If you are donating to relief efforts in Japan,

[Curmudgeoness]

make sure that your money is going to help and not to paying high salaries to CEO's. There are several good charities, but I would like to suggest one that uses 99% of its donations for direct help to those in need. Only 1% is used for administrative and overhead costs.

This charity is Brother's Brother Foundation. This is a highly rated international charity. I know that many people want to help, and worry about how their money will be used.

Forbes Magazine, noted that BBF had a 100% rating for both fundraising efficiency and charitable commitment.

Charity Navigator, America's premier independent evaluator of charities, consistently gives Brother's Brother Foundation its 4-star rating.

The Nonprofit Times reports that BBF has the lowest combined administration and fundraising costs of the 100 largest charities in the United States, November 2010.

To get more information on this charity, or to donate, please go to their website:

http://www.brothersbrother.org/

[northoftheborder]

1. Thank you for this source.

[otohara]

2. I'd Like A Japanese Foundation

directly - seeing Forbes, and The BBB ratings on any business makes me queasy.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. That is your perogative. This charity can be checked out on

any site that rates charities though. You will not have phone calls from them asking for a donation. You will not have mass mailings. You will not see TV advertising asking for money. They do not spend all their money trying to solicit donations, they spend money helping.

If you find a worthy Japanese charity, I would have no problem with donations going to them either. Let us know if you find one.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

4. I never recommend using The American Red Cross.

The way they hand out their money is just ridiculous and they use way too much of the money on administrative costs. My mother had insurance out the wazoo for the 2007 Kingfisher OK Flood. She got money, but people who had no insurance weren't given anything. Really? The people who needed it the most were not given anything and they lost EVERYTHING. It was truly disappointing. My mom tried to give it back, and they acted like she was completely mental.
Duckie

[Curmudgeoness]

8. I have reservations about the Red Cross also, but didn't know

anything like what you say ever happened. I have a problem with many charities where the money is too often used for administration, advertising, begging for more money and spending more to do it than you sent them.

Brother's Brother does not chase around for cameras, I had never heard of them. But I was researching charities on many different websites, and this one was spoken well of. I even called them to talk to them about their mission, and I was very impressed. We all have to find the best place to donate our money, and I feel good about this one.

[txwhitedove]

10. Agree. I was in Galveston during H.Alicia 1983, and Bay St. Louis, MS during

H.Katrina. After Alicia, we were in the Red Cross shelter at a middle school, but there were NO emergency supplies. We organized groups to go beg for ice and food, finally got into the middle school store room and ate processed cheese and spam-ish sandwiches for 3 days - that's a chunk of cheese on one side and a wedge of spam on the other - while the RC heads ate steak in their trailer.

[Curmudgeoness]

11. Did they charge you for the sandwiches?

I was living in Houston at the same time, and I heard that they were charging people who were trying to clean up their homes in Clear Lake area who, of course, had no available food. I didn't really believe this, but it has always been there in the back of my mind.

I do remember that they were not getting rave reviews at that time from any quarter.

[txwhitedove]

14. No charge because of the mass of people with kids in the shelter

and NO one providing assistance, the school pantry was broken into. Remember, after Alicia power was out on the whole island, it was a mess. Church groups provide the most hands-on help, clothing and food. We had just moved to Galveston, rented an A-frame house on Jamaica Beach, enrolled the kids in school, bought groceries, and the next day the house was gone. It took FEMA assistance to get out of the shelter and we moved to Houston - just in time for the after-Alicia flood! The kids were little, cried and begged to move back to Oklahoma. Good times. Thus began my love affair with Houston.


:hi:

[Curmudgeoness]

16. LOL, I just bet you love Houston. I have fondness for it, but

my house withstood Alicia (but no water for 4 days and no electric for 8 days) and I had been there for years before that happened. Scary night! And trapped at home since the only way out was crossing Greens Bayou in either direction, and it was flooded. Jamaica Beach was NOT the place to be, but I guess this last one was even worse for that part of the island. We are just lucky to have made it through it intact.

Obviously, you are back in Texas and not in OK---or it seems obvious if you are txwhitedove.

[RandomThoughts]

5. I hope for the best for them, a couple favorite songs.

Listen to your heart.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4804147606814327003#

Slip Sliding Away
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8nec2_simon-garfunkel-slip-sliding-away-f_music

[RandomThoughts]

6. Some like this version of the video better.

Listen to your heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YovncO5ReOk

Simon & Garfunkel - Slip Sliding Away
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8nec2_simon-garfunkel-slip-sliding-away-f_music


Its all how you see it.

[subterranean]

7. Thanks for the tip.

I want to send a donation, but I don't know which charity to donate to yet.

[Curmudgeoness]

9. You are in the same boat as I was in when the earthquake

hit Haiti. Donations just do not seem like enough, but that is all I can do and it is better than nothing.

So I did my homework and found Brother's Brother Foundation. Do your homework too on the many sites that rate charities, look at the statistics and annual reports. This is what I did, and this is the charity that I feel good about. You may find others, but this is a tip for anyone who wants to find a place to start.

[kentauros]

15. DU-er AsahinaKimi posted this one a couple of days ago:

GlobalGiving - http://www.globalgiving.org

And I just now found a rating site on it:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=11648

They seem fine to me and I used them to donate instead of either the American Red Cross or the ICRC, though I have seen plenty here recommend the ICRC over the ARC.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Lisa0825]

13. Mmmmm.... pizza!