1/20 So I want to give some money to Haiti relief funds and my employer
\_ SOCIALISM
is willing to match it, but I am not really that big a fan of
The Red Cross (they take your donations and then spend them
however they like, not neccessarily on what you gave it to them for).
Who else is a good charity? UNICEF?
\- I believe after some criticism the Red Cross is better about
handling earmarked funds. That being said, at this point the big
global agencies [Red Cross, MSF etc] are asking for unresticted
funds because 1. they have already depleated unrestricted reserve
in Haiti early 2. they have rec'd a lot of restricted Haiti funds
and more is in the pipeline 3. govt are spending money there too
etc. If you go to the RC web page, it does let you semi-earmark.
Although not clear you can do so if you go through other channels
you may need to for matching etc. Also I was unhappy the RC requires
you to give them your email address. I think there is an argument
to be made that if you find a reputable agency which goal aligned
to your philosophy [e.g. georgraphically where do they work, what
do they focus on ... disaster, routine medical/health, microfinance,
literacy, infrastructure (clean water etc)] you should give
unrestricted funds. So I think in this case with a big tide of
money going to Haiti, it's reasoanble to refurbish say the MSF
coffers for work in Africa ... of course this doesnt apply if
your goal is to pipe your dollars to Haiti, as oppose to respond
to a "shock" requiring more resources, or if it seems like down
the road Haiti is out of the news or govt have renegged on pledges
and oranizations you trust are making Haiti-specific appeals again.
Anyway, without a longer detour into philosophy, consider MSF.
Those guys stay in some really fucked up places through thick and
thin and that buys a lot of credibility in my book.
BTW, here is the restrict/unrestricted info for MSF:
http://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=197&hbc=1?ref=main-menu
(Hmm, I guess MSF requires an email too).
Just dont donate to Wyclef Jean :-)
\_ Don't donate to Kars 4 Kids either. I almost donated my car to
them, until I found out that they are actually a religious
group that uses the donations for spreading the regigion. I'm
not religious but I don't mind donating to religious groups (like
my kid's Christian school) for geunine charity work. However,
Kars 4 Kids is too skewed.
\_ The American Red Cross has one of the lowest overheads among large
charities. For example, the overhead for Hurrican Katrina funds is
9%. (In comparison, the American Cancer Society overhead is 95%.)
(Sources: Wikipedia) |
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