The Life Starter
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Course Library · Lesson 1 of 6
Money · Guided lesson

Verify identity and status

About 10 minutes · 4 reading + 6 practice and checks
Time includes reading, practice, and questions. Extra videos or further study are optional.
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A fictional giving decision file with identity checks, mission fit, financial statement comparison, outcome uncertainty and a capped giving plan.

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.
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Before you begin

The idea in everyday life

Original fictional practice. All money is USD. No account, payment, personal record or outside participation is required. Entirely fictional charities: no actual registry finding claimed. A=Pathway Youth, practice ID A001,40-hour mentoring; B=Reading Harbor, practice ID B002,8-hour reading program/books. A assets 200,000/liabilities 50,000, revenue 100,000, expenses 90,000(program 60,000/admin 20,000/fundraise 10,000), cash 50,000 of which 40,000 restricted, monthly unrestricted cost 6,000, enrolled 80/completed 50. B assets 80,000/liabilities 10,000, revenue 80,000, expenses 75,000(program 60,000/admin 10,000/fundraise 5,000), cash 18,000 unrestricted, monthly cost 9,000, enrolled 60/completed 48. A accepts mentoring restrictions; B accepts book-purchase restrictions. Donor fictional monthly resources 300/required commitments 280, maximum giving 20/month; proposed giving 15/month, reserve 5. Payment is never required.

The idea

A familiar name or secure-looking page is not an identity check.

Follow along

Verify identity and status — complete worked case

A familiar name or secure-looking page is not an identity check.

Entirely fictional charities: no actual registry finding claimed. A=Pathway Youth, practice ID A001,40-hour mentoring; B=Reading Harbor, practice ID B002,8-hour reading program/books. A assets 200,000/liabilities 50,000, revenue 100,000, expenses 90,000(program 60,000/admin 20,000/fundraise 10,000), cash 50,000 of which 40,000 restricted, monthly unrestricted cost 6,000, enrolled 80/completed 50. B assets 80,000/liabilities 10,000, revenue 80,000, expenses 75,000(program 60,000/admin 10,000/fundraise 5,000), cash 18,000 unrestricted, monthly cost 9,000, enrolled 60/completed 48. A accepts mentoring restrictions; B accepts book-purchase restrictions. Donor fictional monthly resources 300/required commitments 280, maximum giving 20/month; proposed giving 15/month, reserve 5. Payment is never required.

Fictional financial and participation summary

Paste at A 1.

AMeasureBACB
Assets20000080000
Liabilities5000010000
Revenue10000080000
Expenses9000075000
Program6000060000
Admin2000010000
Fundraise100005000
Total cash5000018000
Restricted cash400000
Monthly unrestricted cost60009000
Enrolled8060
Completed5048
Program hours408

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  1. 1. 1.1 Verify

    Record supplied fictional names, IDs, and purpose; label not a real registry search.

    You should see: No invented actual approval.

  2. 2. 1.2 Verify

    Compare a new solicitation’s name/ID/payment route against the case.

    You should see: Mismatched Pathway Help remains unverified.

  3. 3. 1.3 Verify

    List actual official verification steps and status-date questions without claiming performed checks.

    You should see: Real status requires actual evidence.

  4. 4. 1.4 Verify

    Stop the fictional gift-card-only request and preserve the mismatch without sending money.

    You should see: Adverse payment/identity signal is not ignored.

Now change one thing

Changed request has matching display name but different organization ID. Is exact identity verified? Answer yes or no.

Your work

What to finish

A fictional identity check and real verification plan.

Common mistake

Watch for this

Treating HTTPS, caller ID or a charitable-sounding name as proof.

How can I tell I understand it?

Verify that your completed fictional identity check and real verification plan meets the three lesson-specific checks and retains the supporting original records.

Try 3 questions

Quick knowledge check

Answer all 3 questions. Get at least 2 right and the lesson completes automatically.

Not yet passed

You’ll get an explanation for each answer. Signed in? Your results save to your account.

1What does practice ID A001 establish here?
2Why is HTTPS alone insufficient to verify a charitable recipient?
3A look-alike request requires gift cards only. Which action fits?
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Answer all 3 questions above and get at least 2 right. You can review the explanations and try again.

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Sources and further reading

Explore the references behind this lesson.

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: 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.

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