USAID's Guide to Effective Giving

The most efficient and effective way to help those affected by a disaster overseas is to make a monetary donation to a humanitarian organization that is implementing relief programs in the affected region. There are a few different ways to go about identifying such organizations:

• USAID may have a list on its website. Check USAID's home page to see if the particular disaster is listed in the "FEATURES" section. If it is, click on the link, and then look for the "How Can I Help?" box.
  
• InterAction, an association of non-profit humanitarian organizations, may have a list of responding members on its website. Check InterAction Members Respond: How You Can Help to see if the particular disaster is listed.
  
• The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) maintains a website called ReliefWeb, which is a repository of information, listed by disaster, submitted by responding humanitarian organizations.

Monetary Donations

Monetary donations are the most effective form of assistance because they allow humanitarian organizations to purchase (often within the affected region itself) the exact type and quantity of items needed by those affected by the crisis. Read about the advantages of monetary donations…

Commodity Contributions

While monetary donations are preferred to commodity contributions, there may be rare instances when a commodity contribution would be of value to relief operations.

• See a list of conditions which are necessary to ensure that a commodity contribution is appropriate…
  
• Read about handling appropriate commodity contributions…
  
• If a commodity collection has already been made, but there are problems identifying a need in the affected region for the commodities or an organization to accept them, read about some alternate ideas…

A Donations Message from the Humanitarian Community

View or listen to a message from the humanitarian community about the best way you can help those affected by an overseas disaster...

Volunteering

Volunteer opportunities in disaster settings are extremely rare, and are usually limited to people with prior disaster experience and technical skills (such as health, engineering, etc). To register your skills and experience for a possible volunteer opportunity, go to the Center for International Disaster Information's registration page. For opportunities to volunteer overseas in non-disaster settings, visit USA Freedom Corps. Or read about the President's new Volunteers for Prosperity initiative, a program managed and coordinated by USAID. For more information on volunteering, visit InterAction.

Links

• Center for International Disaster Information (a USAID-funded clearinghouse for disaster information)
• Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance
• American Council for Voluntary International Action (InterAction)

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