How to Contribute to the Local Red Cross Disaster Awareness Fund

The American Red Cross was founded in 1881 by Clara Barton, as an organization that responds to disasters of every kind and offers community services such as safety education.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Something to contribute, be it time, knowledge or money
• Contact info for local Red Cross chapter

Contact Your Local Chapter

1. Call your local Red Cross chapter by finding them in the white pages, or use the locater on the Red Cross website (see Resources below).

2. Ask your local chapter whether it has a disaster awareness fund. If so, request a donation form.

3. Contribute to the Red Cross's main disaster relief program if your local chapter does not have a disaster awareness program.

4. Consider creating a local disaster awareness program that includes education on earthquakes, tornadoes, fires, floods, terrorist attacks and other types of preparation, if one does not exist in your area. The main website has a page of advocacy tips (see Resources below).

Give in Many Ways

5. Donate cash, mutual funds, spare change, rewards points or a part of your legacy to Red Cross Disaster Relief (see Resources below). There are a number of creative ways to contribute to the Red Cross Disaster and Disaster Awareness fund.

6. Give your time to help educate your neighbors, local students, friends and family about disaster preparedness. Time is a valuable commodity, and if you have a few hours to spare, you can create real change.

7. Speak to local businesses about donating to the Red Cross. Many businesses have a certain percentage of net receipts earmarked for charitable giving, and keeping the Red Cross uppermost in people's minds can benefit the organization on both the local and national levels.

8. Fund a trust with the Red Cross as beneficiary. This is one way to guarantee that you will dictate how your legacy is handled and your assets divided. Trusts can even reduce your taxable income. Speak to your estate-planning professional to set up such a trust.

Tips & Warnings

• The Red Cross will apply the donations it has given to whichever area or cause needs it most at the moment. Some people give locally assuming that their donations will stay firmly in the community, but the Red Cross will sometimes determine that the money is better needed elsewhere. If you are determined that your donation only benefit local disasters and disaster awareness funds, make sure this is properly communicated to your local chapter treasurer.

Resources

• Disaster donation page at RedCross.org
• Local chapter list at RedCross.org
• Advocacy tips at RedCross.org