donor bill of rights

I moved to New Jersey in July 2001. I was workingn for the Jewish Community of MetroWest in Whippany, and living in Maplewood, a bedroom community to Manhattan.  My life was split between hanging out in the city, and working in Jersey.  That year I was witness to some amazing acts of kindness between strangers around the tragedy of 9/11.  The same thing is happening this week, following the "Frankenstorm" Sandy.

But like with any natural disaster, come people who are monopolizing on other's pain - Huffington Post.  So, if you are going to be making any donations to disaster relief here are some things to consider (this is a repost from the blog on the Japan Earthquake):

I have been watching the ripple effects of the allegations of misuse of funds by Three Cups of Tea author and charity founder, Greg Mortensen.  Mr. Mortensen has been accused of spending donor dollars to promote his book, and more importantly that what he says he is promoting is not what is happening on the ground.

Charity scams are alive and well in Canada.  In 2003 the Chronicle of Philanthropy released a report that in North America over $1.28B is lossed due to fraud (and that is only the fraud that is caught!).  This hit home this week when Ashley Kirilow was denied bail for her part in a cancery charity scam. Read more »

1.  What is going on internally with this charity that they cannot come back with a response (yes or no) to accepting the donation?
2.  Should the family take the offer off the table?
3. Why would I even suggest putting an offer like this in front of an organization that does not have the capacity to manage the gift?
4. How can this charity better manage the donation?