Best Ways to Help Victims of Hurricane Harvey

Hi All,

In light of the catastrophic events that have occurred and are occurring in Texas over the last 5 days this blog post is appropriate and timely.

Most of us have seen the pictures and the video of the hurricane flooding and aftermath.  And you might want to help the victims of the hurricane.  How can you help you ask?  Simple: by giving to charities that are in a position to help!

The charity watchdog site BBB Wise Giving Alliance can help you decide which charities are legitimate and which are frauds.   Other charity watchdog sites include Charity Navigator and Charity Watch. Click the links to go to the respective websites.

National charities that some of these watchdog sites recommend include American Red Cross, Americares, Direct Relief and Humane Society of the United States. 

Local grops that these watchdog sites recommend include Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Harvey's Heroes/San Antonio Humane Society, Food Bank of Corpus Christi, Houston Humane Society and Houston SPCA.

Finally, for a more local take on how to help victims of Hurricane Harvey, click on this link from ABC7.  The link has a video and an article with contact information for donating.

Regards and I hope you find this post helpful!

Regards,
Stu

Charity Navigator - Your Guide to Intelligent Giving

Hi All,

Charity Navigator - Your Guide to Intelligent Giving.  The name says it all.

Basically the site helps users evaluate the charity(ies) that he/she is donating to.  The site has Top 10 Lists, Hot Topics, Tips for Donors, an A-Z Directory of charities and a list of 4-Star Charities.  Click on any of the links above to go to that part of the Charity Navigator site.

About a third of the way down on the sites' homepage there is a list of charities listed by categories like animals,  arts/culture/humanities, community development, education, environment, health, human services, international, human/civil rights, religion and research/public policy. Its a very useful way to find a charity based on a topic that is personally important to you.

Once users find a particular charity of interest, a huge amount of free information is available.  Financial and accountability information is graded and ranked by score and the number of stars respectively.  Financial performance measurements (expenses, administrative expenses, fundraising efficiency and more) are available.

In addition, the site has yes/no ratings for the following questions related to the charity in question:
Is the following information easily accessible on the charity's website regarding:
Donor privacy policy, Are board members listed?, Are audited financials listed? and are key staff listed?

An income statement for the specific charity is included on Charity Navigator, In addition a charity breakdown is included in the form of a pie chart.  Compensation of charity leader(s) and the mission statement of the charity is included as well.

So...if you are looking to donate time, money or resources to a charity it might behoove you to take a look at Charity Navigator.  It might help you and your donation go even further than you ever thought possible.

Enjoy the site!

Regards,
Stu