Do your research. Give cash, not stuff.
Here are 7 ways to donate responsibly when a nation is in crisis.
Here are 7 ways to donate responsibly when a nation is in crisis.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Everybody and anybody is trying to find some connection to fundraise for Afghanistan.
00:04There is a crisis going on in Haiti, over 2,000 dead from that quake, over 10,000 injured.
00:15Every donor really wants their money to be spent wisely.
00:19This is not going to go away overnight.
00:22The media cycle will move on, but the needs will not, the needs will still be there.
00:26How does a donor sitting at home find a reputable organization so that they can take action and send a donation?
00:38Well, there are these clearinghouses like Charity Navigator, which rank non-profits,
00:44and they came out immediately with, here's a list of our highly ranked groups working in Haiti.
00:49You really want to look at the results of the organization you're interested in.
00:56You want to look at their evaluations. Are they audited every year? Do they have a board?
01:05Look at what kind of initiative that interests you, that will keep you engaged, that you want to see through and donate there.
01:13Look to the intermediaries.
01:15If you happen to be faith-based or faith-inspired, call up your local group or synagogue or church or whatever
01:23and say, who do you have that's working there?
01:26If you are interested in supporting the injured, then look for health groups.
01:33Just Google what medical groups are active now in the earthquake.
01:37Look at the vision of an organization, what is their mission, and what is their long-term commitment as well?
01:43Because if they have a long-term commitment and they also have evidence-based results that really sort of reassure you that you are funded in confidence.
01:54Find an organization that is licensed, that is certified to actually be working with this population.
02:04Give it to the people who know the ground and know what they are doing.
02:08If an international group comes in and they bring their own experts, they tend to trample all over the local people
02:15or not notice them or bypass them, whatever, with the best of intentions.
02:20The NGO community often intervene in common regions.
02:24They know each other.
02:25So that's an area where you can ask different organizations about other organizations you might be interested in.
02:31There are major international NGOs that are working to serve refugees all over the world,
02:36some of whom also are resettlement agencies working in the United States.
02:39So sometimes the largest organizations, the best equipped to fly things around the world and ship in supplies and all that,
02:47are not actually building capacity in the local countries and sometimes inadvertently actually destroying capacity.
02:57The reality is only nine organizations in the U.S. work with the U.S. government to actually resettle those Afghans when they get here.
03:06So find out who those nine organizations are.
03:08Go to their website and donate that way.
03:11You know that your money is actually going to help an Afghan family when they get off of the airplanes at an airport near you.
03:24So a group like Doctors Without Borders that does terrific work in so many places, they're in Haiti.
03:30Yeah, I would trust them and I would make I wouldn't just send them ten dollars.
03:35It's going to cost them more to process that ten dollars and send you a thank you.
03:39Then it's going to be helpful.
03:41You know, but if you sent them one hundred, maybe that saves a life.
03:45Ten dollars may sound very small and it is.
03:48But if you have, let's say, I don't know, 50 people donating ten dollars every month for a year, that can go a very long way.
03:58When you think of an Afghan family coming to the U.S., let's just say a family of four, it costs World Relief ten thousand dollars.
04:06The first 90 days that they are here to do everything from provide them housing to get in the medical care that they need, provide them legal services to begin their journey towards citizenship in the U.S.
04:18The larger gifts are going to go the longest way for us to support a family over the long term.
04:22I would say at the moment, the fastest way to help is through financial contributions.
04:30Don't join a clothing drive.
04:34Haiti doesn't need your used shoes right now.
04:37Haiti needs cash so the aid organizations can buy those shoes in Haitian shops and support the Haitians whose livelihoods would be undercut by all these imported crates and shipping containers full of used clothing or something.
04:54That is a very well-intentioned, but not really helpful way to respond in an emergency.
05:08Narrow it down. Three to five organizations that you really think are meeting, they're aligned with your values and doing things the way you want them to do it and invest more heavily in those.
05:21If you do take that money and you support one organization or one program, that will have a much better impact.
05:32And I would invest in that organization.
05:34Making a serious investment in a few is much more fruitful, long range.
05:44A one-time donation may get you to a certain level.
05:51That may be, I don't want to say band-aid, but that may respond to a specific problem.
05:57But there are other challenges around it that may not be addressed because the funding is not sufficient.
06:04Take a look at how you can invest in eliminating the long term consequences and not just consequences, but the causes of these problems.
06:15So, yes, there was an earthquake.
06:18We can't prevent earthquakes, but we could have prevented 8,000 houses from collapsing by having them built better in the first place.
06:28Especially as we see the effects of climate change impact, resource depletion, drive conflict, we're going to see more people in need of safe places to land.
06:38Take the long view and look at the causes of climate change, of the restriction of women's rights.
06:45Look at all of those problems and use your talent and mobilize your friends to do something about it.
06:52We need all the help we can get.