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Philanthropy news and resources

From time to time there are news items or resources from the philanthropic sector that we like to share broadly. In addition to sending electronic announcements to our constituents that include information about these items, we will also post items of general interest here.

27 January 2010

The philanthropic response to Haiti's disaster

Haiti has received intense international attention following the earthquakes that plunged the small island nation into disaster. Below is a brief round-up of philanthropy's response to the disaster. This summary is not meant to be a comprehensive overview of philanthropy's response, but a snapshot of the kinds of efforts being made in some countries and regions to highlight information in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

Guidance and summaries from WINGS participants

United States

The International Grantmaking program of the Council on Foundations has posted a summary of the response from philanthropic bodies in the US. Details.

Canada

In response to the disaster Community Foundations of Canada posted guidance for Canadians on "How You Can Help Haiti". Details.

Europe

The European Foundation Centre has shared an overview of the ways in which its members have been providing support to Haiti. Details.

Australia

Philanthropy Australia made use of its blog to post a brief guidance note for Australians wanting to send support to Haiti. Details.

Other responses

The blog Philanthropy 2173 has an interesting piece on "The value of crowds" that delves into technology-driven responses and support in the days following the earthquakes. Crowd-sourcing disaster information, photo tagging (to help in locating missing persons) and frequently updated online maps with detailed information on damage are three of the examples given of the difference that the "outpouring of crowds" - rather than just cash - can make. Details. GuideStar International has also produced a piece on its blog about the surge of text messaging and the trend of crowd sourcing. Details.

A thoughtful blog posting on social networking and the call to get help to Haiti can be found on Taking Note. Akin Salawu considers the role that Facebook and the power of "word of mouth" has played in this particular disaster. Salawu cautions: "How useful all this Facebook activity will manage to be for the people of Haiti remains to be seen. Having 800 new Facebook Haiti groups and events pop up every day may ultimately dilute focus and repeat efforts." Details.

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