Technology is a Key Factor in Haiti Disaster Relief Donations

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by Tim Wu

In the 48 hours since a devastating earthquake ripped through Haiti, the American Red Cross has received over $35 million in donations - more than $5 million of which came through text messaging, setting a new record for the Red Cross for mobile technology-based giving.

The Haiti disaster has created a paradigm shift in how people donate to emergency needs, perhaps for the reason that people are using the technology anyway, so making donations in this manner is easy and fast.  Hundreds of thousands of people have donated by text-messaging. Disaster relief organizations set up a system whereby a donor can text a code word such as "Haiti" to a designated phone number, automatically making a $5 or $10  cash contribution that will be added to his or her phone bill.   The Haitian American musician Wyclef Jean's foundation reports that it is receiving 10,000 donation texts an hour.

Technological innovation is appearing in every aspect of the Haiti Relief Effort.  Oprah Winfrey and other celebrities have created public service announcements for viral replication on social networking sites, asking people to give.  GlobalGiving has received a large percentage of its donations though Twitter.   Facebook is generating a great deal of money for Oxfam America.  President Bill Clinton's foundation announced that it will launch a text-based fundraising campaign today.  American Airlines is offering frequent flier miles to those who donate to the relief effort through the American Airlines site  (American is also participating in the non-virtual relief effort as well, by providing aircraft to carry supplies, food, and medical equipment to Haiti).

However, as with every disaster relief effort, there are unscrupulous people and entities seeking to take advantage of charitable intentions.  The FBI has already issued warnings for potential donoars to look out for  potential scams. Fake web sites have popped up overnight, and false text-messaging codes are common. Other "grey area" tactics, often found in more traditional disaster relief scams, are happening here as well.  For instance, a site may state that it is accepting donations, but not specify what percentage of funds received will actually go directly towards charitable efforts - thereby allowing the charity's operations to divert large amounts of money to overhead, salaries, etc.

If you want to make a donation to support Haiti relief efforts, it is best to take a few minutes at first to ensure that your donation is leveraged in the best way possible.  Some suggestions for doiing so include:

- Check out web sites such as Charity Navigator, which screen for and then post  lists of organizations with low overhead costs and a proven commitment to Haiti.

- Donate to established organizations with a known capacity for large-scale disaster relief, such as the Red Cross or Oxfam.

- Read the ongoing traffic on sites such as Twitter or Facebook to see if people are reporting problems or scamming issues with alleged charitable organizations.

- Contact your local community foundation, United Way, or Red Cross affiliate for referrals of reputable local Haitian-affiliated organizations, if you don't want to give to one of the larger national umbrella organizations

- Check back here on the ZeroDivide site for links to ongoing relief effort donation sites.