Three years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, we’re watching another hurricane, this time Gustav, coming ashore near the crescent city. We’ve all learned a lot since then. I’m still hoping that the damage will be minor and that the evacuees will return to nothing worse than soggy lawns. But great effort has already been expended, and I want to take a moment to highlight some of the fundraising efforts of the Red Cross, both to draw attention to the need and also to illustrate some fundraising best practices that any nonprofit organization can use any time.

1. I’m really impressed with the Red Cross’ use of flickr. It’s human nature that seeing is believing, and the Red Cross is doing a great job with flickr to document their efforts and the situation on the ground in and around New Orleans. Updates are being posted constantly.
2. In addition, the Red Cross have set up a blog and a twitter account to distribute updates on the situation. This kind of quick action is not that difficult and could work just as well for a small NPO’s campaign or event as for a national disaster. Anything you can do to maintain contact and engagement will help raise awareness and funds for the cause.
3. Finally, the Red Cross is doing a good job of fundraising everywhere. There is an opportunity to donate on their main web site, on their blogs, and even on their flickr page. There’s no reason to be bashful about it - there’s tremendous work to be done and it takes money to do it.

In addition to all of the fine work done by the Red Cross themselves, there are also over 75 people who have raised over $38,000 for the Red Cross with Firstgiving. You can join them here. Also, you can make a direct donation at the Firstgiving Red Cross start page, using the Firstgiving widget on this post, or directly on the Red Cross website.