THE BEST WAY TO SUPPORT RELIEF EFFORTS IN THE AFTERMATH OF HAITI'S EARTHQUAKE

Updated November 2010

Tuesday evening, January 12th, 2010 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti, collapsing buildings in the capital, Port-au-Prince. The earthquake caused more than two hundred thousand deaths, thousands of injuries, and left more than a million people homeless.

Nearly a year after the quake, this island nation is many years from being rebuilt, and hundreds of thousands of Haitian people are still homeless. An outbreak of cholera hit the vulnerable population in October 2010. The United Nations anticipates that as many as 200,000 Haitians may become sick with cholera. Relief organizations hope to mitigate the outbreak by providing increased health services, access to clean water, sanitation and education about the deadly disease.

CharityWatch announces its top-rated list of charities involved in Haitian earthquake relief efforts. CharityWatch, a leading charity watchdog that issues letter grade (A+ to F) ratings of nonprofit groups, identifies the following charities, which are providing aid to the victims that receive an “A” or “B” grade based on the portion of their budget going to program services and their fundraising efficiency. Contact the organizations below for information of specific relief operations now underway.
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• Accion International (B+)

• Action Against Hunger (A)

• American Friends Service Committee (A-)

• American Jewish World Service (A)

• American Red Cross (A)

• American Refugee Committee (A)

• Brother's Brother Foundation (B)

• CARE (A+)

• Catholic Relief Services (A+)

• ChildFund International (formerly Christian Children's Fund) (A-)

• Children Incorporated (A)

• Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (B+)

• Church World Service (B+)

• Compassion International (A)

• Doctors Without Borders – USA (A)

• Food for the Hungry (A-)

• Freedom from Hunger (A-)

• Habitat for Humanity International – N.O. (B+)

• Heifer International (A-)

• International Medical Corps (A)

• International Rescue Committee (A+)

• Lutheran World Relief (A)

• Medical Teams International (A)

• Mennonite Central Committee (A)

• Mercy Corps (A-)

• Operation USA (A-)

• Oxfam-America (A-)

• Partners in Health (A+)

• Plan International USA (B+)

• Project Concern International (A)

• Salvation Army (A)

• Save the Children (A)

• UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) (A)

• William J. Clinton Foundation (A)

• World Concern (Program of Crista Ministries) (A-)
  

• World Neighbors (B+)

• World Vision (B+)

• The Y (formerly YMCA of the United States) – N.O. (A)

Top-rated charities perform favorably in relation to CharityWatch benchmarks:
1) A charity should spend at least 75% of its budget on program services.
2) Charities should spend no more than $25 to raise $100.

Contact your favorite charities to find out if they provide the specific types of aid that you would like to fund, e.g., emergency relief, health care, infrastructure development, education, etc.

DONORS BEWARE

• As with any charitable contribution, Americans wanting to help relief efforts in Haiti should send contributions to only those charities with an established track record of helping people in this region.

• Donors should be wary of unsolicited emails and text messages from individuals claiming to be victims of the disaster. CharityWatch advises against giving directly to such individuals and urges donors to contribute to charities involved in disaster relief efforts. The charities are better equipped to identify individual victims and direct assistance and aid appropriately.

• As always, exercise precaution when donating online. To ensure that the website is legitimate, verify that the organization's website address is the exact same address that is displayed in your browser's address bar. Even the slightest variation (such as the use of underscores instead of dashes between words) may indicate an imposter. If there is any doubt, call the charity to confirm the correct website address. It is best to manually type in the organization's website address in the address bar because simply clicking a link in an email or on an unfamiliar website may take you to a fraudulent website.

• Look for a padlock icon (your browser may use another symbol) on the bottom right hand corner of your screen to determine whether a site is secure for credit card donations. If there is any concern about the site's legitimacy or security, call the charity. Some charities may use an outside Internet credit card vendor to process credit card donations. Again, the donor should verify this before contributing online.

• Due to the magnitude of this disaster, it is important to be especially aware that disreputable, fly-by-night “charities” are set up to take advantage of the public’s generosity.

SEND A CHECK, NOT GOODS
The best way to help is by sending a check. Cash donations enable charities to buy the most needed type of food, medicine, clothing, shelter materials and other supplies. By buying relief products locally or regionally, charities can reduce shipping costs and more rapidly deliver assistance. Before sending any goods, first contact the charity to find out if they are appropriate and if it will be cost effective to distribute them. For example, after the 2004 Asian tsunami, boxes of donated winter coats, scarves and fuzzy hats, completely useless items in tsunami stricken nations with tropical climates, were sent to these nations.

Related Articles:
CharityWatch Tips for Giving Wisely

What You Need to Know to Donate Safely Online