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Course 175 · Money course 46

Compare Charities and Plan Responsible Giving

Produce a fictional giving decision file with identity checks, mission fit, financial statement comparison, outcome uncertainty and a capped giving plan. Use complete original records and independently checked changed-input practice.

Before you start

Recommended preparation: Read Business Financial Statements.

Read Business Financial Statements See everything you’ll need

Free download · Original practice data · No external account required. Download the starter pack

What you’ll leave with

A fictional giving decision file with identity checks, mission fit, financial statement comparison, outcome uncertainty and a capped giving plan.

Start course Start without an account. Sign in to save lesson progress across devices.

Your project

Start with the practice files. Build your project one lesson at a time.

Practice files are free without an account. Sign in to save your project record in My Proof: a description, checklist, and optional work link. Keep the original files in your own app or notebook; saving a project record does not upload them.

  1. Get your materialsDownload practice filesSupplied practice cases, a blank working record, complete lesson instructions, and annotated worked examples.
  2. Make your projectView the project checklist Work in your own notebook, document, or software. Use the supplied practice examples when you prefer.
  3. Keep a private recordSave a project record Sign in to save a description and checklist, then return to update them.
Course handbook

Know the route before you begin.

Here’s what you’ll need and what you’ll make. You can return to this guide during any lesson.

Who this is for

Learners ages 14+ and adults studying future or current business decisions through fictional cases; no financial transaction is required.

Prepare before lesson one
  • Recommended preparation: Read Business Financial Statements.
  • Use paper or a local spreadsheet and calculator. Supplied records contain no real identities or accounts.
  • Preserve original financial files in your own tool; My Proof stores a project description, checklist and optional work link.
Your final project

Finish with proof you can use.

A fictional giving decision file with identity checks, mission fit, financial statement comparison, outcome uncertainty and a capped giving plan.

Save a project record in My Proof
See project checklist and review criteria

Keep your working files in your own notebook or software. Save a private description, checklist, and work link in My Proof.

What to include

  • A fictional identity check and real verification plan.
  • A mission/use-fit comparison with restriction conditions.
  • A financial position/performance/liquidity bridge.
  • A defined ratio and unit-cost comparison with non-ranking limits.
  • A completion/outcome claim check and restriction evidence questions.
  • A capped fictional giving decision and renewal/verification conditions.

Review and revise

Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.

  • Identity: practice versus actual status verification is clear.
  • Finance: position/performance/restriction ratios reconcile.
  • Claims: outcome and program scope limits are explicit.
  • Decision: budget, use and renewal conditions permit a hold without payment.
Three ideas to help you along the way
Three useful ideas

The rules behind the steps.

01

Verify identity

Purposeful names and HTTPS are not proof.

02

Compare definitions

Ratio, completion and impact are not interchangeable.

03

Keep giving bounded

Hold or zero is valid when conditions do not fit.

What do these words mean?
Key words

Key terms worth knowing.

Net assets
Assets less liabilities at the defined date.
Restricted cash
Amount limited to permitted uses in the case.
Program ratio
Defined program expense divided by total expense.
Completion rate
Completed divided by the defined enrolled group.
Giving cap
Available amount after required commitments under the stated budget.
Your route

6 lessons.
One useful project.

Work in order the first time. Each lesson makes something the next lesson can use.

  1. 1
    Up next

    Verify identity and status

    Separate fictional identity practice from actual official-name/status verification.

  2. 2
    10 min

    Compare the program purpose

    Match donor intention to specific accepted program uses without claiming impact from mission text.

  3. 3
    14 min

    Read a charity financial summary

    Reconcile assets, liabilities, net assets and surplus with restricted liquidity.

  4. 4
    14 min

    Interpret ratios without rankings

    Calculate ratio and unit-cost metrics while preserving different program scope.

  5. 5
    12 min

    Check outcome claims and restrictions

    Calculate completion with honest denominators and separate participation from causal benefit.

  6. 6
    14 min

    Write a bounded giving decision

    Make a fictional capped giving plan with identity, use and renewal conditions.

Use the tools

Tools to help you practice.

See all tools
ZIP · practice files

Compare Charities and Plan Responsible Giving practice files

Supplied practice cases, a blank working record, complete lesson instructions, and annotated worked examples.

Text worksheet

Your course project worksheet

A downloadable text worksheet with each lesson’s working output, space for your answers, and the shared final-project checklist. Save your own copy.

Source transparency

Sources and further study.

Explore the references behind the lessons and take your learning further. Source notes explain access and reuse.

FTC: Before giving to a charity
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Read identity, payment, recurring charges, vague claims and gifts-in-kind pitfalls. No donation is made.

Access: Public primary page body opened and relevant sections read through the web reader on 2026-10-01; no account required for reading.

Reuse: Original Life Starter cases, datasets and questions; no source exercise or worked dataset reproduced. Links support further reading.

IRS: Public charity tax documents
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Read annual-return/application availability. Course supplies simplified original financial summaries rather than copying a real Form 990 or claiming it proves impact.

Access: Public primary page body opened and relevant sections read through the web reader on 2026-10-01; no account required for reading.

Reuse: Original Life Starter cases, datasets and questions; no source exercise or worked dataset reproduced. Links support further reading.

IRS: Search for tax-exempt organizations
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Read official-name/EIN/returns and status limitations, including revocation versus reinstatement. Practice IDs are invented; no actual registry query or tax-deductibility finding is claimed.

Access: Public primary page body opened and relevant sections read through the web reader on 2026-10-01; no account required for reading.

Reuse: Original Life Starter cases, datasets and questions; no source exercise or worked dataset reproduced. Links support further reading.

Ready when you are

Start with the first useful move.

You’ll always know what to do, what to make, and where to go next.

Start lesson one