More than a decade and half ago, when I was in grad school, at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, I took a class with Catherine Bertini, the former Executive Director of the World Food Program. One of the things that stayed with me, from that class is the first and perhaps the most basic of lessons in disaster philanthropy: Cash is king.  The take away for us, today as we see and hear about many disasters is to always prioritize sending money if you can. If you want to help, during a disaster, anywhere – whether in Los Angeles or in Gaza or other parts of the world, the best thing you can send it cash. I will elaborate on why, shortly.

The second lesson is to send money to the same people – after verifying that they are genuine and you trust them – rather than scatter it like seeds on the ground. Unless you have a lot of money to give around. Even in that case, it helps to give to the same set of people consistently, over a period of time.

The third and perhaps the one that is most crucial is to make sure that the people you are giving money to, are genuine. Give to organizations or people you know, or to those who your trusted friends/ colleagues recommend. Trust, but verify is the mantra.

Of course, none of this is to discount or minimize the great scholarly and other work that is going on, at many centers and institutions. However, sometimes, we need a commonsense reminder of what to do, during times when some of us have resources to give.

#philanthropy #crisis #disasters #giving #cash