1. From a friend who spent 2 years in Benin and witnessed first-hand a good deal of corruption in charitable organizations:

Recently, I received some good advice to look into charity watchdog sites that list which nonprofits get good marks for using donations to help the people they say they're going to help. In case you've been wondering about similar things, I've copied a list of charities from
www.charitywatch.org/ratingguide.html.

www.guidestar.org also gives information on nonprofits, specifically on revenues & expenses.


INTERNATIONAL RELIEF & DEVELOPMENT
PHONE (some web sites)
AIP GRADE

Accion International
617-625-7080
A–

Africare
202-462-3614
A

American Friends Service Committee
215-241-7000
A–

American Near East Refugee Aid
202-347-2558
A

American Refugee Committee
612-872-7060
A+

AmeriCares
800-486-HELP
A

CARE
www.care.org
800-422-7385
A–

Catholic Relief Services
www.CatholicRelief.org
410-625-2220
A–

Church World Service
800-297-1516
A–

Doctors of the World – USA
888-817-HELP
A

Doctors Without Borders USA
www.doctorswithoutborders.org
212-679-6800
A

FINCA International
202-682-1510
A

International Rescue Committee
212-551-3000
A

Lutheran World Relief
410-230-2700
A+

Mennonite Central Committee
888-563-4676
A

Oxfam-America
www.oxfamamerica.org
800-77-OXFAM
A–

Save the Children
www.savethechildren.org
800-728-3843
A–











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2. I received the following alert from a colleague. I ran it by a friend who lived for three years in Tanzania and India and who vouched for the quality of the information:

