Avoid Charity Scams after Hurrican Harvey, Finding the Best and Worst Charities, GoFundMe

When you give your money away you want to donate to groups or individuals that will be making the best use of it. How do you know which relief organization is the best one to donate to? Which organizations send less of your money on relief and more to pay their expenses? For example the well-known American Red Cross claims 90% of its donations go to aid, however it has a questionable reputation for cost and fraud inefficiencies.

Use this list to check on a charity’s history. Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator, Charity Watch and GuideStar are among the leading charity watchdogs in the country.

GoFundMe, the group has set up a page dedicated to Harvey efforts. https://www.gofundme.com/raise-funds/hurricane-harvey

Charity Navigator allows you to search by the name of an organization or by the disease or condition you hope to support. It allows for some very deep research into the financials, efficiency, cost of administration and more. It also provides a list of all 4-star rated health-related charities (4-stars are its highest ranking.)

GuideStar collects information about non-profit organizations and makes it available to the public through its website. Included is a charity evaluator, among many other offerings.

Here you can find a list of the 50 worst charities http://www.tampabay.com/americas-worst-charities/?hpt=hp_t1.

After disaster hits criminals can scam for contributions through email or social media and by creating phony websites. Check before you donate. And if you do think you've been targeted by a scammer, report it to the National Center for Disaster Fraud hotline (866-720-5721) or the Texas Attorney General's hotline (800-621-0508).