In light of the tragedy facing the people of Haiti right now, there has been an outpouring of donations and support from individuals, corporations, and nonprofits. The entire world has been moved to help the earthquake victims in many different ways:
- In the 48 hours since the earthquake struck in Haiti, the American Red Cross has received nearly $35 million in donations, more than the total amounts received in the first 48 hours of both Katrina and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
- UPS gave $1 million to Haiti relief efforts (but NO free shipping as the rumors proclaimed)
- Mastercard, VISA and American Express have waived fees for credit card donations to Haiti earthquake relief.
- New records for online and mobile giving have been set for many organizations, including the American Red Cross
- Wyclef Jean’s charity, Yele Haiti has raised over $1 million through mobile giving by text messages
- The World Bank has committed $100 million to Haiti
- President Obama has committed $100 million in aid to Haiti
This is philanthropy on an enormous scale, to be sure. But many people only think about philanthropy in terms of money. In actuality, it’s much, much more than that. The Greek root for philanthropy comes from the word, philanthropos, which combined two words: philos, or “loving” and anthropos “humankind.” So I would consider even your thoughts and prayers for Haiti to be philanthropy, as they are an expression of your love for humankind, specifically your fellow brothers and sisters in Haiti.
Online, the social web has been buzzing with conversation and information about the situation in Haiti and local efforts to help. Regular people like me without big bank accounts feel an obligation to do something for Haiti, even as we continue in our day-to-day lives of going to work, making dinner, and putting our kids to bed. Yet, many people are acting on these four poorly misguided perceptions about philanthropy to Haiti. Obviously, they apply broadly to other philanthropic efforts as well.
I don’t have enough money to give.
As the above numbers show, collective giving in small amounts makes a huge difference! If you can only afford to give $5, remember that it’s being put together with thousands of other $5 gifts, which can eventually add up to millions. Do your small part and know that others are doing theirs too, to the tune of millions of gifts being made all over the world. This is why every gift counts! And the quickest way to give is by mobile giving through your cell phone. Here’s how:
- SMS text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts
- SMS text “YELE” to 501501 to Donate $5 to Yele Haiti’s Earthquake Relief efforts (Yele was established by recording artist Wyclef Jean)
- Canadian folks can text the word “Haiti” to 45678 (Canada only) on behalf of the Salvation Army in Canada
Your donation goes to the recipient charity, and the donation appears as a charge on your carrier bill. In addition to mobile giving, you can also make a gift to any of these charities that are on the ground providing assistance. The Washington Post has compiled an even more comprehensive list of charities to support.
If I can’t give money, I can’t make a difference.
Even if you can’t afford to give $5 or $10 out of your own pocket, there are so many other things you can do to help the people of Haiti in an effective way.
- Ask your friends to give. Consider updating your status message with: Text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts (Facebook) OR Text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts #Haiti (Twitter)
- Ask your employer to give. Many companies have already made financial commitments to help. Yours may even provide matching gifts!
- Advocate for the people of Haiti. As nations around the world begin to mobilize relief, research and recovery efforts for Haiti, the U.S. must end the deportation of Haitian immigrants, release those currently held in detention centers pending deportation, and grant Temporary Protected Status for the 30,000 currently under threat of deportation. Contact your members of Congress to urge them to do so!
I can help by collecting canned goods.
Wrong! If you are planning to assist in Haiti relief efforts, collecting canned goods (or any other type of goods) is one of the worst things you can do – unless you plan to physically travel to Haiti to deliver and distribute them yourself. Here’s why. There is currently NO infrastructure to sort and distribute any goods or clothes that you send to Haiti. which means that getting donated goods to the disaster site, then sorted and organized costs more than the goods themselves. Last night, I spoke to my younger sister who was helping to organize a canned goods drive for Haiti at Howard University. She thought UPS was sending boxes for free. They are not. I asked: where are you going to send the canned goods to? She paused. Think about the ramifications of your sending canned goods to Haiti. Who will distribute them? How will they open, heat and eat canned food? I told her to ask her classmates to text donations to Haiti instead. Cash is best right now. Let the professional relief agencies and nonprofits use your money to purchase exactly and specifically what the victims in Haiti need. We who are not there on the ground have no idea what their needs are, so why assume? Also remember that they are already getting food and goods from relief agencies on the ground that get them from nearby to reduce costs and prevent competition with local markets that are trying to recover.
I have to go to Haiti to volunteer in order to “really” help.
Some of my friends who volunteered with nonprofit organizations during Katrina and 9/11 have shared stories with me about how much money needed to be spent to house and feed the volunteers that came from out of state. Not to mention the time that had to be taken to train regular people to be able to provide help. For a local effort, it makes sense to just go and lend a hand if you’re able to. In this case, however, the airports and waterways in Haiti are already overwhelmed with dealing with earthquake relief efforts. Why add yourself as another burden on the relief agencies that are already struggling to organize their own efforts? They don’t have the time to train you to be useful right now. Aid officials are discouraging “helpers” trying to enter through the Dominican Republic. Give cash instead. It will help the people of Haiti much more if you let the professionals handle the situation there for right now. They don’t need you getting in their way.
Photo credit: The Unquiet Library
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