The Urban Zen team is heartbroken for our brothers and sisters in Japan. We’ve been following the coverage of the disaster and we are sending out our love, prayers and support. We’ve absolutely been amazed and encouraged by all of the generous foundations, corporations, and individuals who have been so quick to respond. We know many of you are looking for effective ways to help, so we wanted to share some information with you that we’ve found to be very useful.
In particular, this article written by Suandra Schimmelpfenning for Huffington Post Impact is an excellent, informative piece on how to help Japan:
The article is a series of dos and don’ts to help you make the best donation decisions after a disaster, like the current crisis in Japan.
Do determine if the country is accepting international assistance
With all the photos and videos of destruction on the evening news, it may seem impossible that governments would not want outside assistance. However, just because there has been a disaster does not mean that the local government and local aid organizations are not capable of reaching and helping those in need. Before sending your donation find out what, if any, assistance the government is allowing. Check to see if the aid organization you’re considering donating to is offering that same type of assistance.
Do look at a variety of nonprofits before giving
There are hundreds of organizations that respond to most disasters, take the time to evaluate a few before giving. Also, just because they have name recognition does not mean they’re best able to respond to the disaster. Look for organizations that were operating in the country before the disaster, they will be able to respond more quickly and know the local culture, politics and needs better. Giving to local organizations is great, unfortunately they can be difficult to find and may not have a website or if they do, it may not be in English.
Places to find lists of organizations involved in the recovery efforts include:
InterAction for many U.S. organizations
Reliefweb.int for organizations from many different countries
Dochas for Irish aid organizations
Do look for organizations with prior experience and expertise
There is a great deal of money after well-publicized disasters. The ease of raising money makes it tempting to respond even if the organization does not have prior experience in that area. After the 2004 tsunami, many organizations with no prior experience built boats or houses. I attended one handover ceremony where the boats actually sank during the ceremony because they weren’t properly sealed. There is a steep learning curve when nonprofits move out of their normal area of work, this may lead to mistakes and wasted money. Make sure the organization has prior experience in their proposed projects.
Don’t donate to a project just because it’s “sexy”
Recovery projects that are inherently attractive to donors — such as orphanages or boats — are easier to fund but may not be what is most needed. After the 2004 tsunami, orphanages were built in excess of what was really needed. I had an orphanage approach me looking for orphans to house. So much money was given to orphanages in Indonesia that some families resorted to abandoning their children at the orphanages because they could not feed and clothe them. It would have been far better if the donations had supported the family so they could care for their children themselves. Boats were also heavily funded leading to far more boats built than were actually lost and a real concern for over-fishing.
Don’t earmark funds
The organization is on the ground and has a far better idea of what is needed the most than someone half the world away. Earmarking funds may force the organization to spend money where it’s not needed and keep it from funding the projects that are needed the most. After the tsunami in Thailand, an organization had money earmarked for two truckloads of rice. By the time they arrived in the area four months after the tsunami, shipments of rice were no longer needed. Because the money had been earmarked the organization had to contact donors to get permission to use the money in different ways. If you trust the organization, allow them to make professional decisions on how to best use your donation; if you don’t trust them then, find another organization to donate to.
Don’t evaluate an organization based on the amount spent on administration costs
The amount an organization spends on administration is no indication of its quality. The pressure to keep administration costs low may lead to organizations under-staffing their projects or hiring unqualified staff that may not have the skills to do their job. They may equip their staff with the tools and resources needed to do their job well. Or they may focus on inherently cheaper programs even if they are not what is most needed. Additionally, project costs and administration costs are easy to manipulate.
Do ensure that the nonprofit is legitimate before giving
After the 2004 tsunami, there were several fake charities created. In Thailand, a man took photos of houses under construction and then posted the pictures on his own website saying that it was his organization’s work. Donors should verify that the nonprofit is real before giving. Google the exact name and be careful that they haven’t used a name that is almost identical to a well-known charity. If the organization has been in operation for a while there should be a history of them on the web including links to conferences their staff have attended, newspaper articles written about them, or meeting minutes.
Donate only through the organization’s website to ensure you aren’t giving money to someone sending out a sham e-mail or creating a fake Facebook page.
To read the rest of Schimmelpfenning’s Dos and Don’ts, CLICK HERE
Learn more about helping Japan:
To see what ShelterBox USA is doing to help Japan, CLICK HERE
To see what The Real Medicine Foundation is doing to help Japan, CLICK HERE
Related posts:
- ShelterBox Honors Donna Karan as Humanitarian of the Year
- Haiti: How to Help
- Holiday FEED-Raiser & Market
- Forgotten Children Breakfast
