At this point, you should go with the majors. Now is the time to stick with your large, name-brand charities. Someone who did a good job with the tsunami effort is probably prepared to do a good job in New Orleans and Mississippi. |
How much of the proceeds actually reach the charities? A portion? After profits? A percentage? Many companies leave that deliberately vague. |
If any organization is going to get 75% of the funds in a disaster, the Red Cross is as good a destination as any. In an ideal world, the money would have been distributed a little more evenly perhaps. But that's not the way it works. |
If they're soliciting to people saying they're not receiving any federal reimbursement . . . that seems like we may have an issue with them being deceptive with donors. But I don't want to criticize them for being successful in figuring out how the system works. |
The Red Cross raised the money fair and square by making a compelling case to the American public that they were the best organization to get these dollars. To come in after the fact and ask them to share the money ? I can't think of anything more pie-in-the-sky and naive. |
There are a lot of bad people willing to prey on people with good intentions. |
They spend an awful lot of money to raise their money, which usually is something that's not necessary when you have the star power and public relations rating of an organization like that. |
This exceptional rating from Charity Navigator differentiates United Way of Forsyth County from its peers and proves that it's worthy of the public's trust. |
We are happy to announce that The Billings Food Bank has earned a 4-star rating for its ability to efficiently allocate and grow its finances. Less than a quarter of the charities we've rated have received our highest rating, indicating that The Billings Food Bank outperforms most charities in America in its efforts to operate in the most fiscally responsible way possible. This 'exceptional' rating from Charity Navigator differentiates The Billings Food Bank from its peers and proves that it's worthy of the public's trust. |
When nobody directs the effort [at the federal level], you end up with a ton of well-intentioned folks who want to help but have no idea how. That's a recipe for disaster. We've been telling people since day one that the real way to help with this disaster is to write a check, because they're just not prepared at the other end to receive goods. |
You can't go wrong with the Red Cross. I know it's boring. But they're there, and they are ready. |