Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The blogosphere and traditional news are full of appeals and information about how to give money to help Haiti. If you decide to give money, it is important to make sure that the charities you give to will use your money wisely, not just now in a time of crisis, but on a regular basis. There are several places online that you can go that evaluate charities. My favorite is Charity Navigator. From their website:
Charity Navigator's rating system examines two broad areas of a charity's financial health -- how responsibly it functions day to day as well as how well positioned it is to sustain its programs over time. Each charity is then awarded an overall rating, ranging from zero to four stars. To help donors avoid becoming victims of mailing-list appeals, each charity's commitment to keeping donors' personal information confidential is assessed.
This information includes the CEO pay, how much money goes to fund-raising and operational costs, versus how much goes to actually doing their charitable work.

The Better Business Bureau also has a database with information about charities for donors.

Moving Update: The library is in the process of settling in to the new building. We are still closed to the public, but are taking phone and email reference requests. No firm re-opening date has been set, although it is likely to be in late February or early March.