Take steps to ensure your disaster giving effective

As we have already seen on television, disasters bring out the best and worst in people. Even as Americans are moved to give generously to those affected on the Gulf Coast, it is important to use some degree of discernment in where you send your money.

Here are some guidelines to make sure your gift goes where you intend it to go:

“ Give via check or credit card, never cash. Even if someone is taking a collection, you should be suspicious if they do not want to take a check made out to a credible nonprofit group. Your gift is not tax deductible if the group you donate to is not a nonprofit.

“ Designate your gift clearly to “Hurricane Katrina victims” or whatever your specific concerns are. If you give money to an organization without designating it specifically, it could be used for general operations.

“ Be sure the organization has expertise in this work. Not every organization is prepared to respond to a domestic disaster of this scale. Bigger may be better; it takes an established, large organization to handle early disaster response. And don’t give to a group that is raising money for vague purposes – there should be specific plans laid out, including budget figures and types of work that will be done.

“ Do your homework. Check out organizations through Web sites like Charity Navigator ( www.charitynavigator.org) or Guidestar ( www.guidestar.org). Both rate organizations and show how their funds are being used.

“ There is no need to give to groups that promise to pass the funds on to others. They probably are taking some overhead out of the donation, and there will be a delay in getting money to the victims.

“ Mobilize your faith community. Talk to your pastor, priest or rabbi to find out how other faith communities similar to yours are responding. There may be specific ways to help other faith organizations better located to help the affected region.

“ Budget your giving. Give now, but also plan to give later. In the weeks to come more specific needs will become clear. Too often, people give when they see images in the media but forget to give after the images fade.

“ Don’t forget the rest of the world. Disasters happen every day, and international donations will tend to drop during times of giving to domestic causes.