Established relief organizations will be soliciting for contributions to meet both immediate and long term needs of refugees. Appeals should describe the specific services the charity intends to provide to refugees and their families. If not, individuals should ask for details from these organizations about how they intend to use solicited funds.

In addition, newly organized charities may be soliciting for support. Potential donors should ask about the special need or service being provided that prompted the organization's creation and how they intend to spend their funds and provide assistance. Even newly established organizations should have written material available describing their programs, anticipated expenditures, and how they will carry out activities.

Some groups may be raising funds for distribution to existing relief organizations as opposed to directly providing services. If so, you may want to consider sending a donation directly to the benefiting organization. Also, some charities may change their program focus during a crisis to respond to the changing needs of refugees. Do not assume the charity will carry out the same activities throughout the crisis.

Organizations conduct solicitations for relief in several ways: through the mail, telephone, door-to-door appeals, the Internet, and announcements in magazines, newspapers, radio, and television. Although timing is critical in responding to the needs of the refugees, potential donors should not succumb to pressure in making an immediate donation without first checking out the charities. Fraudulent solicitors often demand on-the-spot contributions and rely on the fact that individuals will not question their efforts.

The Philanthropic Advisory Service (PAS) advises against giving out credit card numbers to a phone solicitor. This can be a ruse to obtain the card number for illegitimate purposes. Ask the caller to send written information on the charity's programs and finances.

Check out relief charities by contacting the Better Business Bureau or your local charity registration office (usually a division of the state attorney general's office). Information on national charities is also available from CBBB's Philanthropic Advisory Service. In addition, PAS also offers the following tips for donors to consider:

1. Be wary of appeals that are long on emotion, but short on describing what the charity will do to address the refugees in Yugoslavia and the surrounding areas. Please see our statement of purpose as well as our plans and objectives page. We are not "short" on anything but funds and that's where you can help.
   
   
   
2. If you contribute, do not give cash. Make a check or money order payable to the name of the charitable organization, not to the individual collecting the donation. We accept funds in any way you wish to donate them (check, money orders, credit cards). None of these should ever be made payable to anyone other than Children of Chaos. We will also accept cash if you wish to give it. However, we also are seeking several other items such as trucks, forklifts, beds and bedding, etc. (see the "How Can I Help" page).
   
   
3. Watch out for excessive pressure for on-the-spot donations. Be wary of any request to send a "runner" to pick up your contribution. We do not solicit gifts "door to door" or in person (generally). Therefore, it is unlikely that you would ever meet anyone who is seeking donations or acting as a representative of Children of Chaos. If you should eve encounter such a person, it would generally be at your request and if any other situation occurs where you have any questions about the validity of anyone who indicates that they represent Children of Chaos, please contact us BEFORE making ANY donation or admitting any such person into your home or office.accept funds in any way you wish to donate them (check, money orders, credit cards).
   
   
4. Do not give out your credit card number or other personal information to a telephone solicitor. Ask the caller to send you written information on the charity's programs and finances. We provide a completely secure, online mechanism for accepting credit card donations. This process does not require disclosure of anything other than your name and a credit card number for acceptance. Please use this method for making any financial donations to Children of Chaos.
   
   
5. Do not hesitate to ask for written information that describes the charity's programs and finances. Even newly created organizations should have basic written information available. For a complete statement of our purpose, finances and anything else we can think of to disclose, please see the other pages of this web site. We have tried to anticiapate everything that anyone might wish to know, but if there is something else you would like to know about any aspect of our efforts, please ask so that we can provide it and add it to our on-line information.
   
   
6. Be wary of charities that are reluctant to answer reasonable questions about their operations, finances, and programs. Ask how much of your gift will be used for the activity mentioned in the appeal and how much will go toward other programs and administrative and fund raising costs. As in the point above, we offer full disclosure on all these issues here on the web site.
   
   
7. Find out what the charity intends to do with excess contributions remaining after they have funded their Kosovo activity. We will not cease activities once the current Kosovo crisis has passed. Our mission is global and not limited to only the current Kosovo Crisis. Children are in jeopardy all over the world and their problems will continue long after they have been have been fed, clothed and sheltered. They will need education and the horizons of the world opened to them. We intend to continue funding efforts to further these goals.
   
   
8. Check with organizations before donating goods. If the charity accepts donated items, have they confirmed there is a need for these materials? Ask about arrangements for shipping and distribution. We have definite need for "items". In particular, the items shown on the "How Can I Help" page. We are seeking some light trucks and forklifts as well as a helicopter to move materials rapidly to needed areas. We are also seeking shoes to replace those that are now wearing out after being worn on the march out of Kosovo.
   
   
9. Remember, there will be opportunities to give in the future. The problems will not disappear when the headlines do. We agree. See #7 above.
   
   
10. Check out charities with your Better Business Bureau and obtain further advice on giving and access PAS reports on specific national charities by visiting the BBB central web site at www.bbb.org. We urge you to do so and make sure you are comfortable with our plans and objectives. We desperately need your support, but we don't want to have an unhappy contributor.