On the front page of the Chicago Tribune today, there was 1 article that caught my attention, Making Donations Matter. The article talked about how within days of Tuesday, when the Haiti earthquake happened, more than 400 Haiti relief websites went up. While many of them are legitimate, a good number of them are not.

Better Business Bueau president, Steve Bernas, said, “There seem to be more and more every time there is a disaster.” And Bernas wasn’t only talking about illegitimate websites, but illegitimate phone solicitations too. I received about 2 phone calls today, and 1 yesterday, about donating to a Haiti relief fun. Of course, because I already donated through American Red Cross (by texting ‘Haiti’ to 90999), I told them I wasn’t interested. And also the idea of giving money over the phone to a charity I’ve never heard of makes me nervous.

The article gave some really good tips about how to avoid donating money to a group of scamartists. Three great resources to research different reputable relief funds include bbb.org/us/haiti, charitywatch.org, and interaction.org. The BBB (Better Business Beurau) website will give you the ratings for different Haiti relief agencies. Charity Watch, similar to the BBB website, will give you an analysis of Haiti relief agencies. And Inter Action, which I think is a great, helpful tool, will give you a list of the agencies who are already on the ground in Haiti. By visiting these 3 websites, you can make sure your money actually goes to the cause when donating.

I encourage everyone to donate. The American Red Cross has been running commercials and ads saying that you can text ‘Haiti’ to 90999 to give a $10 donation to the American Red Cross Haiti relief fund. The American Red Cross is probably the most reputable charity in the US, so I highly encourage everybody to donate. I’ve donated a nice sum of money. Feel free to make a comment or ask questions by commenting below.