Oct 19, 2006

Giving in the Wake of a Disaster Means Money Arrives Too Late

by Laura Starita

Donors give vast sums yearly to help the victims of disasters such as Katrina, the Asian tsunami or the Pakistani earthquake. Yet increasingly, nonprofits are saying donations made in the immediate aftermath of a disaster do very little to help afflicted communities: victims need food, water and medical help immediately, not months later when the supplies purchased with donated dollars arrive. As a result, Reuters reports, Doctor’s Without Borders is suggesting changes in the way nonprofits ask for money, and in the way donors give.

One alternate approach for donors is to give a fixed percentage of income and assets every year, suggests NewTithing Group, a nonprofit founded by retired money manager Claude Rosenberg. The organization provides financial planning tools that help people incorporate comfortable giving into their financial plan. Profiled in The New York Times, NewTithing Group also publishes reports analyzing who the most generous Americans are by income bracket; interestingly, they aren’t always the very rich.

People should be encouraged to give as much as they can consistently, and in that way NewTithing does good work. But deciding how much to give cannot overshadow what money is given for.

Reuters: Dont Ask, Don’t Give

New York Times: Philanthropy From the Heart of America

NewTithing Group