THE
BEST WAY TO SUPPORT ONGOING RELIEF EFFORTS IN AFRICA
 Crises
in Africa continue to spiral out of control but the international
community still has not rallied to alleviate the suffering in the
way it did for the tsunami. Over half of United Nations fund appeals
have attracted less than 20 percent of the requested amounts needed
to support relief efforts.
A crisis of equal magnitude to the genocide in Darfur
is occurring in northern Uganda, which the United Nations identified
as the biggest and most neglected humanitarian crisis. New outbreaks
are erupting in Chad, while there are severe food shortages in Mali,
Niger, Ethiopia and Eritrea. And tsunami-affected Somalia is struggling
to recover.
The American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP) announces
its top-rated list of charities involved in African relief efforts.
AIP, 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:
Note: Links will open in a new window
All of these charities perform favorably in relation
to AIP’s benchmarks:
1) A charity should spend at least 60% of its budget on program
services.
2) Charities should spend no more than $35 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 African
relief efforts should send contributions to only those charities
with an established track record of helping people in this region.
Though these crises are not highly publicized, disreputable, fly-by-night
“charities” always exist 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 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.
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