Donating money to disaster charities.

[Arlandria]

OK first of all, I do donate when and where I can. I'm far from rich but not poor poor so if I can and I get the chance to help those less fortunate I actually love helping out.

I was sat the other day watching Ross Kemp Extreme Worlds, and he was in Haiti following the earthquake that left millions of people homeless, thousands and thousands killed and a county literally in ruins.

January 12, 2011 was the 1 year anniversary of the earthquake and still people are living in 'temporary' tents, struggling to get clean water and a very low percentage of 'clean up' has happened. Bodies were still left in the rubble, rotting as nothing had been done.

At the moment they are trying to undergo a new presidential election but it has been delayed/cancelled a few times due to fraud. The government fraud, obviously wanting a certain person to win etc. This is going to be a little set back for getting things on the go but surely something more should have been done by now!?

So it made me think: Where does our donation go? What's the breakdown?

There's admin costs, workers want paying - yes I know all this. But Haiti has had OVER £5 BILLION in donation. Who's bank is that sitting in? Whats been done so far?

How much would it actually cost to get a country back on its feet (not perfect or like before but better than it is now?)

Same with New Zealand, Japan and other we donate for - WHERE DOES OUR MONEY GO? Is it right?

Does this change your views on donating?

I must admit, it infuriates me a little...

So, you're views

(Ps sorry its long)

 

[lesleyann]

I think alot of the money goes to fee's and paying for workers to be sent out there to help, also in places like Hati where their own goverment is corrupt loads of it is lost there which makes it almost worthless donating money, it would be much better to donate time and items like sending food/seeds/tents/wood/wood cutters/nails/ piping for water wells ect

 

[Arlandria]

Yeah I agree. But sometimes they need money to build etc

But when you say the money goes on fee's and paying people to go over there and help, by god, 5 billion is an awful lot of money. What are they doing? We pay just for admin, then whats the point?

XX

 

[lesleyann]

Yeah I agree. But sometimes they need money to build etc

But when you say the money goes on fee's and paying people to go over there and help, by god, 5 billion is an awful lot of money. What are they doing? We pay just for admin, then whats the point?

XX

If you think we say fly 500 aid workers over their plan tickets could for example cost £200 each thats £100,000 not much out of 5billion but its alot. When we send say 1000 tents for emergency acom even cheap cheap £20 tents thats still £20,000, its all the small costs blankets,pans to cook food in, bottles of water. But i think re-thinking it the most proberly went straight into the pockets of the corrupt govt, also Tv adverts for these charitys i mean advertising is in no way what so ever cheap.

 

[Every Rose]

Yeah I agree. But sometimes they need money to build etc

But when you say the money goes on fee's and paying people to go over there and help, by god, 5 billion is an awful lot of money. What are they doing? We pay just for admin, then whats the point?

XX

If you think we say fly 500 aid workers over their plan tickets could for example cost £200 each thats £100,000 not much out of 5billion but its alot. When we send say 1000 tents for emergency acom even cheap cheap £20 tents thats still £20,000, its all the small costs blankets,pans to cook food in, bottles of water. But i think re-thinking it the most proberly went straight into the pockets of the corrupt govt, also Tv adverts for these charitys i mean advertising is in no way what so ever cheap.

That's true and some of those adverts run twice in the same ad break, every ad break.

My mum donated two weeks wages to the tsunami disaster fund and then they were saying they had too much money and wanted people to stop donating.

The people of Haiti broke my heart. There were a group of elderly, mentally ill people just lying on the street under a canvas, not even a tent. They were confused and crying and didn't know why they weren't at home anymore. I can't stand to think that all this time later they are still there on that street. But most likely they have all died.

They had no medicine and hardly anyone left to care.

If we don't donate then they won't get help. If we do and it's stolen by a corrupt government then they won't get help. If it's spent on admin then they might be getting help.

I personally would rather give and hope.

But I don't know what to make of our government donating when our country is in a financial mess so I think personal donations from the public rather than government ones are best.

 

[KaceysMummy]

I do everything I can to give to the 'less fortunate'
But I only ever do so through my local church as I know its definitely going to people in need and it also doesn't get taxed!
It does annoy me a little watching children in need and comic relief the amount of celebrities which could donate so much more than us - I do know they do their best to help and helping raise money - but look at the many football players and singers which get millions in their pay packets each month - am sure they wouldn't miss a small percentage of their wage, meaning the money towards these charities would/could be so much more...
However I do think most of the money goes to the corrupt government and on other costs such as tax, wages and advertisements. x

 

[Laura2919]

I dont donate much. I donated £2 to Comic Relief because the twins wanted a Red Nose each. I didnt donate to Haiti, Pakistan floods or Japan. I do however donate to charities that are close to my heart. Yes people must be thinking God she is heartless but in my opinion so much of that money goes to things and people it shouldnt, our Government has a massive deficit but can still afford to send money over to countries that need them so thats my input. I dont personally care what people think about me and my reasons behind not donating. I donate to Children in Need, Bliss and Dementia charities when I can.
These celebs should give a bit more of their money! In my opinion they sit there pleading on the TV for us to give money when I bet they didnt donate much at all.

 

[Arlandria]

Some interesting points made here

I agree about the annoying celeb pleading - how much do they actually give themselves I wonder? x

 

[Laura2919]

Probably just the wages they would of been paid to present/host or plead for us to donate which is not much considering how much they make in a year.

 

[Blah11]

IDK why huge charities like cancer research waste money on advertising. EVERYONE knows they exsist Same with red cross really. I donate to a few more local charities when I can and I donate to smaller charities via payroll (£5 a week comes out my wage so its untaxed). I generally don't donate to things liek RSPCA and great ormond street as they dont help Scottish animals or children.

