WASHINGTON 鈥� When disaster strikes and you want to help, there are a couple of ways you can ask organizations聽to use your money.
Both restricted and unrestricted donations have positive and negative aspects, according to聽, the nation’s聽largest independent charity evaluator.
If you want your money to go to a specific cause or relief effort, then restricted donations through 鈥渄onor designations鈥� are the way to go, said Sara Nason, of Charity Navigator.
However, limiting how money can be used聽might hamper large but impactful organizations assisting聽relief efforts in many areas.
“With a restricted donation, the organization finds some limitation in the way they can use the money,” Nason said.
“If you trust the organization and you’ve established a relationship with them,聽we recommend creating an unrestricted donation to this organization so they can use the money in the way that they need it,” Nason said.
Organizations 聽to be聽included in聽Charity Navigator聽lists of featured charities for 鈥渉ot topics鈥� of聽specific disasters. They also have to specify how they plan to use the donation.
“We update聽that list several times a day for all of our active hot topics,” Nason said.
Current “hot topics” with lists of qualifying charities:
If you choose to donate, Nason recommends checking back with the charity after a few months to evaluate whether it’s making an impact, so you can聽decide whether to support it聽in the long term.
“Ask the charity how they view their future [and] how they’re measuring success,” Nason said. Those metrics will be included in Charity Navigator organizational profiles after Nov. 28.
