Did you choose Red Cross, Yele, or Doctors Without Borders?
So which charity/platform did you choose when you gave to Haiti?
The Mobile Giving Foundation took Yele’s donations, and since Yele has been dissolved as a corporation multiple times by the state of Florida, and has an “office” in the corner of Wyclef Jean’s “studio kitchen,” for “$2,600 per month” and Jean took “$100,000″ in payment “to do a performance at Yele’s event”, according to Gawker, I do wonder if their… ahem… “guidelines” and “standards” are a little too loose.
MGive is taking the Red Cross donations, and the Red Cross isn’t exactly pristine in the financial transparency arena either. Their top executives make half a million per year, and their CEO was fired in a PR effort after 9/11/2001 for people’s outrage about this. In 2002 many chapters were indited for financial fraud and embezzlement by executives. In 2005 they planned to use relief funds to improve their internal operations. So is it fair now that we give them our money for Haiti? Perhaps not. Perhaps according to Givewell.org, Doctors Without Borders would be the best cause to give to. You can also use Charity Navigator, but they have less stringent standards when it comes to evaluating nonprofits. In the end, there’s no substitute for doing your own research.
So remember, donors, when giving, do what Aretha Franklin says, and THINK. Research your organization. How?
Look at Guidestar.org.
Look at their 990 forms. (They’re on Guidestar)
See how much their executive staff makes. (It’s in the back of the 990)
Look at their annual reports. (Should be on their website)
Is it clear where their money goes?
Is it clear what their impact is?
How can you be sure of what their impact is?
This isn’t an impulse text message donation, but it can be ultimately more satisfying to know that your dollar has gone to a truly deserving organization and not an organization wracked by financial mismanagement.
“Think think! Think about it! Let your mind go, let yourself be free!”
