What's happens to money donated for Haiti disaster relief?

Ever wonder what happens to the money you donate for disaster relief? We like to hear that all of the proceeds will go to benefit the victims of the disaster. Of course there are always administrative costs and overhead, but we don't want our donated funds to be paying big salaries to charity directors or padding the pockets of the people who run the charities. Some of them are professionals who do nothing but raise funds and are paid for their services. They are good at what they do and if  paying them to run fund raisers ends up yielding more money than would have been raised without them, then it was worth the investment. But just like bank salaries or bankers bonuses, there is a limit to what what is considered fair and reasonable compensation. A charitable organization doesn't seem so charitable when the people who run it are getting very wealthy from it.

Before donating money it's always good to check into the organization before sending the check, to make sure that the ratio between the amount donated and the amount taken by the charity is reasonable. After great disasters like the Haiti quake, there is a flood of charitable efforts ready to accept our donations. Most are set up by well intentioned individuals and organizations, but some are outright scams. The donations need to be made quickly so one doesn't have alot time to research the organization who are requesting donations. Many of them just pop up and there is now way of verifying that they are legitimate.

If the church you belong to asks for donations for disaster relief then you know who is running the charity. But where does the money go after it is collected by the church? Does someone from the church oversee how the money is spent?Is it directed to a larger relief organization, or is it used to purchase supplies that will be sent down?

There's a;ot that has to happen with the funds after it is collected but who's in charge, is it being used appropriately and can you be sure that it really is providing any benefit to the victims?

After the Bangaladesh disater, George Harrisons concert for Bangaladesh raised a record breaking sum of money, but it took years before any of those funds were actually used to benefit the victim. Much of it was bled off for administrative and legal costs.

Donating money to a known charity like the Red Cross, or to a very high profile fund raising effort from reputable and reliable sources increases the likelyhood that the money will be used for it's intended purpose.

Some donations will be used to buy supplies that are sent to the disaster zone, some used to pay for sending and supporting specialists to the scene.

And some will be sent as direct cash donations to the local organization and governemt. Thats where things become really dicey.

Yahoo reports curruption in Haiti.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100126/wl_nm/us_quake_haiti_corruption

Given the history of corruption in Haiti, it's not surprising that aid money would be skimmed off by corrupt Haitian officials . This only underscores the need for coordinated relief efforts. Since much relief money would be sent to third world countries where there is less oversight and government corruption runs rampant, the likelyhood that some, if not alot of that money would not be used for it's intended purpose. This is the risk of sending direct cash payments.

When dealing with a disaster of this scope, where the government is in disarray, there is greater opportunity for corrupt officlas to pocket the money with notice. All funds should be provided with a provision that there be outside oversight of where the money goes to and how it is used. Foreign aid should have the same provisions.

This is something that a disaster relief command like I have proposed could handle. Through oversight of the command, the donated funds can be directed to where it needs to be and officials could observe how the money is spent to assure that it is used for it's intended purpose. Recipient countries would have to agree to this oversight in order to receive direct donations of cash.

It would be difficult for any private organization to do this but a large international organization with protocols and procedures set in place would be able to handle the flow of money. Private donators can set stipulations on how and where they want their funds to go, but sometimes private donators don't really know what is really needed on the scene and could be advised by those who know. In situation like that in Haiti, we know that they need everything, food, water, clothing, shelters,medical supplies doctors and rescue crews. But when the donations are just made willy nilly without any coordination, there might be too much of one item and not enough of the other. Then money is wasted and the all the needs of rthe victims are not being met.

While there will be administrative costs to coordination the distribution of funds, it ultimately saves money by making certain that the right kind of assistance get to the places where is is needed.

There have been reports from Haiti of some areas getting more food than they need while others don't get enough. In some cases the excess is taken by profiteers who sell them on the black market, while others on the others side of town are still going hungry.

Greater international coordination and cooperation are needed so that donations and foreign aid can best serve the victims in need. If there were more coordination then we would not be hearring these reports from Haiti of slow responses, imbalances in relief supply distributions and corruption.

This coordination needs to be in place and ready to spring into action before disaster happens and not haphazardly put together in reponse.