Charities

Since Hurican Katrina, Americans need to be more vigilant about what charities we give our money. It is sad that in our society there are those who would steal from those willing to give to the poor and also steal from those who need it the most. However, this does not mean we should stop giving altogether. There are ways to protect yourself and the dollars you give. There are two web sites that are well recommended for this. I am listing them here so that people have one more resource when giving. It should be as easy to give as possible.

The first site you can search for charities that have/have not completed their questionnaires and given legal documents to back it up. They tend to give a thumbs up or down.

http://www.charitywatch.org/

The second site gives a more in-depth look at each charity. It will ask if you want to me a registered member (free) but you do not need to do so for a synopsis of the information they have. Just enter the name in the “search” box and it will give a breakdown of expenses, revenue, administration costs, etc. It will also rate the charity 1-5 stars. This is probably the best site. Note: it will also break down charities to locals if it applies. An example is Habitat for Humanity. It breaks them down to 37 different in-depth regional analyses.

http://www.charitynavigator.org/