Dollars and Sense

I have concerns that people, in their zeal to see Tsunami-related relief efforts receive "every dime" of their contribution, will forego the usual "big" charities, such as Red Cross, Unicef, et al, and donate funds instead to smaller, more independent organizations.

While I applaud the passion that inspires said zeal, I find myself hoping they come to the realization that this is not the wise choice, and is, in fact, naive.

It seems the concern is that larger organizations will be required to use a portion of the proceeds to pay for their overhead. And this perception is true. They will--about 20%.

But they are professionals, and for that, they should be paid.

Many of them, in civil war-torn Sri Lanka, for example, will be putting their lives in harm's way in order to help these people. Professionals know the risk. Better than that, they know how to stay safe.

This relief effort is unlike any ever encountered by any organization. Ever. The logistics alone are baffling to people behind the United Nations, and they are the people who are better at this than anyone. The UN, of course, took days to figure out where the hell to start, aside from asking for contributions and saying water and sanitation was needed. After all, the destruction is so all-encompassing that transportation of any kind is virtually useless, aside from helicopters.

Now, even more daunting factors are further complicating this picture (superstitions, psychological issues, civil strife). There are far too many such issues to expect some small organization--concerned, passionate, and earnest, no doubt, but small--to even have a hope of navigating the hell that has been left after the high waters of the tsunami. It's just not going to happen.

I wish everyone who wanted to help, could. The reality is, it's just not possible. In fact, the Thai government has now begun requesting that families of foreign victims stay out of the country whilst relief efforts are underway. (It seems we're moving through both the rescue and recovery phases and on to relief and reconstruction.)

This is a global tragedy. Most of us want to respond. Hell, many of us would like to go there and physically do something. But we can't. That area is being taxed enough with both incoming relief-delivery flights and workers without having to worry about putting up more people who, in all honesty, will essentially only be further taxing the region.

This is why we have large charities that have survived for more than a century on the basis of their good deeds and their name. They are professionals. For them, even, this will be a challenge of no compare. But let's leave it to them.

Donate your money where you know it will do the most good. Understand that overhead is necessary for professionalism; but also understand that with that professionalism comes greater proficiency and a better fiscal management of practical relief, and ultimately, more help given and more lives saved.

[Ed. Note: A news report has just shown shipments of peppers, loaves of bread, and more perishables, all coming into the affected nations. Noble thought, but virtually useless, and due to red tape, delivery troubles, and logistics, most of it never reaches the victims. Again: There's a reason there's overhead--so these virtually useless contributions don't tie up crucial man hours and resources.]