CFC Info Center

Listen up. The military community is generous with time, money and other resources. When you can hand those diapers to a young mother around the corner, you know they're put to good use. But helping out long-distance requires caution to be sure help gets to the people who need it.

Days after the hurricane hit, scams popped up, said Bennett Weiner, chief operating officer of the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance. His group already has heard of questionable telephone and Internet appeals that claim to be soliciting donations for legitimate organizations "without any authority," Weiner said.

But how do you tell the good from the bad -- not only for the Katrina effort, but for any charitable endeavor? One place to start is familiar to military members and their families -- the Combined Federal Campaign.

For those interested in donating to Katrina relief, CFC has compiled a list of approved charities that are among those on the roster on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Web site. To qualify for donations under the CFC campaign, charities must undergo stringent reviews of their finances and operations.

Even if the official campaign hasn't yet begun in your local area, you may be able to make a pledge early to one of the Katrina relief charities through CFC. Find your local campaign.

Contributions through CFC can't be earmarked specifically for disaster relief. The organization may decide whether to use it for Katrina disaster relief, or to replenish its funds for future humanitarian efforts or other charity work. This should not deter you from contributing, Weiner said, because you can be assured these groups will use your dollars for a charitable cause, whether now or later.

Find Hurricane relief charities that meet CFC standards.

Here are nine tips from the Federal Trade Commission and the Council of Better Business Bureaus on how to choose a charity and donate wisely:

1. Do not donate canned goods, clothes and other stuff for long-distance relief efforts. Most charities prefer monetary donations, Weiner said, because it lets them buy what's actually needed close to the location, cutting down on transportation costs and avoiding clogs in transportation channels.

2. To check out a charity, go to www.military.bbb.org and click on "charity," or go directly to www.give.org and www.charitynavigator.org. BBB Wise Giving Alliance includes a list of Katrina relief organizations with their charity reports.

Make sure a charity is registered with appropriate state government agencies, describes exactly what it will do to help victims and gives written financial information.

3. Be careful about on-the-spot solicitations, whether at your doorstep or a shopping mall. Don't be swayed by emotional appeals. Ask for identification. Ask what the charity does.

4. Never make a check payable to an individual -- make it payable to the charity.

5. Do not give or send cash. For security reasons and tax records, pay by check or credit card.

6. New "charities" spring up overnight after disasters, including some that pocket the money for noncharitable use. Some new charities may mean well but lack the infrastructure to provide help. Give to recognized charities that have a system set up to get help where it's needed.

7. Be wary of charities with names that closely resemble a legitimate national charity.

8. Give directly to the charity, not to telephone solicitors who take a cut of your money. Do not give credit card information, bank information or any other personal data to someone who calls you on the phone, e-mails you or otherwise solicits your donation. You could find yourself defrauded. Insist on written information about the charity.

Spam or e-mail messages asking for contributions could be "phishing" scams, linking you to a false Web site that looks exactly like a legitimate charity's site. But they use the information you provide to clean out your bank accounts, run up credit card bills and generally mess up your life. Never take such backdoor links to a Web site; type the charity's Web site address into your browser yourself.

9. To make sure your donation is tax-deductible, go to IRS Publication 78.

Remember, donations still will be needed in the coming weeks, given the magnitude of this disaster. But you can help.

Give wisely -- and give what you're able. No one is asking you to put yourself in financial jeopardy.

Got that? You're good to go.