When making donations for the Haiti relief effort, make sure you are donating to an organization that is established and has the ability to get the money where it is needed. The $10 text message donations are going to the Red Cross. In the past much of the Red Cross money was actually banked and used for the next relief effort, not the one you are donating toward. After outrage about that practice after Katrina, the claim to have fixed that problem.

Here’s an alternative. The Rainbow World Fund was established in 2000 and contributes to the general relief effort, but makes sure your money does not go to groups that exclude the LGBT community or discriminate in providing help.

From their Web site:

• Rainbow World Fund (RWF) is an international relief agency based in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and friends community. RWF’s mission is to promote LGBT philanthropy in the area of world humanitarian relief. RWF works to help people who suffer from hunger, poverty, disease, oppression and war by raising awareness and funds to support relief efforts around the world. RWF provides a united voice, a large visible presence, and a structure to deliver LGBT charitable assistance to the larger world community.

One of their current worldwide relief partners is CARE, which operates in Haiti and has been providing food since the disaster struck the country.

Donations to Rainbow World Fund can be made here. More information about the organization is available on their Web site. Donating through Rainbow World Fund is a way to pool money to make a measurable impact while assuring that during a disaster, sexual orientation and gender identity are not obstacles to receiving help. Yes, some groups even use catastrophes to discriminate. Of note, the Red Cross is NOT listed on their Web site as a relief partner.