With money tight, the Ohio Attorney General’s office is reminding donors to be careful when selecting charities to give money to.

For those people with worries concerning a charity, the office will investigate complaints about non-profits, including:

• Misuse of charitable funds.
• Fraudulent fundraising activities.
• Violations of professional solicitation standards.
• Bingo and charitable gaming issues.
• Non-profit theft and embezzlement.
• Breaches of fiduciary duty by non-profit leaders.

Citizens can file a complaint online, by mail or by contacting the Help Center at (800) 282-0515. Providing as much information as possible – such as written materials, canceled checks and other documents that demonstrate the problem -- is helpful to investigators.

Investigators will contact the person who submitted the complaint to get any additional information. To file a complaint anonymously, call the Help Center at (800) 282-0515. While these complaints are public records that can be released to the public on request, the investigative work that follows is confidential.

Because of confidentiality requirements, a complainant may never learn of the final outcome of an investigation. The investigation may result in counseling and training of the non-profit, settlement discussions or civil and criminal litigation.