I don’t understand what the “risk” is. You gave with honest intentions and fulfilled your need for giving away your wealth. What have you lost?
When we give, we choose what we want done with the money. Just like when you give money in exchange for groceries. If you don’t get your groceries, what’s the problem? You’re still separated from your money. What have you lost?
They victimize the elderly, who can hardly afford to “give away” their wealth. My elderly mother is being targeted by such organizations. Her mailbox is overflowing with requests for charitable donations, and her phone is constantly ringing. Mail requests include an eye popping array of cheesy gold embossed “certificates of appreciation,” cheap pen/pencil sets, and little American flags. Many arrive by FedEx and registered mail. These vultures carefully study their demographics. Their targeting is relentless and rapacious. My elderly mother had been fully convinced that starving Cambodian orphans, and legless Army veterans were directly dependent upon her largess; that they had a personal connection with her. Holding out her arms overflowing with mail, she tearfully broke down one evening, as her phone rang in the background, “What am I going to do? I can’t help them all! Those poor people!”