Subject: CSFH Warns Against Hate Groups Exploiting Tsunami Crisis

> ------------------------
> PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY
> ------------------------
>
>
> GIVE WELL, GIVE WISELY!
> CSFH Urges Responsible Giving in the Wake of Tsunami Tragedy
>
> Friends,
>
> It is time to give and give generously. As the death toll climbs past
> 150,000 and the world comes to grips with the devastation caused by
> the
> deadly Indian Ocean tsunamis, numerous organizations across Asia are
> stepping up to organize relief and rehabilitation. We at the Campaign
> to
> Stop Funding Hate (CSFH) urge all individuals in the U.S. and
> elsewhere
> to support them by donating generously.
>
> However, our responsibility does not end with giving. It is also our
> combined responsibility to ensure that our funds do not end up in
> sectarian hands, and that this tragedy does not turn into another
> opportunity for communal groups to gain foothold in our plural
> society.
>
> KEEPING ACCOUNTABILITY, SOCIAL JUSTICE ON THE AGENDA
>
> The response to the tsunami tragedy in the US has been heartening,
> with
> hundreds of dedicated volunteers making enormous effort to raise
> resources for relief operations in India and elsewhere. Many of these
> groups have a long history of carrying out grass-roots, non-sectarian
> development work in India, and have been able to effectively mobilize
> their networks at this time to administer relief. They can be counted
> upon for working closely with affected communities in a transparent
> and
> accountable manner. The immense loss of life in Sri Lanka, Indonesia
> and
> Thailand, makes it incumbent on us to consider giving to our suffering
> Asian neighbors, either through transnational organizations or through
> informal networks of local community-based organizations. (See below
> for a partial list of such organizations).
>
> Many of us are also members of a variety of linguistic, regional and
> cultural associations. Because of their social and cultural
> affinities,
> such organizations are well equipped to intervene in on the ground
> activities. Precisely because of these reasons, sectarian groups try
> to
> use them as vehicles to advance their own agendas. We therefore urge
> you
> all to not only take an active part in the fund raising activities of
> these organizations but also be involved in discussions on how and
> where
> the funds are to be used. Disasters of this kind are occasions when we
> should be on high alert to keep social justice at the top of the
> agenda.
>
> STAY CLEAR OF SECTARIAN GROUPS SUCH AS IDRF, HSS, SEVA INTERNATIONAL
> AND
> VHPA
>
> Please remember the lessons of past natural calamities: Latur
> earthquake
> in 1993, Orissa cyclone in 1999 and the massive earthquake that shook
> Gujarat in 2001. Sectarian groups in the guise of non profits have
> swooped in on these areas engulfed in tragedy (funded in large part by
> unsuspecting donors in the US) and established their presence in the
> grief-stricken communities on the pretext of providing relief. Not
> only
> did this lead to unequal disbursement of relief among various
> communities, but it also caused further fracturing of these struggling
> communities along lines of caste and religion.
>
> This time too, the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF), Hindu
> Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), Sewa International and Vishwa Hindu
> Parishad-America (VHPA) have all put out appeals for Tsunami relief.
> CSFH has done extensive research on these groups and traced their
> linkages to the parent organization in India: the violent and
> anti-minority Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). (See
> www.stopfundinghate.org for details.) Affiliates of this
> organization have been implicated by numerous national and
> international
> human rights groups as having engineered the anti-Muslim Gujarat
> pogroms
> in 2002 and the anti-Christian violence in 1998-2000. RSS itself is a
> secretive organization, openly sectarian in its operations, and is not
> legally permitted by the Government of India to accept funds from
> abroad; consequently, its US affiliates (IDRF, HSS etc.) are raising
> funds for organizations like Sewa Bharati, Jana Sankshema Samiti and
> Vivekananda Kendra in India, all of which are intrinsic parts of RSS
> operations in India and follow its divisive ideology.
>
> We urge everyone to make the responsible choice in favor of supporting
> secular groups with a long-standing commitment to the pluralistic
> ethos
> and democratic ideals of India. On our part, we are following up on
> our
> work of the past several years some of which is documented at
> www.stopfundinghate.org . We will be happy to assist you with
> any
> information and would really appreciate it if you will alert us to the
> debates and discussions that you are involved in by emailing us at
> info (at) stopfundinghate.org
>
> We are building a FAQ to be posted on our site and it will be helpful
> to
> know the kinds of questions being raised. Meanwhile, please feel free
> to
> use the list below as a starting point to identify the kind of
> organizations that are worthy of support.
>
> Thank you
> CSFH (www.stopfundinghate.org)
>
> ------------------------------------------------------
>
> A partial list of non-sectarian, grassroots groups involved in relief
> operations:
>
> 1. AID - Association for India’s Development
> www.aidindia.org/CMS/
>
> 2. American India Foundation
> www.aifoundation.org/
>
> 3. Asha For Education
> www.ashanet.org/
>
> 4. India Literacy Project
> www.ilpnet.org/news/Tsunami/index.html
>
> 5. India Relief and Education Fund
> iref.homestead.com/
>
> 6. Indians for Collective Action
> www.icaonline.org/
>
> 7. Pratham
> www.prathamusa.org/
>
> 8. Singh Foundation
> singhfoundation.org
>
> 9. Vibha
> www.vibha.org/emergencyrelief/
>
> These groups are partnering with various mass-based organizations and
> NGOs in India, such as the Tamil Nadu Science Forum, the National
> Fishworkers Forum, Vidyarambam, APVVU (agricultural workers’ union in
> AP), People's Watch, Bharathi Trust and Bhoomika Trust.
>
> Among international organizations, Doctors Without Borders is reputed
> to
> be the most committed and experienced with meeting disasters with
> professional expertise. www.doctorswithoutborders.org
>
> The International Red Cross has country specific operations which may
> be
> accessed and supported through the following links:
>
> Sri Lanka:
> www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/sri_lanka!Open
> Indonesia:
> www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/indonesia!Open
> Thailand: www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/thailand!Open
>
> Additionally, we urge you to also spread the word about the Red
> Cross's
> 'Family Links' initiative which helps locate separated family members
> throughout the affected region. You can find out more about this from
> www.icrc.org/home.nsf/home/webfamilylinks