Donations to Haiti

Editor: With the recent and ongoing disaster in Haiti, many
organizations are soliciting donations to help the Haitian people.
The sheer volume of “charities” can be daunting and confusing,
especially if a person wants their donations to quickly and
substantially go to help the needy. To complicate matters, an
article was published last Sunday in a local newspaper titled “In
times of crisis, beware of scams.” The article starts out by
stating “Take precautions to make sure your donations go to those
in need, not to crooks”.
A practice I have followed for some time is to do research to
make sure a charity is legitimate, and it uses my money effectively
and efficiently. When making donations, I routinely use a charity
rating web site (www.charitynavigator.com) that evaluates charities
and provides a wealth of other information. Their website currently
provides a long list of charities that are helping survivors in
Haiti along with ratings and other information. Reported on are
financial statements, history, the percentage of monies going
directly to the cause and their fundraising and administrative
expenses. There are other charity rating organizations on-line as
well.
A good way to donate is through your church or faith
organization. I am a member of the Sebastopol United Methodist
Church. Our larger church has been in Haiti for some time and,
through our United Methodist Committee on Relief, a program exists
where 100 percent of all donations goes directly to help the
particular relief effort. I’m sure other faith organizations have
similar programs.
I believe many people would like to help with the relief efforts
in Haiti. It is my hope that your readers will find the above
information useful and choose wisely when making their
donations.
Dennis Hansen
Santa Rosa