Charitable Giving: Helping Those In Haiti

In light of the recent ruinous earthquake in Haiti, we are all looking for ways to help. If you are considering making a donation here are a few things to keep in mind to help ensure your kindness gets to those who need it most.

1. Check the Better Business Bureau Web site for information about the charity's mission, compensation, expenses and rating. The site makes it pretty easy to check that the charity is ok.
2. Check out The Wise Giving Guide, published quarterly by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, which summarizes the results of the Alliance’s latest national charity evaluations and features a cover story, usually with giving tips, on charity accountability issues or other topics of interest to donors.
3. Visit a charity rating site, like Guidestart.org, to help you find some of the top rated charities and direct links to make a donation.
4. It never hurts to see what others are saying about an organization in chat rooms, forums, and by checking postings or ratings about the charity you are considering donating to. A lot of negative comments could signal a red flag.
5. Consider mobile giving. MGive Foundation makes it really easy to donate $10 and have it charged to your phone bill. There are other organizations doing this now as well. You can search Google for other options.
6. Facebook has created a disaster relief page on which users can keep track of the latest information regarding the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, as well as relief organizations that are helping the cause.

Even small donations contribute to the efforts to help the many homeless and injured in Haiti.