 

[Every Rose]

IDK why huge charities like cancer research waste money on advertising. EVERYONE knows they exsist Same with red cross really. I donate to a few more local charities when I can and I donate to smaller charities via payroll (£5 a week comes out my wage so its untaxed). I generally don't donate to things liek RSPCA and great ormond street as they dont help Scottish animals or children.

Really? I thought as a hospital they would admit any child who needed their help. How sad that they don't.

We have regular direct debits for an asthma charity (DH's grandad died from the condition) and Bliss (for premature babies). I think most people donate to charities that have a meaning for them or their families but nobody can give to every charity.

I do wonder about the celebrities. I know that some of them earn a lot of money and all of them must earn more than me. But nobody is rich enough that they can single handedly support a charity and make things like Comic Relief unnecessary.

Perhaps they could give more than they do but that's possibly true of all of us. I think I give a lot to charity, but if I gave up on some stuff we buy or use at home I could give a lot more.

 

[Blah11]

IDK why huge charities like cancer research waste money on advertising. EVERYONE knows they exsist Same with red cross really. I donate to a few more local charities when I can and I donate to smaller charities via payroll (£5 a week comes out my wage so its untaxed). I generally don't donate to things liek RSPCA and great ormond street as they dont help Scottish animals or children.

Really? I thought as a hospital they would admit any child who needed their help. How sad that they don't.

We have regular direct debits for an asthma charity (DH's grandad died from the condition) and Bliss (for premature babies). I think most people donate to charities that have a meaning for them or their families but nobody can give to every charity.

I do wonder about the celebrities. I know that some of them earn a lot of money and all of them must earn more than me. But nobody is rich enough that they can single handedly support a charity and make things like Comic Relief unnecessary.

Perhaps they could give more than they do but that's possibly true of all of us. I think I give a lot to charity, but if I gave up on some stuff we buy or use at home I could give a lot more.

Its just the way it is. The very sick children up here go to Yorkhill in Glasgow but they don't get anywhere near as much money so obv don't have as much great equipment. Its not fair but thats the way the cookie crumbles. I'm sure if a child had a condition that couldn't be managed up here, they would go to great ormond street though, just generally not.

 

[PeanutBean]

Are you sure your figures are right Cassandra? I haev found this link:
https://www.dec.org.uk/item/484
The DEC are the usual coordinators of international fundraising following disaster in developing countries. Here they say they received £106million and this link shows a breakdown of where the money has gone. There are other links too.

As for how much does it cost to rebuild a country, well of Japan is highly developed but I've heard figures in the region of £150bn.

I totally get why it irritates people to see TV advertising for big charities but they simply wouldn't do it if it didn't bring in an overall profit through new donations. Same as the mass mailings with free pens and things. TV time is quite expensive but the mailings really aren't.

I give regularly to Oxfam and Amnesty. I give one-off to appeals such as in Haiti and Japan and sometimes special appeals from Amnesty. I'll also give small amounts to collection boxes for more local causes and will sponsor friends if they are doing something to raise money. I've coordinated a very humble little fundraising event for the Marine Conservation Society as that is an issue close to my heart.

 

[Arlandria]

Not done a thorough search on the net but I got my info from this vid. Wouldnt have thought they'd lie about such things? Its worth a watch for sure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXYNmZtwCwQ

 

[PeanutBean]

Sorry not watching the vid tonight as it's bedtime! . Thinking about it I suppose there might bs money given in other ways and to other organisations. Perhaps the lesson is to only give to DEC in such circumstances so you can track it to an extent!

 

[Arlandria]

Yeah good point

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I saw that and it was shocking does make you wonder.

I donate to chairtys that help overseas but I donate MORE for uk ones first.

I dont donate to anything on a regular basis BUT I do donate pretty often.

My main chairtys is autism related ones but I also help and support with CRY, downs syndrome, Race for life, scope.

 

[lynnikins]

Well after being in Christchurch 24 hours post quake (feb 23rd)when the ground was still shaking every other hour or so and seeing the devestation first hand then supplies were needed more than money, they needed places for people to stay since the entire hotel district was off limits and still is and they needed porta-loos and chemical toilets and food and water as all the shops were closed for a few days and not everyone had that kind of supplies avalible. now a month on they need the money to rebuild and restart the city's economy because so many people have lost jobs and their places of work it really will take a while for the city to recover but thanks to higher building codes then the quake destroyed way less than in Haiti.

I try to do what i can on our limited budget i support several charitys close to my heart that i know are actually doing some good in the world rather than just the big name charities where they are having to spend money on advertising and paying people to door knock to solicit donations from me. I also have a sponser child and i know that by supporting him im supporting not only his imediate family but his extended family as well. i feel heartless not donating to big telethons events sometimes but i wont loose sleep over it. id rather right now be sending money to my friend and family in NZ to make sure they can afford food for their kids while they arent able to work or dont have jobs than give it to a charity where im not sure its even gonna get to the right place

 

[Arlandria]

Its a difficult subject really, as I am not telling anyone not to donate, I mean the more the better right?

But I suppose it just shocks me not knowing where our money is actually going

 

[bathbabe]

I dont donate to disaster charities, i dont know why tbh, i just dont. I do however always put my spare change into the mcdonalds charity boxes (for parent rooms at hospitals) as my parents had to use one when my sister was seriously ill and on life support. I have also helped fundraise for an e.coli charity which my parents got support from when my sister was ill. I regularly shop in charity shops. I suppose i give what i can when i can, but im not made of money. X