On Saturday, December 22, 2018, Indonesia suffered from a devastating tsunami which has taken over 400 lives and injured over a thousand people. Earlier this year, in late September, another tsunami hit that region as well. Charitable organizations are beginning to respond and collect funds to provide relief services.

We encourage donors to keep the following tips in mind.

Support experienced disaster relief charities. They are more likely to deliver assistance quickly. Watch out for newly created organizations that may not be able to effectively deliver on promised intentions.

Look out for “100%”claims.  Be wary of any charity claiming that 100% of donations will be spent on helping tsunami victims. Charities have fundraising and administrative costs. Look for an explanation as to how this restriction is accomplished.

Support disaster relief through cash not donated items. A local drive to collect clothing and food is well-intentioned but is not a practical means to provide assistance. Disaster relief groups usually will be better armed to know what is needed and avoid duplication of effort.

Donate to BBB Accredited Charities.  You can help verify a charity’s trustworthiness by viewing an evaluative report completed by BBB Wise Giving Alliance.  See the list provided below of disaster relief charities that that are soliciting for relief assistance to help Indonesia.

The following is a list of BBB Accredited Charities (i.e., charities that meet the 20 BBB Standards for Charity Accountability) that have posted announcements on their websites about providing help.  This list will be updated as additional relief efforts come to BBB WGA’s attention.

CARE USA

Catholic Relief Services

Islamic Relief USA

Medical Teams International

Oxfam America

UNICEF USA

United Methodist Committee on Relief

World Vision

For additional giving advice and to access additional charity reports, see our tips and visit the BBB Wise Giving Alliance website at Give.org.

Video of the Week

As part of our Building Trust Video series, we are pleased to provide a video that features Joshua Tripp, COO & CFO of the Grameen Foundation (a BBB Accredited Charity) which helps the world’s poor by providing financial services, information on agriculture and health, and helps poverty-focused organizations improve their operations by providing mobile-based management tools and other technology resources. 

Recent Reports

We are always working with charities to publish or update reports for donors. Visit Give.org or local BBBs to check out any charity before giving. Our recently evaluated charities include:

• Ceres
• Earthwatch Institute
• Mercy Medical Angels

Finally, remember to let us know by going to give.org/charity-inquiry if you are interested in seeing a report on a charity not on the list and we will do our best to produce one.