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Considerations in Selecting an International
Humanitarian Charity to Support in Disasters: Making an Informed Decision
Making a charitable contribution is a personal decision. Identifying
a charity that meets your criteria as an individual donor requires an
investment of your time and research. There are a number of tools to
use to make informed giving decisions.
In a crisis, different charities perform different functions. To name
a few of those, some specialize in airlifting relief supplies to local
or international groups providing services to people in need. Some directly
or through affiliates provide emergency services including medical care,
water and sanitation, or temporary shelter. Still others focus on advocacy
work or public education. Some organizations stay only during the acute
emergency phase while others remain for months or years as relief work
gives way to rehabilitation and reconstruction.
Your selection of an agency to support may be based on a variety of
factors, not least among them the organization’s mission, its programmatic
and geographic focus, its management, governance and operational structure,
and financial reports.
It is important to remember that all U.S.-based, tax-exempt entities,
including nongovernmental charity groups, fall under the oversight of
federal, local and state agencies. They are also accountable to many
institutional donors, including, in some cases, the federal government.
These charities provide information about their finances and activities
to the American public through their Web sites, IRS “990” filings
for tax-exempt organizations, and annual reports.
There are a number of charity watchdog organizations, rating groups
and reporting agencies, among them Guidestar, the BBB Wise Giving Alliance
(WGA), and the Evangelical Council on Financial Accountability (ECFA).
Some of the agencies focus solely on a charity’s finances while
others complete broader reports and /or evaluations of charities.
Organizations like InterAction also play a role in providing information
about charitable organizations in their membership. InterAction is the
largest and most prominent standards-based network of U.S.-based NGO
charities working in the field of international relief and development.
InterAction’s standards address performance, fundraising, program
and financial management. The agreement by a member of InterAction to
conform to the standards helps assure donors that funds are being spent
in an accountable and effective way.
Through InterAction’s website, the public can access the names
of member agencies responding to a particular crisis such as that caused
by the recent tsunami, as well as information on the specific roles these
charities are playing. The public can also link directly to the sites
of these groups to gather additional information about their staffs,
governance structures, financial audits and reports, donors, missions
and programs. It is a requirement for membership in our alliance that
all InterAction members make such information readily available to the
public. |
