How to donate towards disaster relief
While all donations are appreciated, CASH IS BEST. Colorado VOAD member organizations are fully-vetted, experienced, and lead by dedicated professionals who will get the most out of your generous donation. If you wish to make a financial donation we would recommend you either donate to a Colorado VOAD member organization or a local vetted organization responding to a recent disaster in Colorado. Among our many partners, we maintain an active list of COVOAD organizations and local vetted organizations responding to recent disasters on ColoradoResponds.org.
Do not send or bring unsolicited material and food donations. In the early stages of the response phase, most organizations are unable to accommodate any material goods. Unsolicited donations create a challenge of storage and sorting when focus is needed on response and recovery. Contact us for information on what is needed.
Cash is Best
Cash offers organizations the most flexibility in obtaining the most-needed resources. Organizations typically prefer cash donations because they allow our members to:
- Purchase food, water, medicine, and equipment from secure and familiar supply chains
- Buy materials locally. This can help rebuild the local economy!
- Conserve resources. Money is always necessary and cheap to send, but the cost to ship material supplies can be expensive.
- Remember, material supplies such as used clothing, miscellaneous household items, and mixed or perishable food require helping agencies to redirect volunteer labor away from providing direct one-on-one assistance to sort, package, transport, warehouse, and distribute items that may not meet the needs of disaster survivors.
Material and Food Donations
Do not send or bring unsolicited material and food donations. In the early stages of the response phase, most organizations are unable to accommodate any material goods. Unsolicited donations create a challenge of storage and sorting when focus is needed on response and recovery. Contact us for information on what is needed.
Donating to Colorado VOAD
Colorado VOAD (COVOAD) is an association of disaster relief nonprofits. We have annual costs, including organizational dues, scholarships, event/training costs, etc. We do not and will not solicit for donations during a disaster – COVOAD does not deploy resources or fund relief efforts – When facing disaster, we encourage all donors to donate directly to responding COVOAD organizations or local vetted relief funds. COVOAD is not a registered 501c3 – Our bank account is managed by our Executive Committee and our Treasurer manages our annual budget, membership dues, and expenses. Our Executive Committee serves in a volunteer capacity and is voted by the COVOAD membership. Donations to COVOAD are not tax-deductible. We maintain a flexible structure, however we do have legitimate annual costs to sustain our network which your donation would go towards. For any questions, please email us at coloradovoad@gmail.com
Please do not donate to COVOAD directly. We encourage you to donate to our members directly – Click here to view our members list that includes links to their direct donations pages.