How to Give to Haiti?

Might I suggest http://www.shelterbox.org.

This is run by volunteers, is privately owned and managed, has very low overheads and is backed by a world wide organization with a history of getting things done. Shelterbox has showed its mettle recently in Samoa and in very many other disaster areas around the world.

What’s wrong with PIH? Their medical facilities in Haiti weren’t damaged much by the earthquake (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/opinion/14kidder.html) so they’re up and running. They’re also pretty efficient:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4884

A list of some organizations helping out in Haiti:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=1004

What’s your objection to Partners in Health (one of Tyler’s recommendations)? They’ve worked in Haiti for many years and according to independent observers they do it pretty well.

At a friend’s suggestion (he’s had numerous experiences with this charity), I gave to Food for the Poor.

Catholic Relief Services. They were in-country (with 300 staff) before the earthquake and they have a big staff in the DR so they can hit the ground running. Also, an overwhelming majority of Haitians are Catholic so the relationships already exist.

I’m a big fan of the Salvation Army. I prefer it to Red Cross, but I’m sure they are both out there doing good.

MercyCorps’ mission statement was attractive:

“No one is more motivated or better equipped to create change than the person whose life and future is at stake.”

This kind of decentralized approach caught my eye.

I second the suggestion of Catholic Relief Services. They already had 300+ staff present at the time of the quake and have been established there for the past 50 or so years.

Thanks, all. The fact that Tom Palmer recommended Vente de Liberte was the deciding factor. Generally, he pays a lot of attention to these kinds of international organizations. So I don’t vouch that it’s a good charity, but Tom Palmer does and, given the cost of getting more information, that’s enough for me. So that’s whom I’ve donated to.

LDS Philanthropies–The LDS Church pays all overhead, so 100% of your donation goes to emergency relief. LDS.org

I used Red Cross.

You have interesting topic for following months – the reaction of governments vs non-profit organizations vs for-profit organizations vs private individuals.

Hi, David.

Here’s a slightly different twist for your question. You say:

I want to do it this week.

Why do it now? Why not wait to see how things shake out over the course of the next few weeks or months?

There does seem to have been an immediate and substantial outpouring of financial aid, both by governments and individuals. I’d be surprised to hear that it is used up already, committed to clear projects, or that there is even any immediate urgency for more at the moment. Putting to good use the financial resources is probably almost as temporarily stymied as with the physical resources.

If you truly are committed, why not wait a few weeks or months till the inflow of financial aid slacks off and send it then?

There is a natural and wonderful instinct to want to offer help to the desperate immediately. That is when we feel most helpless and most compassionate. But is the help we offer in that moment to assuage our own empathies or actually providing immediate help?

I hate to be a curmudgeon; but in addition to being incredibly grateful for all the governments and legitimate agencies that have leapt in–on the spot providing true relief as well as they could given the extent of the disaster and infrastructural handicaps–I’m a bit troubled somewhere in the back of my mind by agencies’ and governments’ collecting large caches of aid money. Every government and every private agency that has leapt in has its own reasons. That’s a good thing! Those incentives are what matter, what make the competitive process work to accomplish humanitarian goals in such dire times. But there is a power vacuum in Haiti that is going to get filled by hook or by crook. It worries me that it will be filled by new rent-seekers replacing the existing rent-seeking Haitian government. Unless I can give millions, I probably cannot influence the way that pans out even at the margins.

I, too, want to give money to Haiti and its desperate populace. And I probably will give through a private agency. But if I truly want to give to the people of Haiti, my choice is to take the responsibility to shephard my desire and compassion so that they last a few months and are not distracted by other disasters that may happen or other desires for charitable uses of my money. And by waiting, I’ll also be able to glean more information about which agencies are using money–and the power they’ve acquired by having it–wisely.

I gave to http://www.HeartswithHaiti.org. I assume that Red Cross, Salvation Army, Doctors Without Borders, Catholic Relief, etc. are all relatively well-funded through large-scale donations and corporate matches.

Hearts with Haiti is one of many local charities that have been devastated and desperately need funds. This particular charity provides room, board, and education for orphans and handicapped children. The people in charge are capable and honest.

Rotary International, with 1.2 million members in over 200 countries and geographical areas around the world, has proven time and time again that its has the means, manpower and stewardship to deliver help to people in need. It was Rotary through its ShelterBox program that was one of the first on the ground in Haiti. And appropriately, the Haitian government chose one of its Rotarians to be in charge of aid efforts.