With the immediate impact of the earthquake fading from people’s memories, many are beginning to focus on the nonprofits providing services to Haiti.  Below are some of the interesting conversations I have read regarding nonprofits and their involvement in helping Haiti.  I definitely recommend you follow these folks for powerful insight.

Marketing:  What has the millions of dollars raised shown us about public engagement in disaster relief?

Dan Pallotta (@danpallotta), social entrepreneur, author of Free the Nonprofits, and blogger at Harvard Business Review, states that there is a simple reason why donating to Haiti:

They are hearing about it. They are seeing and reading about the catastrophe over and over again…The media is creating a huge market for giving to Haiti. They are building demand for purchasing charity for Haiti on a massive scale. And, small wonder, massive purchasing is occurring. How much do we think would be given to Haiti if the story ended after one news broadcast on the day it happened?

He argues that this translates to a viable lesson of the importance of marketing for nonprofits to meet their mission, yet he wonders how many people will continue to look at marketing as an unnecessary expense:

But alas, we would never let humanitarian organizations spend that kind of money on advertising, despite the fact that it might bring in many times more dollars than it costs. We have been taught to view marketing as spending that steals from the cause. It’s a fundraising expense — an overhead expense — to be avoided at all costs.

At the same time, many wonder if some organizations have been able to raise more money than others because of the power of their brand not necessarily their track record of success.  The New York Times addressed this issue recently by asking if disaster relief organizations should be funded through pooled money that is allocated during a disaster or if organizations should continue raising money on their own:

“ The push to consider a new approach is being driven in part by relief groups that feel eclipsed by the Red Cross and frustrated at being frozen out financially right when their expertise could be best put to use.

“So often after these major disasters, marketing alone — divorced from the quality or importance of the work an organization is doing — will drive support,” said Thomas Tighe, chief executive of Direct Relief International, a group that provides medical supplies and equipment, and often shares with other groups the money it raises after major disasters.”

The Red Cross, which has raised the most of any organization, has a checkered past when it comes to accountability.  Yet it seems its brand and ability to mobilize compel people to donate more than any other organization could.  Marketing gets a bad rap not just in terms of expenses but also in terms of how it can feel manipulative and hide facts. How can we recognize the need for marketing while keeping bad behavior in check?

Accountability: How can we make sure nonprofits in Haiti are doing what they say they are going to do?

Allison Fine (@afine), social-media-for-social-change-guru and author of Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age, asked this question recently in her blog and I am sure it mirrors a sentiment many have (myself included).  Almost $600 million has been given to relief organizations with no process for ensuring the funds get used properly.  She states,

Some entity, somewhere needs to provide an outside accounting of how these private funds were used – otherwise, we won’t learn how to efficiently and effectively use an enormous amount of money to meet an enormous need in a timely way. And this effort needs to be as transparent as possible about the criteria for assessment and results. And it needs to start now.

The folks over at GiveWell (@givewell), a nonprofit evaluator that examines whether or not nonprofits are meeting their missions, have attempted to address this issue by developing four questions all disaster relief nonprofits should answer so that the public can hold them accountable:

How much are you trying to raise?

Roughly speaking, what activities are you seeking to fund?

How much have you raised so far?

If you raise more than your target, what will you do with the remaining funds?

And finally, new organizations are popping up to act as watchdogs of relief organizations in Haiti.  Ian Wilhelm (@ianwilhelm), a reporter at the Chronicle of Philanthropy (@philanthropy), recently highlighted ReliefOversight.org, which “aims to use crowdsourcing to gather information on what charities are doing in Haiti, whether they’re qualified to do the work, and if concerns are being raised about their efforts.”

Fundraising: What new methods or different approaches have emerged?

Most of the money raised for Haiti has been through SMS/Text Messaging.   Colleen Dilenschneider (@cdilly), a nonprofit employee and blogger, notes that this trend offers a viable option to be incorporated into fundraising plans because mobile giving makes it easy for people to donate, is a more fun and engaging way to give, small donations add up quickly and help build relationships.

Yet before nonprofits hop on this trend, Beth Kanter (@kanter), author of Beth’s Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media one of the longest running and most popular blogs for nonprofits cautions people not go for what is new and shiney:

The technology isn’t cheap to set up.  In fact, according to the post it can be expensive, anywhere from $3,000-10,000.   And, just like other technology tools, like online credit card transactions, nonprofits end up paying a transaction fee of 5-10% back to the vendor.     So, deciding to incorporate a SMS campaign should  include a traditional nonprofit technology ROI analysis that analyzes the benefits, value, and financial analysis.  It may not make sense for your nonprofit to get mobile.

Fundraising, marketing, and accountability have forced nonprofits to rethink their approaches on these issues and have gotten people more interested how nonprofits operate.  What other changes have you noticed?

Update: I forgot to include another gem I read this week from Reverend Eric Foley in his Transformational Giving blog.  Many nonprofits, feeling as though their causes are not getting enough attention because of the crisis in Haiti are making problematic claims and comparisons.  He offers five ways to fight this mentality while challenging the notion that there isnt enough money/attention to go around.

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