Giving for a Cause, and That Cause Only- Donors pinpoint how the money should be spent.

Amid the rush of generous donations to the disaster relief effort in southern Asia, more donors have insisted that their gifts go exclusively to help those victims, charities say, building on a trend been after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

(...)

"People are very emotional, and they want their money to help the people that they see in pictures and on TV," said Thomas Tighe, president and chief executive of Direct Relief International, which distributes free medicine, supplies and equipment in an effort to improve health care around the world. "They make it clear that this is not about tragedies that exist elsewhere in the world, and they're very skeptical about how charities use their money."

(...)

On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee proposed that Congress approve a plan to allow taxpayers to claim a deduction in 2004 for cash gifts to tsunami relief efforts made through Jan. 31, 2005, in part to help support the efforts of former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton to stimulate private giving.

Source: The New York Times