Aid to Japan

Where to start:
An Associated Press story cautions donors on how to avoid scams when donating. Watch out for emails or unsolicited phone calls. It also Includes a list of US based organizations accepting donations for Japan. The AP story points out that people can make $10 donations via their cell phones: "To donate to the Salvation Army, text 'Japan' or 'Quake' to 80888. Text 'RedCross' to 90999 to donate to its fund set up in response to the disaster."

Note from Coach K: After my own experience with my brother in Iraq I would NOT ever text bank account or credit card numbers on my cell phone. Many of our soldiers have learned the hard way that the air ways are easy to intercept. That's just my personal two cents on that one.

InterAction: InterAction, an alliance of US-based humanitarian aid organizations, offers an extensive list of major nonprofit groups participating in helping Japan, including a brief description of each. More organizations are being listed as they gear up their responses.
UniversalGiving: UniversalGiving, a website that helps people give to and volunteer at top-performing charitable organizations that it has vetted, has created its own Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Relief Fund.
Network for Good: At Network for Good donors can choose a particular charity working in Japan or spread their donation across all of them.
Japan NGO Earthquake Relief and Recovery Fund: The Japan Center for International Exchange, in partnership with leading Japanese relief organizations, has organized a 'GiveOne' fund to ensure money gets to organizations working on the ground over the long-term.
The Japan Society of Boston: This page is dedicated to sharing comments, requests, and thoughts in English and Japanese. It also provides a list resources on where to donate.
Google has established a 2011 Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami crisis response page. It includes Google's "person finder" that helps people either look for information about an individual whose is in the earthquake region or to share information they know about someone there. The direct link to the English-language version of the "people finder" is here. Donations can also be made directly from Google's crisis response page to the Japanese Red Cross using Google Checkout.
Charity Navigator: If you'd like to know more about an aid organization before you donate, you can look it up at Charity Navigator. Charity Navigator also offers advice on how to choose a charity helping Japan.

The live links for this article can be found at http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2011/0315/Japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-How-to-help