CharityWatch announces a list of legitimate,
efficient, and accountable charities involved in efforts to aid and assist the people affected by Hurricane Helene.
Hurricane Helene formed over the northwestern Caribbean Sea, quickly gained strength and intensified to a Category 4 major hurricane
with windspeeds of 140 mph. On September 27, 2024, it made landfall as the first
Category 4 hurricane to hit Florida’s Big Bend since records began in 1851.
More than one million Floridians are without power.
The hurricane has been downgraded to a tropical storm, but the impacts of this
major storm will be felt far beyond Florida as several other states experience
severe weather and power outages. The full extent of the damage of this historic
storm will not be known for many weeks or months.
Unscrupulous charities will sometimes use disasters as a
money grab to raise funds for unrelated causes. CharityWatch does not add just
any charity to our disaster alerts. We sort through the marketing fluff of
charities to find out what specific aid is being provided to victims before
adding an organization to our list. This list will be updated as new
information becomes available.
The charities listed below are Top-Rated by CharityWatch
for spending at least 75% of their cash budgets on programs; for maintaining
fundraising efficiency of $25 or less to raise each $100 in cash donations; and
for meeting CharityWatch's governance & transparency benchmarks.
Donors Beware
Scammers will exploit your feelings of empathy and
compassion during times of crisis as a means of siphoning donations away from
legitimate charities and into their own pockets. Read CharityWatch's advice for
avoiding charity frauds and scams:
5 Tips For
Avoiding Charity Frauds & Scams
10 Tips For
Giving In a Crisis
How
"Psychic Numbing" Stops Us From Giving
Crowdfunding:
The Wild West of Charitable Giving
ATTENTION: The
charities listed in this alert were Top-Rated by CharityWatch at the time of
its publication. CharityWatch updates our ratings throughout the year. To see
if a particular charity is currently Top-Rated, please click on its name,
below.