Charity

If you missed yesterday's Groupon promotion for Gap, take heart. You can still score a 30% off coupon that won't just get you a discount but gives money to charity too.

Print out this coupon and redeem it at any Gap Inc. stores next week, August 26-29. You'll get 30% off at the checkout and Gap gives 5% of what you spend to Feeding America, an organization that supplies food banks nationally. Of course you can donate directly, but this way you get a discount on back-to-school clothes and a good feeling.

The deal is good at Gap stores, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Banana Republic Factory Store and Gap Outlet stores.

The BP disaster unleashed a gusher of a different sort – complaints from donors to The Nature Conservancy who are upset that one of the world's largest environmental organizations accepts big money from BP. But it's far from the only green cause to get cash from the oil giant.

Small protests have erupted over a jaw-dropping $500 million gift from BP to University of California-Berkeley to create a biofuels research facility. And a California aquarium recently opened a BP Sea Otter Habitat, prompting an opinion piece in The Globe and Mail to ask: "Should a sea otter habitat be associated with a polluter that is causing enormous harm to the aquatic wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico?"

Forty of the richest people in the United States, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett among them, have challenged other magnates to match their largesse by pledging to leave half of their estate to charity on their demise. Our friends at Mint.com took a look at what this money could accomplish. Quite a lot, it seems.

Budget Plannerfrom Mint.com

An Indiana-based fund-raising company has agreed to stop asking for money from Iowa residents as part of a $10,000 settlement with the Iowa Attorney General's office.

The Campaign Center and its president, Jonathan Wright, conduct telemarketing and fund-raising services for non-profit organizations. The suit says the company is not registered in Iowa as a professional commercial fundraiser, a legal requirement.

The West Virginia attorney general's office sued three people claiming to be affiliated with the Autism Speaks charity, who sold used laptops for $50 each saying they would benefit a children's camp but then never came through with the computers.

According to the suit filed by West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw, William S. Terry and Herbert L. Terry, both of Sandy Hook, Ky., and Vicky Perdue of Proctorville, Ohio, told consumers they had started a charity called Mikayla's Place, allegedly affiliated with Autism Speaks, and were trying to raise money to build a camp for autistic and special-needs children by selling electronics.

The state says most of the people who paid for the laptops never got them, or a refund. The state alleges Mikayla's Place isn't registered in the state and says the three broke consumer protection laws in the marketing and sale of personal computers and other electronic goods.

"Consumers must be wary of anyone who contacts them raising funds for any charitable organization," Attorney General Darrell McGraw said in a statement. West Virginia requires all charities to be registered with the state.

Neither Perdue nor William Terry have listed phone numbers. An automated operator message says the number listed for Herbert Terry is a "nonworking number." A phone number given to TV station WSAZ by Herbert Terry earlier this month for consumers to call for refunds is disconnected. Both the web site and Facebook page for Mikayla's Place are no longer accessible.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission says there was 3,474 complaints of fake charity solicitations in 2009. Use the agency's
"charity checklist" to help determine whether a charity is legit or a scam. The FTC says to:

• Watch out for charities that start suddenly in connection with a current event or natural disaster. While these may be real charities, they probably don't have the infrastructure to get the donations to the affected areas or people.
• Contact the state office that regulates charity groups in your state to see if the group is registered.
• Ask for written information about the charity. A real charity or fundraiser will send information about the charity's mission, how the donation will be used and proof that the contribution is tax deductible.
• Call the charity and ask if the group is aware of a solicitation or fundraiser and has authorized the use of its name. If not, it may be a scam.
• Refuse to give in to high-pressure appeals -- legit fundraisers usually don't push for a contribution on the spot.
• Don't send or give cash donations. It's best to pay by check -- made to the charity -- for security and tax record reasons.

The YMCA is downsizing, but not in the way many might fear. The 166-year old organization first known as the Young Men's Christian Association is remaking its image and shrinking its name down to one solitary letter: "Y." The Y, as it will be known, will also sport a logo with a brighter color combination in a more contemporary font.

The Y was overdue for a makeover. Its former logo, the sixth since its inception, had been in place since 1967. The organization spent two years doing market research and analysis to come up with the new logo, it said in a press release Monday. "It's a way of being warmer, more genuine, more welcoming, when you call yourself what everyone else calls you," said Kate Coleman, the organization's senior vice president and chief marketing officer told the New York Times. It's also a nickname that members of the organization have been calling it for years.

