As the number of nonprofit organizations grows rapidly, charities that raise money for the same cause often find themselves vying for the same donor dollars at special events.

Don’t Tell the Donor, a blog that features anonymous posts on fund-raising issues, is asking donors to weigh in on a controversy caused by competing events for the same causes.

After Autism Speaks, a national charity, raised about $35,000 for research into autism and related disorders by holding a walkathon in Burlington, Vt., last year, parents of children with the disorder started to question why they were not raising money to provide more immediate aid to families coping with autism, the blogger says.

To that end, Autism Support Daily, a local group, has decided to hold its own walkathon next month, just one day before Autism Speaks is scheduled to hold its second walkathon in Burlington. Both charities are planning to hold their events in the same park.

As a result, the blogger writes, “it’s likely both groups will only raise a fraction of what was raised last year.”

Readers of the blog are asked to vote on whether Autism Speaks, the larger charity, should cancel its event, negotiate a split in the proceeds with Autism Support Daily, keep their own walkathon as planned, or take the local charity to court.

So far, the online tally of voters shows that they are pretty evenly divided on the best course of action. Have you dealt with competing fund-raising events? Tell us how you handled the problem by clicking on the comments link below.