A lot of people are interested in donating to Katrina, which is fantastic. But you need to be sure you are giving to a reputable organization. I have read that you are suppose to find organizations that use at least 70% of the money to help the cause (the rest goes to running the organization itself). There are a lot of scam groups out there that keep way more than 70% and basically use it for profit purposes.

I found this article and a great website run by the Better Business Bureau that should help. The article provides you general information on how to avoid being scammed when donating and the website lets you look up any organization and find out whether they are "playing by the rules". The BBB Website is not very easy to use, but is great otherwise. Basically you want to click on the "Charity Reports" link on the left, then locate the charity you are considering giving to. Make sure that the page that comes up says:

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Evaluation Conclusions

{ORGANIZATION NAME} meets the Standards for Charity Accountability.

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If you do not see this or the name of your organization is not on the list, be weary!