Charities and scams
From HelpDeskWiki
For those interested in Katrina-related or other charities, see these sites:
The Combined Federal Campaign, part of the US Office of Personnel Management, is the only agency authorized to solicit on behalf of international, national, state, and local charities in the US federal workplace (including postal and military). All of the charities listed meet certain minimum requirements, including percentage of overhead (listed at the end of the description). In most communities, the CFC is manged by the local United Way office (http://national.unitedway.org). The page listed is the CFC's list of organizations that are helping with Katrina.
http://www.opm.gov/cfc/disasters/katrina-relief.asp
The BBB Wise Giving Alliance is a project of the US Better Business Bureau. The site reports on various national charity organizations. Click on the Katrina image to see a list of Katrina charities. Be sure to check the report on a specific charity before you contribute.
There are a number of Katrina-related scams going around. ScamBusters is a site that's been around for years, and they have some details of the specific Katrina scams that have been seen, as well as how to recognize scams in general:
http://www.scambusters.org/hurricanekatrinascams.html
Please note that these sites often provide details on charities handling disasters outside the US as well.
