MILWAUKEE — On Saturday, Oct. 7, Hamas militants from Gaza launched a surprise attack against towns in southern Israel, including a music festival. In response, Israel declared war on Haas, sent airstrikes into Gaza.
For those seeking to help victims and families impacted by this crisis, BBB Wise Giving Alliance offers the following giving tips and a list of BBB Accredited Charities soliciting for relief efforts.
● Can the charity get to the impacted area? Not all relief organizations will be positioned to provide relief quickly. See if the charity already has a presence in Israel or Gaza.
● Are you alert to possible social media scams? Scammers recognize the emotional motivation to help in response to emergency situations. Be wary of responding to appeals without taking the opportunity to verify the trustworthiness of the social media source or the specified charity.
● Should you send clothing and food? Local drives to collect clothing and food to send overseas may not be practical as the logistics and timing to deliver and disperse such items will be challenging. Relief organizations are better equipped to obtain what is needed, distribute it effectively and avoid duplication of effort.
● Is the charity experienced in providing emergency relief? Experienced disaster relief charities are the best bet to help deliver aid as soon as possible. New entrants may have difficulty in following through even if they have the best of intentions.
● Are you considering crowdfunding appeals? If engaging in crowdfunding, it is safest to give to someone you personally know and trust, keeping in mind that some crowdfunding sites take measures to vet posts, others don’t. If the poster claims they will forward funds to a specified charity, consider visiting the charity’s website on your own and giving to them directly after having checked them out.
● Are you cautious about “100%” claims in appeals? Charities have fundraising and administrative expenses. if a charity promotion claims that all funds collected will be used for relief, see if there is an explanation about how they are able to do this. Even a credit card donation will have a processing fee. For more on this topic, see our previous post.
BBB Wise Giving Alliance (BBB’s Give.org) is a standards-based charity evaluator that seeks to verify the trustworthiness of nationally soliciting charities by completing rigorous evaluations based on 20 holistic standards that address charity governance, results reporting, finances, fundraising, appeal accuracy and other issues. National charity reports are produced by BBB’s Give.org and local charity reports are produced by local Better Business Bureaus — all reports are available at Give.org.
The following is a list of BBB Accredited Charities (i.e., meets the 20 BBB Standards for Charity Accountability). Please note that some of these charities are focused on relief efforts taking place in Israel, Gaza or both areas. Each report includes a link to the respective website of the organization that provides a description of their activities. This list will be expanded as additional BBB Accredited relief organizations come to our attention.
● American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
● Anera
● Helping Hand for Relief and Development
● International Rescue Committee
● Islamic Relief USA
● Jewish National Fund
● Mennonite Central Committee
● Oxfam America
● Penny Appeal USA
● Project HOPE
● Save the Children