February 4, 2010 | Read Time: 2 minutes
As relief organizations analyze the donations they have received for Haiti, several groups have found that while the total number of gifts is higher than after the Asian tsunamis in 2004, the average size of those gifts is down.
In the first 10 weekdays after the earthquake in Haiti, Mercy Corps received 61,505 contributions, compared with 49,561 donations during the same period after the tsunamis. But the average size of the Haiti gifts was $109, compared with $208 for the tsunami gifts.
The Portland, Ore., relief and development organization attributes the smaller average gift size to the recession.
Average gift size is also lower for the American Red Cross — the charity that has raised the most money for Haiti.
As of Wednesday, the American Red Cross had received approximately $231-million, a little more than a third of the more than $644-million raised by major U.S. relief groups. Online donations for Haiti have averaged $92 for the group, compared with $150 after the tsunamis.
World Vision U.S. has raised almost $30-million for its work in Haiti, roughly the same amount the organization had received during the same period after the tsunamis. But the charity’s average gift size is $130 this disaster, compared with $191 for the tsunamis.
Randy Strash, strategy director for emergency response at World Vision, says one reason for lower gift amounts might be that social media is helping the group attract younger donors.
Other groups are also seeing lower average donations:
- So far, Catholic Relief Services, in Baltimore, has received 99,101 online donations, with an average size of $144. During the same period after the tsunamis, the organization had only received 69,641 in Internet contributions, but the average size of those gifts was $195.
- When Brother’s Brother Foundation, in Pittsburgh, looks at all the gifts it received after the two disasters, the average gift size for Haiti is $137, compared to $366 for the tsunamis. Even when the organization takes out tsunami contributions of more than $25,000, its average gift size for that disaster is still significantly higher at $176.
Some charities report that average gift size is holding steady.
The U.S. Fund for Unicef says its average gift size is roughly the same for the two disasters.
And Save the Children’s average gift size for Haiti is lower than it was for the tsunamis, but just slightly.
In the first 10 days after the earthquake in Haiti, the average size of contributions was $192, just 5 percent lower than the group’s average gift size of $202 during the same period after the tsunamis.
“In light of the economy now, we’re pretty happy with such a small dip,” says Brian Sobelman, an associate vice president at Save the Children, in Westport, Conn.
A few groups are bucking the trend altogether with a higher average gift size for Haiti.
So far, the average size of donations to the Catholic Medical Mission Board for its work in Haiti is $147, compared with $125 after the tsunamis.
