Haiti: Its effect on me and mobile giving
By Sommer Lally
Photo Credit: American Red Cross
As I write this blog it has been 1 full week since the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti and still I’m struggling to make sense of it all. I have all of these thoughts and feelings swirling in my head and taking up space. Thoughts like:
“We should’ve done more. I should’ve done more. And if we had, would the devastation have been this extreme?”
As I’m sure many do I have feelings of guilt – the disaster has exacerbated the difficulties Haitians already faced and that I did little to help. It pains me to read about the 4 out 5 people in Haiti, prior to the earthquake, living in poverty with poor drinking water, food shortages and little access to education or opportunities for a better life. These are struggles I have never experienced because I was born into a family that I wouldn’t classify as “fortunate” but that always had enough to get by. Of course these guilty thoughts typically turn into anger and justifications.
“Why didn’t someone tell me it was this bad? Maybe I would have done something if I had only known . . .”
The more pictures and footage I see in the media, the more upset I get at the conditions in Haiti prior to the earthquake. I like to tell myself I might have done something about it – whether or not this is actually the case – if I had been more informed about the need. In my perfect world the media would shed more light on such issues/conditions before disaster strikes. With such powerful reach comes an obligation to inform and educate people about critical needs locally, nationally and globally. If we were to grade local TV stations and our national new programs on how well they do this, what do you think the results would be?
“$21 million in Text-to-Give donations! Holy Cow, why can’t we do that?”
At the same time I think about those in our own community facing poverty and their own challenges/obstacles to a better life – how do I, as a fundraiser, learn from the incredible efforts of disaster relief organizations like the American Red Cross? How do I harness that knowledge to raise much-needed funds to meet basic needs and fund important initiatives like Success By 6 and Gheens Bridges to Tomorrow?
In a recent post Joanne Fritz brought up some very good points about how and why mobile giving has been such a successful fundraising/donation tool during this crisis. In particular, I think her point about social media spreading the word and upping the ante with matching donations was right on. But I also think that part of the success has to do with the sense of urgency surrounding the disaster. It’s apparent that the need is there and that it is immediate – the media and disaster relief organizations have been very effective at communicating that need and providing updates on the crisis. This sense of urgency coupled with advances in cell phone technology, social media, and the American Red Cross’ ability to almost immediately implement the campaign resulted in record text-to-give donations in a very short amount of time.
Along the same lines, I think the challenge for us and other non-profits in achieving successful mobile giving results will be in communicating the urgent need for donations. But then again, maybe this obstacle can easily be overcome with a sponsor/corporate donor willing to match donations within a specific period of time. What do you think? Is there a greater obstacle/challenge to running a successful mobile giving campaign? What other ways can we create/communicate the same sense of urgency to potential donors?
I’ve had other thoughts too about how this disaster has brought out generosity in people all over the world and how touched I am by the continued stories of people rescued from the rubble, but I won’t share them all with you today. Instead, I’d like to hear what thoughts you’ve had about the crisis. Are there any that you struggle with?
*United Way’s Response to the Crisis:
- United Way’s role is to support long-term recovery efforts to rebuild lives and infrastructure devastated by the disaster and to address educational, financial and health-related challenges.
- United Way Worldwide members in the Caribbean region have mobilized their staff, volunteer leaders and resources in response and will act in an advisory role to determine the most pressing long-term recovery needs.
- Examples may include access to health care, rebuilding schools and housing, meeting critical basic needs for shelter, food and clothing.
- The United Way Worldwide Disaster Relief fund is accepting donations to assist communities and people whose lives have been devestated by the earthquake. You can make a gift online or make a $5 donation by texting HAITI to UNITED (864833).