, or call you frequently. They
use their dollars instead for needy
children. They seldom have medical
emergencies, and they don't usually
ask for specific amounts of money.
simply and humbly ask for our help
as the Lord directs us. The worthy
ministries cooperate with our
requests for proof and basically jump
through our hoops willingly. They
desire to not only prove their validity
but they insist on doing their share
of the work for what they receive.
goals. Every charity we serve on a
regular basis will have our eyes on
it. In other words, someone we
know visits the charity organization
to confirm, as an objective observer,
that the charity is doing what they
say they are doing with our dollars
and cents.