Donation Management: Too Much of a Good Thing Kelly C. Lillis

BACKGROUND Donation Management Problems: Information about disasters spreads so quickly, people immediately start donating goods, before assessing what is needed. Large quantities of unnecessary, unsolicited supplies are donated, clogging supply lines and doing more harm than good. Priority supplies are difficult to find, procure, distribute, track, and manage. Priority items might have to compete with unnecessary supplies for infrastructure.

Unwanted donations can often even hurt local economies. In Honduras, after Hurricane Mitch, free used clothing killed a substantial segment of the retail trade: used clothing stores, Night Ridder Article: Relief: Fiasco BACKGROUND

“Widespread media coverage prompted the donation of inappropriate goods. More than 60% of NGOs in Sri Lanka and 40% of NGOs in India reported that the receipt of unsolicited supplies had been high. The flood of unsolicited supplies, …in conjunction with the lack of warehousing and transportation capacity, forced immediate distribution, leaving the affected families with the feeling of materials being dumped.” “Lessons from the Tsunami: Top Line Findings” BACKGROUND

There is a need to find a better way to assess the needs of those affected by the disaster: According to the World Disasters Report 2004, it is essential for agencies to carry out in-depth interviews with affected people to find out their needs, even in situations where time is of the essence. If they don’t, they run the risk of sending the wrong type of help. TIPSHEET: Aid experts debunk post-disaster myths, Reuters Foundation Alertnet

Need to engage corporations “More NGOs could have worked with the private sector to more productively respond to Tsunami relief..” Lessons from the Tsunami: Top Line Findings “NGOs at some point in the future will have to engage the corporations as they engaged the colonial state in years gone by.” Ambiguity and Change: Humanitarian NGOs Prepare for the Future BACKGROUND

After Hurricane Mitch, Jeff Brown, Chiquita's (corporation) vice president for operations, wanted to help with donations. After calling federal agencies and big nonprofits, he concluded: "There was no guidance to tell us what to do or how to do it right. Nor could we find any international organization tracking what other donors and shippers were doing.” Night Ridder Article: Relief: Fiasco BACKGROUND

“… many reports of FEMA blocking relief efforts from outside agencies and individuals. Globalstar reported that a truck carrying more than 1,000 satellite telephones was barred from the disaster area. Aaron Broussard, the President of Jefferson Parish… claimed that FEMA blocked water deliveries from Wal-Mart, blocked the shipment of fuel to his area, cut emergency communication lines and described how the local sheriff posted armed guards to protect the lines after they were reconnected;” Wikipedia BACKGROUND

We need better ways of assessing what is needed before and after the disaster hits We need better ways of communicating to public and private donors what is and is not needed We need better ways to prepare ahead of time with knowledge of what supplies and services are available, where. PROBLEM

Improve the way supply needs are assessed immediately after a disaster --- and how those needs are communicated to potential donors. ACTIVITY

Research how the government (federal/state/local) and NGOs currently manage the procurement and distribution of supplies and donations: how could this system be improved by establishing donor information ahead of time? By preparing the supply/donation infrastructure before the disaster; central controls with local distribution. How can the government and NGOs work with corporate donors on the above efforts, as they are more likely to donate resources to planning their philanthropic efforts before the disaster than individuals/community groups. ACTIVITY

Consider a donation map? Similar to Information Mapping (Davenport p. 166) “There was widespread perception within IBM that ‘we don’t have enough information.’ But the market information capture team found that the amount of information wasn’t the problem. Rather, there was probably too much information: collected but unneeded – or collected and needed but not used, because its existence or location were unknown.” ACTIVITY

POTENTIAL IMPACT The right supplies will be available, procured and distributed more efficiently when the system is under stress. The wrong supplies won’t add to the confusion and chaos by competing with priority needs.