Jean's Blog

Donating Your Money Wisely

Posted by Jean

When a natural disaster – like last week’s earthquake in Haiti, or our own Hurricane Katrina – strikes, it seems urgent to give whatever you can, be it $5, $100 or more. You want to act fast, to help people when they need it most.  And Americans have – to the tune, so far, of $210 million.

But when you give, you want to be certain that your money ends up in the right hands – and gets there as quickly as possible.  Like I mentioned this morning on the Today Show, that’s not always easy.  Any urgent appeal to give, unfortunately, brings out the worst in scam artists and hucksters who are already eager to get their hands on your money (or your personal information), not to help. Here’s what you need to know:  

• Be wary of email appeals.  Suspicious links to websites are up 400% in the past few days according to Proofpoint, a computer-security firm.  So, ignore emails asking for donations (they could be phishing for your credit card numbers or other information).  Be careful of appeals from survivors asking for money.   If you want to give over the internet, then take yourself from your browser to the site of a well-known charity. Don’t respond to emails or open attachments.  The FBI says that attachments, like photographs of the destruction in Haiti, can have viruses, and email solicitations for money are often scams.
• Watch new charities. It’s not that these organizations are not necessarily reputable, but you want to be sure that any group you give money to has the infrastructure to put your dollars to the best use.  To check out charities before giving go to CharityNavigator.org, or Give.org, the charity website of the Better Business Bureau.
• Know how texting donations work.  Your money will get there – but it will take longer than you think.  Just because you react right away doesn’t mean that the gift immediately gets to the charity.  For that to happen you have to pay your wireless bill, then the money gets remitted to the carrier, then the charity gets it.  It can take 30 days – or much longer.  If what you want to make is a gift that gets there immediately, write a check or give by credit card online.
• Be wary of claims that 100% of money goes to the victims.  Costs to run the charities are still buried in there someplace.  The claim is a marketing technique.  The charity is simply using other funds from its coffers to pay for administration.   Again, it doesn’t mean that it’s a bad charity – and it certainly doesn’t mean it’s a scam – but you shouldn’t chose a charity on the basis of this claim.
• Do your homework.  Before donating to any charity, carefully check it out.  Also make sure that it does the sort of work that you want to be doing in the area.  For example, right now everyone is still focused on rescue.  But in a month, organizations that rebuild will be more important. Here’s a list of working in Haiti that are recommended by Charity Navigator:

Action Against Hunger – USA

AmeriCares

American Jewish World Service

Doctors Without Borders, USA

Feed My Starving Children

CARE

Convoy of Hope

Hope for Haiti

Hope for Haiti Children’s Center

Haitian Health Foundation

Islamic Relief USA

International Orthodox Christian Charities

Samaritan’s Purse

Save the Children

World Vision

American Red Cross

United States Fund of Unicef

Food for the Poor

And note:  Cash is best.  Gifts of supplies are difficult to distribute and must be shipped, which in turn costs money.  And don’t stress if you don’t have as much money to give as much as you want today.  This is a situation that will require donations and relief for years.  If you can give a little now and a little more later there will be plenty of places that will happily put your money to good use.