wanderbug

With so many calls to action for all the various emergencies and natural disasters we face, what’s the best way to help?

Of course, the best way to go about things is to tackle the root of the problem. In Sendong’s case, I suppose it would be proper infrastructure and garbage disposal, clear evacuation procedures, so on and so forth. But when faced with an emergency, here are a couple of suggestions with regard to making contributions and doing our part to help others in need:

1. Donate cash where possible. Gifts in kind are appreciated, but as GIKs go, they’re a logistical nightmare to dispatch and distribute from a different point of origin. To be cost-effective, shipping can take a couple of weeks — even more in inclement weather, which might then be too late — and donating in cash allows greater flexibility for the steward organization to make purchases of items for which there is a greater need.

Also, these are steward organizations, not exactly masters of managing supply chains the way major corporations purveying, say, FMCGs, would be. I can only imagine the time and labor spent accounting for all goods which may or may not have been declared, wasting precious time — after all, emergencies, by definition, require immediate action. That said,

2. If you’re donating in kind, label your goods. Even indicating quantity is a big help. Be precise.

3. Don’t donate anonymously. This can seem counter-intuitive, but donating anonymously helps a steward organization live out its financial accountability. By posting your donation under your own account, you’re helping the organization’s posting and monitoring of donations. All “anonymous” donations get pooled under one account, and in the event of a financial discrepancy, it would be extremely difficult to tell from which specific donation that discrepancy came. In addition, by posting a donation under your own account / name, you’d be better equipped to keep track of where the money was spent within that organization, and to which end.

On second thought, this may not necessarily be a post about “the best way” to help — I suppose these are suggestions to optimize what we’re doing. I’ve enabled answers in this post because tips are always welcome in this regard.