The scoop on Katrina donations
Over the past couple of days, stories are coming out about people getting pissed off that their offers of help aren't being accepted by the charitable organizations coordinated relief efforts. In a feeble attempt to do some good, here's my take.
First, this is a semi-qualified opinion. I formerly worked as a planner for a large group of social service agencies, including emergency services agencies. I do have a little insight as to how these things work, though I will admit that I haven't had first-hand experience with something as massive as Katrina's aftermath. But on with it . . .
If you're of the camp that's all concerned with how FEMA screwed things up, don't let that persuade you not to offer to help. Just don't give it to FEMA. Give it to one of the agencies that is independent of FEMA.
If you're still concerned because these agencies coordinate with FEMA, then get over it. The big agencies do work with them, but at the same time are independent from them. Coordination is needed, otherwise a lot of the donated dollars will quickly be wasted.
Understand that no matter how good your intentions are, cash donations are the best donations. There are a few reasons for this:
1) These agencies will purchase necessary supplies in bulk. The two cans of soup that you're spending $1.00 on can potentially turn into three, four or even five cans for the same dollar once the agencies negotiate prices.
2) Sure, we all want to by a box of diapers or cans of formula for the babies. The same applies for this stuff, too -- let the Red Cross buy hundreds of thousands for a fraction of the price. Also, understand that it leads to a logistical nightmare. There's the cost of transporting the goods. There's the time it takes to unload and sort the goods. It's hard enough, but with cash in hand, the agencies can purchase the items and schedule deliveries, etc. It's more organized and more efficient. It's going to get into the hands of the victims a lot quicker. Plus, there's always the problem of people, despite their good intentions, donating unneeded items that simply get in the way.
3) The recovery efforts are long-term. The items needed now might not be the items needed a few months from now. Stockpiles of donated goods might exceed the immediate need and ultimately become a "wasted" donation.
If you're trying to figure out just who to write a check to, consider one of the bigger, more established agencies. Look, I've had my issues in the past with one of the organizations leading the efforts, but my check is still going to them. These are often the most experienced agencies, and often the ones you can be assured will be wise stewards of your donations.
Did anyone see Larry King's special, which included interviews with various agencies? He interviewed a representative from one agency that was asking for money so they could for the first time hire a paid staff to respond to the disaster. And their goal was to establish a database of both safe and missing persons. Guess what, the Red Cross has already done this and didn't need to spend thousands of dollars in donated money just to hire a new staff and expand their agency.
And speaking of paid staff: the vast majority of people working for these organizations are not in it for the money. Okay, there have been some issues with some agencies in the past. And I often hear people complaining that the agency takes x% of your donation for salaries and administrative costs.
The fact is, you have to pay people to run these agencies. Understand that these agencies are usually held to a higher degree of accountability than most private businesses, and they need to find people that can hold the business side of the organization to those standards. It's even more complicated when you factor in the fact that most organizations can't pay what a comparably sized private business could. You have to pay people to run the organization. You have to pay people to organize the volunteers that are going to help. If this didn't happen, there would be absolute mayhem and nothing would get done about this. People need to eat and pay bills -- even the people that want to do what they can to help the situation.
But anyway, back to giving to the bigger agencies. The reality is that the more agencies we have trying to conduct relief efforts, the more overhead and administrative costs we'll have, which means less of your donation goes to those who need it. If your favorite relief charity is some small organization that no one has really heard of, then go ahead and write them a check. But if all you want to do is to make a donation to help out, I'd recommend giving to a larger agency.
And if you're either unable or unwilling to write a check and would rather donate goods, then please do so. But again, look into who you're donating them to. Try to determine which agency will get your donation to a needed location as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The long and short of it is that these people need help. There are people out there who are just in the very beginning steps of recovery. People with no homes, no jobs, some no longer with a family. The debates over who is at fault, if racism was involved, etc. aren't going to help the needs of these people. If you want to give something, don't let the political sideshows distract you from the needs that exist right now.
First, this is a semi-qualified opinion. I formerly worked as a planner for a large group of social service agencies, including emergency services agencies. I do have a little insight as to how these things work, though I will admit that I haven't had first-hand experience with something as massive as Katrina's aftermath. But on with it . . .
If you're of the camp that's all concerned with how FEMA screwed things up, don't let that persuade you not to offer to help. Just don't give it to FEMA. Give it to one of the agencies that is independent of FEMA.
If you're still concerned because these agencies coordinate with FEMA, then get over it. The big agencies do work with them, but at the same time are independent from them. Coordination is needed, otherwise a lot of the donated dollars will quickly be wasted.
Understand that no matter how good your intentions are, cash donations are the best donations. There are a few reasons for this:
1) These agencies will purchase necessary supplies in bulk. The two cans of soup that you're spending $1.00 on can potentially turn into three, four or even five cans for the same dollar once the agencies negotiate prices.
2) Sure, we all want to by a box of diapers or cans of formula for the babies. The same applies for this stuff, too -- let the Red Cross buy hundreds of thousands for a fraction of the price. Also, understand that it leads to a logistical nightmare. There's the cost of transporting the goods. There's the time it takes to unload and sort the goods. It's hard enough, but with cash in hand, the agencies can purchase the items and schedule deliveries, etc. It's more organized and more efficient. It's going to get into the hands of the victims a lot quicker. Plus, there's always the problem of people, despite their good intentions, donating unneeded items that simply get in the way.
3) The recovery efforts are long-term. The items needed now might not be the items needed a few months from now. Stockpiles of donated goods might exceed the immediate need and ultimately become a "wasted" donation.
If you're trying to figure out just who to write a check to, consider one of the bigger, more established agencies. Look, I've had my issues in the past with one of the organizations leading the efforts, but my check is still going to them. These are often the most experienced agencies, and often the ones you can be assured will be wise stewards of your donations.
Did anyone see Larry King's special, which included interviews with various agencies? He interviewed a representative from one agency that was asking for money so they could for the first time hire a paid staff to respond to the disaster. And their goal was to establish a database of both safe and missing persons. Guess what, the Red Cross has already done this and didn't need to spend thousands of dollars in donated money just to hire a new staff and expand their agency.
And speaking of paid staff: the vast majority of people working for these organizations are not in it for the money. Okay, there have been some issues with some agencies in the past. And I often hear people complaining that the agency takes x% of your donation for salaries and administrative costs.
The fact is, you have to pay people to run these agencies. Understand that these agencies are usually held to a higher degree of accountability than most private businesses, and they need to find people that can hold the business side of the organization to those standards. It's even more complicated when you factor in the fact that most organizations can't pay what a comparably sized private business could. You have to pay people to run the organization. You have to pay people to organize the volunteers that are going to help. If this didn't happen, there would be absolute mayhem and nothing would get done about this. People need to eat and pay bills -- even the people that want to do what they can to help the situation.
But anyway, back to giving to the bigger agencies. The reality is that the more agencies we have trying to conduct relief efforts, the more overhead and administrative costs we'll have, which means less of your donation goes to those who need it. If your favorite relief charity is some small organization that no one has really heard of, then go ahead and write them a check. But if all you want to do is to make a donation to help out, I'd recommend giving to a larger agency.
And if you're either unable or unwilling to write a check and would rather donate goods, then please do so. But again, look into who you're donating them to. Try to determine which agency will get your donation to a needed location as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The long and short of it is that these people need help. There are people out there who are just in the very beginning steps of recovery. People with no homes, no jobs, some no longer with a family. The debates over who is at fault, if racism was involved, etc. aren't going to help the needs of these people. If you want to give something, don't let the political sideshows distract you from the needs that exist right now.