Tips for donating to cyclone relief

A note from Simon Billenness, co-chair of the board of directors of the U.S. Campaign for Burma: http://uscampaignforburma.org/ follows:

I've been working on this almost full-time since the cyclone struck. It's been a crash course for me in humanitarian relief in Burma. Here is what I've learned.

1. It is best to give donation to small NGOs. The big NGOs (Red Cross, World Vision, etc.) have big publicity machines and are likely not hurting for donations. We should give our "smart money" to the most effective small NGOs who devote their money solely for relief and spend little to no money on fundraising overhead.

2. It is best to give to NGOs who were on the ground prior to the cyclone. They are experienced with Burma, already have a network of Burmese partners, and know how to best bypass the regime's stealing and corruption.

3. Donate to political action as well as relief. The problem is not that there is insufficient aid. Aid is already piling up on the borders. The real problems is that the Burmese military regime is taking control of aid deliveries and diverting it to feed the army. (The regime is scared that their own troops are hungry and have weapons. The generals fear mutinies and even a large-scale insurrection.) The regime is also refusing access to the affected regions by aid workers and journalists. It will take political pressure on the regime to force them to let in the aid. That requires funding the organizations that are organizing the most effective political pressure.

Regarding aid, I do recommend Thirst Aid, which was inside Burma pre-cyclone and has already been delivering water purification tablets. (Thirst Aid is a small NGO run by a couple of experienced Burma aid activists in Oregon and has very little overhead.) www.thirst-aid.org

Foundation for the People of Burma was established by Hal Nathan, a San Francisco money manager and, I believe, Buddhist. This group has worked through monasteries inside Burma for several years. http://www.foundationburma.org/

Avaaz.org has raised a lot of money. Big kudos to them. But Avaaz does not have the contacts inside in Burma so they are distributing their money to the smaller groups that have.

Other organizations that I know and personally vouch for:

Burma Lifeline: http://www.burmalifeline.org/

Burma Border Projects: http://www.burmaborderprojects.org

Disclaimer: I am Co-chair of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Campaign for Burma.

The U.S. Campaign for Burma is raising money that people can earmark for relief. These funds are being passed though 100%. I cannot go into detail about the groups inside Burma to which we are directly sending the money. If the regime learned that we were giving money to those organizations, they would very likely steal the money and put the people in prison.

I would also recommend donations for the political work of the U.S. Campaign for Burma, Burma Campaign UK, and Canadian Friends of Burma. These do the most effective work in lobbying the United Nations, U.S. government and Congress as well as the European Union and its member governments.

http://www.uscampaignforburma.org
http://www.cfob.org
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/