Harvey victims to see how they spend their money. When looking through the IRS documents of the charities, there is a way to calculate how efficient each charity is with spending their money. The Greater Houston Community Foundation, which is managing the hurricane relief fund, is one of the most direct charities on the ground in the disaster zone.
It spends 98% of its money directly on disaster relief programs, which is considered excellent. Anything over 75% is considered good. However, some other charities raising money for Harvey victims are not as efficient. For example, Portlight Strategies, which is a group that helps disabled people, only spends only 64% of its income on the cause it is meant for. Catholic Charities, USA spends only 65% on its services, which means the other 35% goes to overhead expenses.
There are a lot of “pop-up” charities — people who collect items and deliver them themselves. They do this in order to see exactly where their donations are going. Another way to determine whether the charity of your choice is one that pays most of its money to the victims is to look at the executive pay.
If the CEO of the company is making more than a low to mid six-figure salary, you might want to consider donating elsewhere. To donate to the Red Cross, visit redcross.org.
