2008 Cyclone Nargis of Myanmar Burma. Aid, Relief, Recovery at IMEplace

The Shortcut Directory
.

u u u

Search: Google · msn Search · Yahoo! Search

.
Participating aid organizations, governmental agencies and departments, and Shortcut Directory partners: Log in here.
.

.
Cyclone Nargis, 2008, Myanmar/Burma
.

.
"How can I help?"

The aid agencies and organizations on this page are reputable and effective. Visit them for advice. They'll give you general guidelines and/or specific instructions on how you can help the victims survive and recover from the horrible and far-reaching devastation to their home.
.

Watchdog Websites:
Charity Navigator | CharityWatch.org | Give.org

Learn about Efficiency Ratings vs. Effectiveness

UK = United Kingdom
UN = United Nations
US = United States

... Action Against Hunger
... ActionAid International
... Adventist Development & Relief Agency International
... American Friends Service Committee
... American Jewish World Service
... American Red Cross
... AmeriCares
... Architecture for Humanity
... AusAID
... Baptist World Aid
... B'nai B'rith International
... Canadian International Development Agency
... CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief
Everywhere)
... Catholic Relief Services
... Christian Children's Fund
... Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
... Church World Service
... Direct Relief International
... Doctors Without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontieres
... Episcopal Relief & Development
... Food for Life Global
... GOAL
... Habitat for Humanity International
... Human Relief Fund
... International Medical Corps
... International Orthodox Christian Charities
... International Red Cross and Red Crescent
... International Relief Teams
... International Rescue Committee
... Islamic Relief

... Lutheran World Relief
... Medical Assistance Programs (MAP) International
... Mercy Corps
... Muslim Hands
... Network for Good
... Oxfam (Oxford Committee for Famine Relief)
International
... Presbyterian Church (USA)
... Project Hope
... Relief International
... ReliefWeb
... Salvation Army
... Samaritan's Purse
... Save the Children
... UK Department for International Development
... UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees)
... UNICEF (UN Internationa... United Way
... USA Freedom Corps
... USAID (US Agency for International Development)
... WFP (World Food Programme, United Nations)
... World Hope International
... World Relief
... World Vision

Cyclone News: .

       ... BBC News World Edition
       ... Google
       ... Yahoo!
       ... Other major news sources

General Information:

... Reference.com
... Yahoo!

For the help you've already provided, thank you.

Search: Google · msn Search · Yahoo! Search

Efficiency Ratings vs. Effectiveness

On the whole, ratings are a good thing. But when choosing charities to which you're going to donate money, be aware that the efficiency ratings assigned to charities by watchdog groups can be misleading. More important is a charity's effectiveness in getting aid to victims.

For example, Charity A may dedicate 95% of received donations to direct material aid and only 5% to administration and fundraising, which is supposedly a good efficiency rating. But a good efficiency rating means nothing if 5% isn't enough money to get the other 95% to victims where and when they need it. The 95% has to be not only raised to begin with, but properly administered, properly managed. Otherwise it simply sits in Charity A's bank account, perhaps collecting interest, but definitely not providing water, food, medicine, clothing, shelter, counselling, and other aid to the victims, immediately and directly.

Charity B, on the other hand, may dedicate 20% of your donation to administration and fundraising, but that 20% may very well be competently, efficiently providing the other 80% of your donation to victims within a day after you've given it, or even within hours, in the form of water, food, medicine, clothing, shelter, counselling, and other aid. Charity B's so-called efficiency rating by a watchdog group may not be as good as Charity A's, but Charity B is a much more effective provider of aid. And, arguably, the more effective an aid group is, the more efficient it actually is, too, watchdog ratings and their definitions notwithstanding.

Take Oxfam, for example (with which we have no affiliation, by the way). You may look at efficiency ratings for Oxfam and scratch your head skeptically. Yet Oxfam is clearly and provably among the best relief-and-recovery aid organizations in the world, and it has been for decades.

Therefore, don't automatically dismiss charities because their so-called efficiency ratings don't appear as good as others'. Judge them also by their histories, reputations, and overall effectiveness. Finding out what's an effective, reputable charity is homework quickly and easily done. There are an awful lot of terrific aid organizations doing wonderful and effective work even though they don't meet the standards of what Watchdog Agency X or Watchdog Organization Y considers efficient.
.

Search: Google · msn Search · Yahoo! Search