American Red Cross Donation Tips

Ensuring Your Donations Go Directly to the American Red Cross

WASHINGTON, Wednesday, August 31, 2005 — The American Red Cross has received generous pledges from individuals, foundations and corporations to support Red Cross disaster relief efforts. As with any disaster and subsequent onset of giving, the American Red Cross is working hard to protect the public from misleading, unauthorized and fraudulent fundraising.

The American Red Cross works diligently to ensure that fundraising promotions that benefit the organization are authorized by the American Red Cross in compliance with the fundraising guidelines of the Better Business Bureau. The American Red Cross considers the security of the donation website www.redcross.org and its donors to be of paramount importance. As such, the organization uses several layers of protective measures including but not limited to blocking and filtering technologies, surveillance, system updates and anti-fraud measures. In addition, the Red Cross performs system vulnerability assessments using internal resources and external, third-party assessments.

To ensure that your donation goes directly to the American Red Cross, you can make a secure online donation through our website, call 1-800-HELP-NOW to make a donation by phone, or contact your local American Red Cross chapter. You may also mail your donation to the American Red Cross Disaster Response Fund at P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013; or visit one of our official Red Cross donation partners.

Many charity watchdog groups have created tips for individuals to ensure that their donation goes directly to the organization of their choice. Some of the recommendations include visiting that organization's website directly; don't be fooled by names that closely resemble the name of a well-known charity; research the charity that you plan to donate to; be wary of telephone solicitations. For more tips on this topic, visit www.give.org or www.charitynavigator.org.

The Red Cross takes fraud seriously and often works with federal, state and local law enforcement on stopping fraudulent fundraising. The Red Cross continues to communicate on a regular basis with other non-profit groups, the Better Business Bureau, state attorney general offices and media and members of the public to investigate reports of improper and fraudulent fundraising.

If an individual is suspicious of a promotion claiming to benefit the American Red Cross, please contact your local Red Cross chapter to report the activity. The American Red Cross will follow-up any leads on potentially fraudulent scams and will take appropriate action.

About The American Red Cross

American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need. Call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Donations are also being accepted at Coinstar machines at select grocery stores across America. To find the nearest Coinstar machine, visit www.coinstar.com. Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org