A Donor's Guide to Global Emergencies

Lebanon is the hot spot right now, but there are more than enough emergencies around the world today. We all want to help but are sometimes confused about how to 1) find in-depth information about those emergencies, 2) determine what charitable organizations are helping with what emergencies, and 3) decide where our donations should go. Here are some resources that can help:

• To find out about emergencies around the world (beyond the television news headlines), check out the Reuters Foundation website. It is devoted to humanitarian needs around the world. The home page of this site carries a news story on the latest crisis, but if you look in the left navigation bar, you will find a drop-down list of crises listed by name, such as African hunger or Angola recovery. You can also choose by topic (hunger or bird flu), or by country.
• To find out what charities are active in a particular area or crisis, take a look at CharityNavigator. Right now, in the upper right corner of Charity Navigator's homepage is a list of agencies that are accepting donations for victims of the Middle East crisis. There is also a list of recent articles such as helping Indonesian earthquake victims, global warming and an update on Sudan.
• For information on how to determine what charities are worthy of your donation, see our Safe Giving Guide, as well as the resources at Give.org, a part of the Better Business Bureau.
• When in doubt, stick to tried and true charities such as the American Red Cross. The Red Cross is involved in virtually any emergency across the globe and can be trusted to handle your donation responsibly.