The financial audits are reassuring.

So are the strict rules, the strong board oversight and a host of other safeguards that many nonprofits put in place to ensure they don't go astray from their charitable purposes.

But when Petty Floyd of Lanikai, Bob Chang of Hawai'i Kai and Terry Day of Manoa give to their favored organizations, the confidence they have that their money will be spent wisely rests largely on one thing:

Trust.

"I just got to have faith," said Chang, 69, a retired adult probation officer.

Hawai'i residents these days are deluged with pitches from nonprofits of all stripes. The solicitations come in the mail, over the phone, via e-mail, at the front door, at street corners, outside storefronts.

Floyd, 84, a part-time real estate agent, recently sifted through more than 30 mailed requests she received at her Lanikai home from local and national charities. The mailings, touting everything from battling global warming to feeding the hungry, had arrived over the previous week.

"It's typical," she said of the stack of envelopes. "Actually, if anything, it's less than usual."

With so many pitches from so many organizations, Floyd and others usually decide who to support based on one or more factors: the charity's mission, whether they're already familiar with the nonprofit or whether they know people who already support it.

Floyd has been donating time and money to the Institute for Human Services, a homeless shelter operator, since the 1970s in part because the organization was founded by her parish priest. She also contributes to a variety of other nonprofits.

"I pick out the ones I know and feel they'll be using my money properly and won't abuse it," Floyd said.

Day, an attorney, supports the Salvation Army, among other groups, because of its long track record of helping abused children and others in need.

"The first thing I go by is whether it touches my heart," she said.

'Ewa Beach resident and military retiree Steve Foster, 51, has helped organize a fundraising running event for US Vets Hawai'i the past two years partly to "bring more good events to 'Ewa Beach." The run this year was held there.

He also likes the people associated with US Vets, which operates a homeless shelter for veterans in Kalaeloa. "Their motivation is not self-serving but to assist the charity," Foster said.

How do donors know a charity is using their money wisely?

"That's a hard question," Chang said — which is why he is reluctant to support charities he's not familiar with.

Because his job as a probation officer brought him into contact with a lot of homeless clients, Chang has supported IHS for about a decade. He also gives to his former schools, Maryknoll and the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.

Like the other donors, he said trust is a key factor.

"You've just got to assume these groups will be prudent with your money," Chang said. "A lot of it is faith."

Reach Rob Perez at rperez@honoluluadvertiser.com.