Haiti relief groups grateful for burst of donations but worry about long-term dropoff

Pace of giving slows a bit for Haiti relief effort

NEW YORK — In the three weeks since a catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti, the American public has donated more than $644 million for relief efforts — yet already there’s concern that the generosity will fade even as dire needs persist.

“It could be that it’s just too hard for people to contemplate all the money that’s needed for Haiti and do all the things needed for the American economy at the same time,” said Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

“In the immediate aftermath, were fundraisers even necessary?” she said. “Now it does seem to be slowing down. It’s going to be a real test for the charities to make a compelling case to give.”

As of Wednesday, according to a running tally by the Chronicle, private donations to major organizations engaged in Haiti relief totaled $644 million — roughly on pace with some other big disasters of the recent past.

Patrick Rooney, executive director of Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy, said the three-week total surpassed the pace for the 2004 Asian tsunami, ran slightly behind the pace after the 9/11 terror attacks and was well behind the flow of donations after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005.

Long-term, donations in response to those disasters kept growing for many months — reaching $1.9 billion for the tsunami, $2.8 billion for 9/11 and more than $5 billion for Katrina and other Gulf Coast hurricanes, according to the philanthropy center’s calculations.

Whether Haiti’s plight inspires a comparable commitment from donors is a question preoccupying relief officials.

“There’s uncertainty,” said Randy Strash, strategic director for emergency response with the relief group World Vision. “We’ve been able to respond lightning-fast for the emergency phase. But for the reconstruction phase, where we rely a lot on major donor gifts, we won’t know yet for another two or three months how big that will get.”

Strash said World Vision thus far has raised $22.7 million in cash for its Haiti efforts, including $15.2 million given online — slightly ahead of its pace in the wake of the tsunami. Now World Vision is waiting to see the response to slower-moving, traditional tactics — like mailed solicitations that may not be answered and tallied for many more weeks.

“We don’t know if people’s giving patterns have changed,” Strash said. “If there’s just an online giving burst that dries up — and corporations and foundations are reluctant to commit because of the recession — that’s going to hurt reconstruction.”

Another big recipient has been Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services, which as of Wednesday has received $37.5 million — just behind its pace for the tsunami.

Mark Melia, the organization’s deputy vice president for charitable giving, said the big question mark now was how generous Catholics have been during special collections for Haiti conducted at most of the 19,000 parishes in the U.S.

Out of the $163 million that CRS raised for tsunami relief, nearly half came from the parishes, he said.

About $231 million of the U.S. public’s donations — more than one-third of the total — has gone to the American Red Cross, including a record-shattering $31 million donated by text messages.

“The pace is slowing — no question about it,” said Red Cross spokesman Roger Lowe. “But we’re still seeing significant interest in Haiti … We’re going to be there for the long haul.”

Seeking to avoid problems that arose over its response to 9/11 and Katrina, the Red Cross has strived this time to provide detailed updates on how donations are being used. So far, the focus on been on short-term emergency relief. The charity said about 70 percent of the $78 million committed so far has been for food and water and 20 percent for shelter.

Stacy Palmer said all the relief organizations need to present a convincing case to Americans that donations for Haiti will be needed for years to come.

“It’s going to be pretty phenomenal amounts that people are going to pitch for,” she said. “Something has to happen to keep it on top of people’s minds — or they turn back to their own world.”

As generous as Americans have been toward Haiti, they have competition. The Canadian Red Cross says it has raised nearly $90 million in private donations for Haiti — more per capita for Canada’s 33 million people than the $628 million donated by Americans from a nation of 303 million people.

On the Net:

List of some Haiti relief groups: www.interaction.org/crisis-list/earthquake-haiti