What's the best charity to help Burma cyclone victims?

May 7, 2008 1:54 AM

What's the best charity to give to, in order to help victims of the Burma cyclone? I don't want to give to a charity that will spend the money on TV adverts of pension funds for its employees. I want most of the money to help victims.
posted by humblepigeon to work & money (12 comments total)

I'm not sure if it's okay to answer your question by pointing to a comment on another part of the site, but this seems like a good time to plug this list written up by jwells. It lists organizations which are working in the area and links to pages where you can donate to them. It looks like these groups are all doing good, practical work, not spending donations on TV ads, etc.
posted by eponymouse at 3:02 AM on May 7, 2008

Thanks for the links. I also want to avoid any organisations with a political aim, even if I would otherwise support that aim.
posted by humblepigeon at 3:28 AM on May 7, 2008

We went through this same decision in the 2006 Tsunami. Our vote went to Doctors Without Borders.

posted by Neiltupper at 3:28 AM on May 7, 2008

Looks like Doctors without Borders (known in the UK as Médecins Sans Frontières) is working in Burma.

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=2656
posted by humblepigeon at 3:32 AM on May 7, 2008

nth-ing Médecins Sans Frontières.

See also Giving in Time of Crisis. The phrase that you're after is administrative expenses ratio. Lots more useful information here.

As a side note, can we have a fucking word that GiveWell is linked from the Wiki page for 'Charitable organization.' I would appreciate it if someone involved with the Wiki project sorted this out. Thanks in advance.
posted by dmt at 4:28 AM on May 7, 2008

also Oxfam has a good record of getting in fast with aid, and having a high proportion of aid go to people in need, not administration.
posted by theora55 at 8:28 AM on May 7, 2008

I worked for the last 8 months with World Vision, mostly in relief areas around Africa. I can attest to their legitimacy, and the real change they're making on the ground. They have 580 people already working in Myannmar.

That said, you give to any org, and you have administrative costs. I've bitched about people using this as an excuse not to give before, however, so I'll just refer you to that instead of pulling out the old soap box.
posted by allkindsoftime at 9:10 AM on May 7, 2008

I personally don't think that any of the money will actually get routed to the victims. Just my two cents.
posted by onepapertiger at 9:36 AM on May 7, 2008

That said, you give to any org, and you have administrative costs. I've bitched about people using this as an excuse not to give before, however, so I'll just refer you to that instead of pulling out the old soap box.

But there have been a few notable incidents of charities spending more on advertising and overhead than aid. The British NSPCC used to spend more on advertising than they did on actually helping kids. Some charities seem to think their purpose is to encourage our collective guilt, than actually get out there and do something to ease the human condition.

Not that I want this to turn into a debate. I've donated to the Medicien Sans Frontiers on the back of Neiltupper's posting and I advise anybody reading this to do the same. There's an option to remain anonymous if you're worried they're going to start bombarding you with begging letters afterwards (another issue with charity giving).
posted by humblepigeon at 10:35 AM on May 7, 2008

(Incidentally, if you donate to the UK Medecine Sans Frontieres site, and you're a British tax payer, you can Gift Aid it; you'll have to sacrifice anonymity but they get quite a bit more.)
posted by humblepigeon at 10:37 AM on May 7, 2008

A good charity will let you designate your funds for program---and your funds will then go to program. They really need to tell you if they have to take 10 or 15 or 20 or more percent for their administration. Give one that you think looks good a call and ask how much of your donation will be going to administration/fundraising/etc...if you don't like the answer or the person doesn't know....then try the next charity. Also, Charity Navigator is often used for evaluating charities...(I'm not entirely sure how great they are).
posted by fieldtrip at 5:14 PM on May 7, 2008

What about Givewell?

Oh wait....
posted by zach4000 at 1:33 PM on May 9, 2008