Problem:

1
Donation Management Too Much of a Good Thing
Kelly C. Lillis
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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.

3
BACKGROUND

• 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

4
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

5
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 dont, they run the risk of
  sending the wrong type of help.
• TIPSHEET Aid experts debunk post-disaster myths,
  Reuters Foundation Alertnet

6
BACKGROUND

• 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

7
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

8
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

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PROBLEM

• 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.

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ACTIVITY

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

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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.

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ACTIVITY

• Consider a donation map?
• Similar to Information Mapping (Davenport p. 166)
  
• There was widespread perception within IBM that
  we dont have enough information. But the
  market information capture team found that the
  amount of information wasnt 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.

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POTENTIAL IMPACT

• The right supplies will be available, procured
  and distributed more efficiently when the system
  is under stress.
• The wrong supplies wont add to the confusion and
  chaos by competing with priority needs.