How funny that earlier this month I was talking about this with a friend of mine. With all of the disasters happening lately we were trying to decide where our donated money should be best given. The Red Cross was not one of our choices. The Los Angeles Times has a great opinion article on why not to give to the Red Cross. While the Red Cross has great brand recognition, most money given is not used to help the people most in need, but it is used mostly for administrative costs. Others have asked the Red Cross to share some of the money donated, you no one knows what will happen. If you want to donate, try the Salvation Army. One hundred percent of the money donated earmarked for disaster relief will go to hurricane relief. Otherwise you can try donating to many other nonprofits or local organizations in the effected areas who will better use the money. [Via]