After months of legal wrangling and thousands of McDonald's customers threatening to boycott in her honor, college-age charity concert promoter Lauren McClusky has reached a settlement with the fast food giant, agreeing to trade in the name of her charity show, "McFest," for $40,000.

WalletPop first reported about McClusky's legal adventures with McDonald's trademark lawyers earlier this year. The saga began in January 2009, according to McClusky (pictured), but no other news outlet had picked up on it by the time we ran our story. On Monday morning, WalletPop was first to learn that McClusky has settled with the fast food chain and her show -- now renamed "Nelarusky" (a moniker she devised by scrambling the letters of her first and last name) -- will go on in cooperation with the Lollapalooza festival. Not only that but McDonald's has agreed to act as the main sponsor for this and next year's charity shows.

The mastermind of a sham charity has admitted pocketing more than $2 million in vehicular donations meant to help disabled children, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced.

Shoba Bakhsh, of Queens-based "Hope for the Disabled Kids, Inc.," was arrested and pled guilty to charges she lied to donors and misused funds for herself and her family. The action marked the latest round the Attorney General's ongoing investigation into car donation charities.

Hope for the Disabled Kids, which has been shut down, accepted thousands of cars and generated more than $2 million in revenue between 2001 and 2009. Bakhsh promised donors that more than 90% of all donations would go directly toward helping disabled children. But no funds solicited between 2007 and 2009 were used for any legitimate charitable purposes, and Bakhsh destroyed all records prior to 2007and filed false paperwork.

The New York State Attorney General's office shut down a well-known organization that worked the streets of New York City asking for money to help the homeless, saying the group takes advantage of good-willed passersby and misuses donations.

Anyone living in New York more than a month likely has seen the vocal front men of the United Homeless Organization, who for 25 years manned folding tables all over town and solicited change for the needy. The workers collect the money in recycled, 5-liter water jugs marked with the UHO logo and set up shop in high-traffic Manhattan locations.

My five-year-old has big aspirations for her summer vacation: she wants to go to the Gulf and clean pelicans. She's not alone. The bleak pictures on the news have inspired many people to consider ways to make a difference beyond simply making a donation. Some will stay home, but some will travel to the source of the problem to help.

It's not a new idea. In the aftermath of the World Trade Center tragedy, thousands of volunteers headed to New York City to lend a hand. Similarly, clean-up crews traveled by the busload to New Orleans to provide assistance after Hurricane Katrina. Most recently, organized relief efforts brought water and much needed medical supplies to Haiti after the January 12 earthquake.

Of course, not all of us can afford to hop on a plane and head off to help. But there is one added financial incentive that may make a big difference in whether you stay or whether you go: a tax write off.

Chipotle Mexican Grill wants to turn spam -- the electronic kind -- into nutritious meals for school children.

The national burrito chain restaurant is encouraging Americans to forward all of their junk e-mail as part of its "No Junk" campaign. Each piece of junk or spam e-mail sent to nojunk@chipotlejunk.com will help provide nutritious cafeteria meals for school children nationwide through a partnership with The Lunch Box, a project of the nonprofit Food, Family, Farming Foundation (F3).

They may have been born with a silver spoon in their mouth, but they've proved that a blue bloodline is no substitute for hard work. The women on Forbes magazine's annual list of Billionaire Heiresses to Watch dazzled with go-getting, not gallivanting. (Take that, Paris Hilton!).

In embracing substance over celebrity, Forbes narrowed its pedigreed power pack to a dynamic generation that learned at Daddy's knee before conquering industry, technology, retail and public service. All put their privileged might into charity work -- a must to qualify this time around, Forbes said.

Pop must be proud. We've singled out some of the biggest go-getters on this year's list. You can check out the full list here.

Last night, Larry King hosted a telethon which raised $1.8 million to help with the recovery of the Gulf Coast during the devastating BP oil spill. The telethon featured a cast of stars who performed, and volunteered to answer telephone calls to collect viewer donations.

The money will fund organizations helping to re-develop the affected areas along the Gulf Coast.

The all-star cast consisted of Justin Bieber, Sting, Ke$ha, Cameron Diaz, and more. Our sister site Popeater had the inside scoop.

Katie Holmes is a well known actress, but now she's helping disadvantaged kids become professional dancers. She recently founded the Dizzy Feet Dancing Foundation, which provides scholarships to dance students. Her hope is to help young people who cannot afford such programs to achieve their dance-star dreams. Having access to education while given the chance to express their love for dance is the ultimate goal of the foundation.