How to Donate
While all donations are appreciated, MONETARY DONATIONS ARE BEST. Maryland VOAD is an IRS registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We follow standard accounting principles and guidelines. We are staffed by dedicated and experienced professionals who will make the most out of your generous donation. We closely adhere to any restrictions a donor makes on their gift. Clicking the monetary donation link below will take you to our PayPal donation page where you can provide your donation via credit card. If you would prefer to send a check, please contact the Maryland VOAD Treasurer at treasurer@marylandvoad.org.
Please do not send or bring unsolicited donations–especially clothes. In the early stages of a disaster, most of our organizations do not have the logistics to accommodate material goods. Unsolicited donations create added expense and the challenge of storage and sorting goods when focus is needed on response and recovery. Maryland VOAD has a new tool to help you donate goods and provide in-kind assistance called Disaster Agency Response Technology (DART). (We are sorry we can no longer receive unsolicited donations–they must now all be donated through our DART platform.)
Why are Monetary Donations Best?
Monetary donations offer Maryland VOAD the most flexibility in obtaining the most-needed resources. Maryland VOAD and our Member organizations typically prefer monetary donations because they allow us to:
- Purchase food, water, medicine, and equipment from secure and familiar supply chains
- Buy materials locally. This supports and helps to 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.