*stares* Didn't LJ just have a prompt about Haiti up a minute ago? Whatever, I'll post without it.
I am a Dragon at heart and a Capricorn in the head, so although I decide to do charitable donations somewhat impulsively, I do my research to try to make sure my contribution will not be wasted.
For those of you who would like to support the relief effort in Haiti, I'm asking you to do your research and chose a venue to donate through which will use a large portion of your money for the actual effort, and be likely to do effective work. One thing you might check on is how much money goes towards overhead costs, and even if it's not much, you should see how much their top executives if this helps you decide between organizations.
Also, if you have political disagreement with some kind of charitable work, do your investigation. That is not to say that if an otherwise fantastic charity provides services I am morally opposed to they are evil, but I cannot financially support them as a matter of principle.
These suggestions are NOT meant to rip on any particular charity.
This is helpful site to get you started: http://www.charitynavigator.org/After much investigation through a variety of reviews, my mom and I went with this one for the Haitian effort:
http://crossinternational.org/index.php?src=Also, when the world is not in the state of emergency it presently is, you can still make helpful contributions. I wholeheartedly suggest this organization:
http://www.kiva.org/It is not a charity, persay, but an interest-free mircoloan service to entrepreneurs. They go through an application process to help ensure that they have adequate business plans, and the repayment rate is high. Field partners check up on the progress of the businesses as they repay the loans.
You can look through profiles to choose what kind of business or person you want to support, and you only need to contribute $25. More often than not, the money will be repaid to you, so you can withdraw it or put it back into another microloan. They also have gift certificates!
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Back on the Haiti topic, though, I totally love this fundraising idea:
http://dustthouart.livejournal.com/411327.html____
And while we're on the topic of being generous, I should be allowed to donate blood come March (they wouldn't let me last time I asked because I had been traveling--but I sure didn't pick up malaria!). *shakes fist* Someday, I'll do it! I'll bring the blood
and the guts!