What's the best way to donate to tsunami victims?

December 28, 2004 1:10 AM

What's the most effective way to help Tsunami victims with a donation? CNN lists 25 groups willing to take a donation. How do you decide who to give to?
posted by donovan to human relations (24 comments total)

Catholic Relief is located across the street from me. My company has done a lot through them, and they're just great people, in general. I've volunteered with the IRIC before, and my experiences were also fantastic. I'd say go with the organization whose goals and aims you identify most with.

I'm gonna ask these here, but shoot me down if I should have just AskMe'd separately. What are your experiences with collecting $ for donations through PayPal? Are there organizations collecting non-monetary donations (blankets, clothing, toiletries, etc)?
posted by asnowballschance at 4:37 AM on December 28, 2004

Charitynavigator.org attempts to "rate" charities, based on things like how many administrative expenses they have and how much of your money is actually spent on programs. It gives the American Red Cross 4 stars.
posted by profwhat at 6:31 AM on December 28, 2004

The American Institute of Philanthropy provides a list of their top rated charities doing tsunami relief work here:

http://www.charitywatch.org/hottopics/tsunami_asia.html

They give the American Red Cross, Lutheran World Relief and Mercy Corps an A+. FWIW, I give to Mercy Corps.

You also might want to contact your employer to see if they have approved charities for which they will match your gift.
posted by bradhill at 7:49 AM on December 28, 2004

I was just going to ask this question.

Being Christmas and all, I've gotta make room for new toys my daughter received. She's got a lot of stuffed animals and dolls she no longer cares for, and she's amazingly willing to box stuff up to give away. I've read about the number of children lost in the disaster, and the number of children who are now orphaned as well. I'm looking for a charity that will specialize in sending toys out to those kids. I've read that same list in several newspaper, and now online. savethechildren.org (which also received a 4 star rating from charitynavigator) looks like it would be a start for my intentions, but it looks like they only accept monetary donations as well.

Looking forward to answers...
posted by icontemplate at 7:54 AM on December 28, 2004

I also give through Mercy Corps. I give through them mostly because they have fairly low overhead, and they make it easy to target a particular disaster relief effort.
posted by mosch at 8:41 AM on December 28, 2004

Given that disease is the Next Big Disaster for them, I've given to Doctors Without Borders, but both www.doctorswithoutborders.org and www.msf.org seem to be down. :(
posted by Medieval Maven at 8:54 AM on December 28, 2004

icontemplate, I admire your and your daughter's charitable spirit, but to help give money, not in-kind gifts. These communities are in desperate need of doctors and medical supplies, clean food and water, shelter, clean up, burials for the dead and the most basic of household goods (a cook pot, etc). Many of these needs will go unmet. A teddy bear is really the last thing they need and the cost to a charity to collect, transport and distribute a donation of that kind could literally save a child's life if spent where most needed. With matching donations and leveraged spending to enable volunteers and communities to help themselves, pennies can go a long way in a place like Indonesia.

Cash donations allow exactly the most needed items to be sent, which is especially critical in this disaster since with airports, roads and harbors destroyed few goods can be sent to the places hardest hit.
posted by bradhill at 9:10 AM on December 28, 2004

I also donated to Mercy Corps yesterday and am glad to see them on this list, but just for acuraccy, the AIP gives them a B+
posted by jacobsee at 10:40 AM on December 28, 2004

icontemplate, while the toys may not be great donations for the tidal wave survivors, i guarantee you can find a local to you charity which would love some late Xmas gifts to distribute. Still a worthwhile charity.
posted by billsaysthis at 1:03 PM on December 28, 2004

The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami
The SEA-EAT blog for short. News and information about resources, aid, donations and volunteer efforts.
posted by thomcatspike at 1:18 PM on December 28, 2004

Amazon.com has a link to the Red Cross donations effort on their front page.

And, icontemplate, what bradhill said about the toys. Toys will just get in the way right now--I suggest, instead, donating your daughter's extra toys to a local children's hospital or outreach program for homeless families.
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:29 PM on December 28, 2004

It looks like we'll be donating the toys to a local charity, and sending money for relief efforts. I'm choosing savethechildren.org
posted by icontemplate at 1:59 PM on December 28, 2004

I would highly recommend Direct Relief, they provide medicines and doctors and have an astonishingly low percentage of overhead (only 1%). I've worked with them personally, it's an all-volunteer effort.
posted by cali at 3:20 AM on December 29, 2004

The SEA-EAT blog is now on a wiki.
posted by dhruva at 9:03 PM on December 29, 2004

"Outpouring: Donors overwhelm Web sites with donations for Asia" (Newsweek)
posted by ericb at 9:37 PM on December 29, 2004

"A partial list of agencies accepting donations to aid tsunami victims in South Asia"
posted by ericb at 9:46 PM on December 29, 2004

In the UK the Disasters Emergency Commitee is co-ordinating all the charities that are accepting donations, you can find links there.
posted by hardcode at 4:31 AM on December 30, 2004

The Center for International Disaster Information explains on its Web site that "financial contributions allow professional relief organizations to purchase exactly what disaster victims need most urgently and to pay for the transportation necessary to distribute those supplies." The Web site provides a list of agencies working to aid victims of the tsunamis, along with contact information.
posted by ericb at 11:30 AM on December 30, 2004

Bloggers without Borders launched last night - Tsunami Outreach, etc.
posted by ericb at 2:22 PM on December 30, 2004

Another way to give: frequent flyer miles.
posted by WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot at 3:37 PM on December 30, 2004

yesterday i was looking for an organization to give my lingering paypal funds to. Today I found it.
Karuna Trust
posted by bluno at 7:41 AM on December 31, 2004

Network For Good - to donate to multiple organizations.

Guidelines for choosing a chairty - GuideStar
posted by ericb at 7:48 AM on December 31, 2004

*charity* / NGO / "non-profit" / relief organization ...
posted by ericb at 2:34 AM on January 1, 2005

Money is the best way to help, I just read this on www.charitywatch.org For example, during the Bosnian War (1992–1996), 37.5 million pounds of inappropriate medicines were donated.
The people I work with want to organise a sponsored event to raise money for the fund, however as we all work in a cinema, we are open seven days and need an event that can be done by us all, but not on the same day. As a new addition to metafilter I would be grateful for any ideas.
posted by diff:eye:ant at 6:20 PM on January 2, 2005